backstory: drying time

Mend Piece was first created by Ono in 1966 at a time when it was a trend among artists, particularly those involved in the Fluxus movement, to create works of art that were comprised essentially of a set of instructions, the way a musical score is essentially a set of instructions for a musician. With a musical score, every musician plays a little differently and so no score sounds exactly the same each time it’s played. Instruction works follow this same principle. Every participant follows the same set of instructions, but every outcome is different because all of us are different from each other. What are the instructions? How do you follow them? Why am I noting “drying time” in the subject line of this email? Well… you’ll have to come by and see for yourself. I can’t give everything away! There’s no fun in that.

Tracy Fitzpatrick
Director, Neuberger Museum of Art

Find me on Twitter @tracyfitzart

p.s. Very special thanks to Bonnie and Bob Romano for their generous support of this project!