Maria Eichhorn
Maria Eichhorn: Chair Events, 1969, by George Brecht / 33 1/3, 1969, by John Cage / Flux Ping-Pong, 1976, by George Maciunas
03 – 31 Mar 1995
For the exhibition Chair Events, 1969, by George Brecht / 33 1/3, 1969, by John Cage / Flux Ping-Pong, 1976, by George Maciunas the above mentioned works were newly realized by Maria Eichhorn. They question qualities of originality and authorship in works of art in various ways, addressing issues of status and use. The works by Brecht, Cage, and Maciunas are located in the Block collection, Berlin, focusing on Fluxus, which was to go on loan to the National Gallery of Denmark. The new museum director retracted the agreement, discrediting the collection publicly, which resulted in a wave of protests. Eichhorn responded to the controversy with this exhibition at Galleri Susanne Ottesen, Copenhagen.
John Cage’s composition piece 33 1/3 was interpreted by Eichhorn in the form of 100 LPs originating from differing areas of music with a playback speed of 33 1/3 rpm and 12 record players. The records were furnished with blank labels so that the respective piece of music and their author remained unidentifiable. Visitors to the exhibition could play the LPs but without being able to make a selection.
Flux Ping-Pong by George Maciunas was defunctionalized in multiple ways. The table tennis playing surface was sawn in half, tilted upwards, and a hole was added. The table tennis rackets were manipulated by the artist so that they were no longer suitable for playing with.
The Chair Events are iterations of On (or near) a white chair. Occurrence, an event based on George Brecht’s score THREE CHAIR EVENTS / Sitting on a black chair. Occurrence. / Yellow chair. (Occurrence.) / On (or near) a white chair. Occurrence. from 1961. Five white lacquered chairs were each furnished with a cushion, a cloth, a shirt, a candle, and a flowerpot. Three of the objects were selected with reference to Brecht’s Book of the Tumbler on Fire. Volume I, Footnotes, 1968.
An orange band was painted around the gallery walls. Interviews and textual materials as well as scores by Brecht, Cage, and Maciunas were placed on a table in the exhibition and could, if required, be taken away in the form of photocopies. The material was supplemented by Ring Binder III, 1995, a dossier concerning the exhibition project comprising research, texts, and photos. Curtain (Brown), 1989/1995, was located in a niche in a wall of the gallery. The exhibition poster designed by the artist was published as an edition and hung in a display case outside the gallery.