Kleines Sommerfest: Après John Cage

Abstract

This article presents the first comprehensive reconstruction of one of the two proto-Fluxus concerts held in Germany in 1962, which served as direct precedents to the inaugural Fluxus Festival in Wiesbaden. Drawing on research from major archives—including the Zentralarchiv des Internationalen Kunsthandels (Cologne, Germany), The Gilbert and Lila Silverman Fluxus Collection Gift (Museum of Modern Art, New York), and the Jean Brown Papers (The Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles)—as well as interviews with its two key performers, Benjamin Patterson and Jed Curtis, this paper not only reconstructs the evening’s program but also examines the West German cultural landscape and artistic scene that made it possible, with particular focus on the roles of Nam June Paik, George Maciunas and Rolf Jährling.