Dick Higgins

Richard "Dick" Carter Higgins (March 15, 1938 – October 25, 1998) was an American composer, poet, printer, and early Fluxus artist. He was a seminal figure in the Fluxus movement, which emerged in the early 1960s and sought to dissolve the boundaries between different art forms.

The Fluxus movement was an international and interdisciplinary group of artists, composers, designers, and poets that emerged in the 1960s. It rejected traditional classifications of art and sought to blur the boundaries between different artistic mediums, embracing elements of performance art, poetry, music, and visual arts.

Dick Higgins made significant contributions to Fluxus as a composer, poet, and printer. He founded the Something Else Press, which published various Fluxus artists' works, and he organized numerous Fluxus concerts, performances, and festivals. Higgins also participated in creating Fluxus-inspired events, such as the "Happenings" that combined visual arts, music, and performance.

The Something Else Press was a publishing company founded by Dick Higgins in 1963. It focused on publishing avant-garde literature, art, and music. The press played a crucial role in disseminating the works of Fluxus, alongside other experimental and innovative artistic movements. It merged art and publishing by frequently incorporating visual and interactive elements into their publications.

A 'Happening' is an artistic event or performance that encourages active participation from the audience. Happenings emerged in the 1950s and 1960s, with artists like Dick Higgins embracing the concept as a way to blur the boundaries between art and life. These events often incorporated elements of performance, theater, music, and visual arts, challenging traditional notions of passive spectatorship.