Happening Again: Allan Kaprow's Fluids and Scales

"To the extent that a Happening is not a commodity but a brief event, from the standpoint of any publicity it may receive, it may become a state of mind. Who will have been there at that event? It may become like the sea monsters of the past or the flying saucers of yesterday." Allan Kaprow (1961).

In the late 1950s Allan Kaprow, the legendary American pioneer of performance art, coined the term 'Happening', describing a unique art form involving people, objects and events. Two London-specific reinventions of two of his most significant Happenings take place at Tate Modern - building ice structures in Fluids, constructing stairways made of concrete blocks in Scales - and which evolve into experiences of the physical body and communal effort.

Fluids, originally commissioned by the Pasadena Art Museum as part of Allan Kaprow's midcareer retrospective in October 1967, involves stacking blocks of ice into a rectangular enclosure on Tate Modern's river landscape. Its walls will be unbroken and left to melt over the ensuing days.

For Scales, first instigated in 1971 in the stairwells of the CalArts campus in Valencia, California, participants ascend and descend Tate Modern's staircases by placing cement blocks on the steps to form new ones to be walked upon, and move their way through the building.

In preceding workshops, participants will work on strategies to realise both works, secure the necessary equipment and design their structures.

Taking up Allan Kaprow's notion of the museum as an "agency for action", this project looks at the question of how to engage with his legacy and to present his ephemeral art, which emphasises direct experience. It encourages viewers to encounter Kaprow's art through active participation, and tries to help show how a museum, set up to display objects, can also effectively document such fleeting performances.

Call for participants

As part of the re-invention of Scales at Tate Modern, participants from the audience will be able to volunteer to take part in the happening. Participants should be adults over 18 years old. A two-hour workshop will be given to the group of participants before the group carries out Scales in the stairwells of Tate Modern. This workshop will start at 12pm and will help us enabling each participant to carry out this action safely.

Attendance to the workshop will be necessary to participate in the happening.

If you want to take part, please sign up by contacting Vanessa Desclaux by email by Monday 17th March.

Taking place at Tate Modern on Saturday 29 March 2008, 11.00-17.00

Fluids
Tate Modern river landscape,
Construction will start at 11.00

Scales
Tate Modern building stairwells,
Construction will start at 14.00

How to get there:

Underground - Southwark (Jubilee Line) and Blackfriars (District and Circle Lines) are the closest underground stations both of which are approximately ten minutes walk away.

Buses - A number of buses service the area, including the RV1, 45, 63, 100, 381 and the 344.

Boat - The Tate Boat runs every forty minutes along the Thames between Tate Britain, the London Eye and Tate Modern. There is also a ferry service from Embankment or Festival Pier to Bankside.

Train - Thameslink between Bedford and Brighton stop at Blackfriars and London Bridge stations. London Bridge also carries a service to South East London and Kent.

Bike - There is a bicycle shelter at the Main Entrance. See Transport for London's Cycling  Page.

On Foot - Tate Modern is located on the south bank of the River Thames at Bankside, near Blackfriars Bridge, opposite St Paul's Cathedral and next to the Globe Theatre. Click HERE for a map.

The Millennium Bridge now provides a new pedestrian route across to and from St Paul's Cathedral and the city and St Paul's London Underground station including Central line services. Approximate walking time from St Paul's Cathedral is about 10 minutes.