Alison Knowles facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Alison Knowles
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Knowles, c. 2002-5
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| Born | 1933 (age 91–92) |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Performance art, Printmaking |
| Movement | Fluxus |
Alison Knowles (born in 1933) is an American artist. She creates art using installations, performances, sound, and books. Knowles was a founding member of Fluxus, a group of artists who wanted to combine different types of art. Her work is special because it often involves performances, chance, and things you can touch. She earned a degree in fine art from Pratt Institute in New York. In 2015, Pratt gave her an honorary doctorate degree.
In the 1960s, she was active in New York City's art scene. She worked with famous artists like John Cage and Marcel Duchamp. During this time, she started making "event scores." These are performances that turn everyday actions into art. Knowles's art stands out because it includes things you can see, hear, and touch.
From July 20, 2022, to February 12, 2023, a special show about Knowles was held. It was called by Alison Knowles: A Retrospective (1960–2022). This show took place at the University of California, Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.
Contents
Early Life and Art
Alison Knowles transferred from Middlebury College and graduated from the Pratt Institute in 1956. Her father was a professor at Pratt, so she could study there for free. At night, Knowles studied painting with Adolph Gottlieb, an abstract expressionist. She admired Helen Frankenthaler and knew about Jackson Pollock's work. Franz Kline also taught some painting classes.
During the day, Knowles studied graphic design. A class taught by painter Richard Lindner was very important to her. Knowles once said, "What I learned there was that I am an artist."
Knowles also saw John Cage as a mentor. She learned about him through one of his classes in 1958. Many future Fluxus leaders, like Dick Higgins and George Brecht, took this class. Knowles's focus on painting changed after a show where she destroyed all her paintings in a bonfire. This act led her to new types of art and eventually to the Fluxus group. On the first Fluxus tour in 1962, Knowles began writing event scores. These quickly became a key part of the movement.
After joining the first Fluxus Festivals in Europe (1962-1963), Knowles returned to the United States. She started making art objects. Some were made for George Maciunas, the leader of Fluxus. Knowles's objects often invited people to touch and listen to them. While other Fluxus artists focused on music, Knowles explored poetry and spoken words. In the 1960s, she began using beans in her art. This became a common theme in her work. Using beans was unique when other artists used everyday items or found objects.
Creative Book Art
With an invitation from George Maciunas, Knowles created one of her first "book objects," called Bean Rolls (1963). This was not a normal book. Its "pages" were tiny paper scrolls. Readers could pick and view them in any order. On each scroll, Knowles printed texts from songs, recipes, stories, and cartoons. The tin container also held dried beans. These made a rattling sound when the tin was moved. In the 1960s, Knowles made Bean Rolls even more interactive. She held readings with many people taking part.
In 1967, Knowles created The House of Dust. This is a famous example of computer-generated poetry. She worked with composer James Tenney on it. The poem started as four lists written by Knowles. You would pick a phrase from each list to describe a house. It would say what the house was made of, where it was, how it was lit, and who lived in it. She gave the lists to Tenney. He used a computer program called FORTRAN to create the printed poetry. The computer randomly combined the phrases. From about 10,000 possible verses, Knowles chose one. It described "a house of dust / on open ground / lit by natural light / inhabited by friends and enemies." This verse became the basis for a sculpture at the California Institute of the Arts in the early 1970s.
Knowles made even bigger book projects, like The Big Book (1967). This was a walk-in structure with eight movable "pages." Each page was four feet wide and eight feet tall. They were connected to a metal spine. Each page had an opening leading to the next. This created different spaces for the "reader" to explore. The whole thing weighed about a ton. It included a gallery, a library, a grass tunnel, and a window. She built it using found items from her apartment and studio. These included a toilet, a stove, and a telephone. The book could be packed into two crates for shipping. It traveled to cities in Canada, Europe, and the United States. Over time, it slowly broke down into its parts. The Big Book inspired her other large installations, The Book of Bean and The Boat Book. Knowles has also written several books of experimental text and poetry.
The Boat Book was first shown in Miami in 2014. Knowles said it would have a "hoop structure between two pages covered with blue silk like the ocean." This "book sculpture" also has a porthole, fishing nets, a fishing pole, and an anchor.
Event Scores: Art as Action
Event scores are performances first thought up by George Brecht. He was inspired by John Cage's class. Many Fluxus artworks are simple performances with easy instructions. Knowles describes an event score as "a one or two line recipe for action."
The Identical Lunch
Knowles's The Identical Lunch (1969) is one of her most famous scores. It is based on her habit of eating the same meal every day. The score is: "a tuna fish sandwich on wheat toast, with lettuce and butter, no mayo and a cup of soup or a glass of buttermilk." This idea started after her friend, Philip Corner, noticed her daily lunch at a diner in New York. Knowles began inviting people to join her for lunch. She would then write down all the small details and repetitions. Doing the same thing repeatedly made the meal a way to think about everyday life. Knowles said it was "about having an excuse to get to talk to people, to notice everything that happened, to pay attention."
Make a Salad
The idea of touch is a special part of Knowles's art. One of her most famous event scores is Make a Salad. She first performed it in 1962 in London. In this performance, Knowles makes a huge salad. She chops vegetables to the rhythm of live music. Then, she mixes the ingredients by tossing them in the air. Finally, she serves the salad to the audience. Make a Salad has been performed in many places around the world. These include the Tate Modern and the Walker Art Center.
Shoes of Your Choice
Shoes of Your Choice also started in 1962. For this piece, Knowles simply asks people to describe the shoes they are wearing. In 2011, Knowles performed Shoes of Your Choice for President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama. This was part of "A Celebration of American Poetry at the White House."
Sound Art
Knowles has been working with sound since the late 1960s. In 1969, she helped design and edit John Cage's Notations. This was a book of music writings. Her Bean Garden was first shown at the Annual Avant Garde Festival of New York. It is a large platform covered with beans that makes sounds. It was recently rebuilt for an exhibition at the Carnegie Museum of Art. The Bean Garden invites visitors to walk on the platform. The sounds of the beans echo with each step.
Knowles has also made sound-making objects. These include the bean turner (a flax paper pouch filled with beans) and wrist rubbers (flax paper "gloves" with beans inside). She also made a bamboo and flax accordion. Knowles explored the sounds of beans in four radio programs. These were hosted by a German radio station. In 1982, Knowles won the Karl Sczuka Award for best radio work for her event score, Bean Sequences.
Prints and Collaborations
Knowles started making silkscreen paintings in the early 1960s. These were shown at the Judson Gallery. From 1963 to the mid-1970s, printmaking was a way for her to show her art processes. In 1963, she worked with Cage's students Robert Watts and George Brecht. They created the Scissors Brothers Warehouse show, also known as BLINK. This was an eighteen-inch square print. It had three images chosen randomly, one by each artist. The image appeared on many items, from canvases to bathing suits. These were sold at flea markets. Knowles also made the Identical Lunch graphic series. This showed her friends and Fluxus colleagues eating The Identical Lunch in the early 1970s.
In the late 1960s, Knowles worked closely with Marcel Duchamp. She helped him recreate his first optical artwork, the Coeurs Volants. The original was made in 1936 for a French art journal. Knowles first wanted to use the image for a book cover. But after meeting Duchamp, they decided she would create a new silkscreen version. Knowles visited Duchamp to choose colors for the reprint. Duchamp jokingly signed one of the color samples. This is thought to be one of his last "readymades" (everyday objects presented as art).
Awards and Recognition
Alison Knowles has received many awards for her important contributions to art. These include a Guggenheim Fellowship (1967) and grants from the National Endowment for the Arts (1981 and 1985). She also received a College Art Association Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003. In 2015, she was chosen by art historian Claire Bishop to receive a Francis J. Greenburger Award. This award is given to artists who deserve more recognition.
Personal Life
Knowles was married to Dick Higgins. He was a leading Fluxus artist who created the term "intermedia" (mixing different art forms). She has twin daughters, Jessica and Hannah Higgins. Jessica is an artist in New York. Hannah is a writer, art historian, and professor. Both daughters performed and worked in Fluxus events when they were young. Knowles often performs with her family members. Some of these pieces include Loose Pages, Shoes Of Your Choice, and Beans All Day.
Knowles lives and works from her loft in New York City's Soho area. She has lived there since the 1950s.
See also
In Spanish: Alison Knowles para niños
