Correspondence, manuscripts, conceptual and mail artwork, and ephemera documenting Ken Friedman's affiliation with Fluxus art movement spearheaded by George Maciunas. The collection includes examples of Friedman's Fluxus offset press, art work of other Fluxus artists, publications by Aktual, and examples of work by the Cleveland poet d.a. levy. Significant correspondents include George Brecht, John Cage, Dick Higgins, Ray Johnson, Milan Knizak, d.a. levy, George Maciunas, Jerry Rubin, and Paul Sharits.
Ken Friedman Collection, 1964 - 1971 (MSS 128)
Restrictions: Original media formats are restricted. Viewing/listening copies may be available for
researchers.
Extent: 7.8 Linear feet (9 archives boxes and 27 oversize folders)
Kenneth S. Friedman (born September 19, 1949- ) attended Shimer College (1966-1967) where he studied music theory and composition with Richard Maxfield. He later received an MS from San Francisco State University in 1971 and, after that a Ph.D. from the Graduate School of Human Behavior at U.S. International University in 1976. From 1967-1968, he was an instructor at San Francisco State College Experimental College, where he taught course in the literature of surrealism, the avant-garde, and expanded arts.
Ken Friedman experimented with many forms of conceptual art during the period covered by the collection, from the graphic and concrete arts to music, writing and performance. While at Shimer College, Friedman directed an "underground" radio program, "Garnisht Kigele." Later, he edited ephemeral magazines as a member of the Underground Press Syndicate and became Editor-in Chief of Fluxus West Publications and General Manager of Something Else Press. Friedman founded Fluxus West in 1966 shortly after becoming acquainted with George Maciunas and other members of the New York Fluxus coterie.
George Maciunas was the first person to use the term "Fluxus." In 1961, he sent out an invitation for an exhibition at the AG Gallery, noting on the invitation that the $3.00 cover charge was to be used for publishing FLUXUS magazine. The term came to designate an attitude toward art best exemplied in the work of Marcel Duchamp, the Dadaists, and John Cage. Indeed, many of the participants in the movement during the 1960s had personally studied with Cage or one of his disciples such as Richard Maxfield. Artistic values championed by principal Fluxus artists such as Friedman, Dick Higgins, George Brecht, and Yoko Ono, included spontaneity and indeterminacy.
Besides Fluxus, Friedman also participated in Aktual and the New York Correspondence School, two other conceptual art movements occurring during the time represented by the collection. Since the date of the collection, Friedman's work has appeared in a number of exhibitions, and he has received commissions from the Joslyn Art Museum, the Western Museum Association, and the University of Tulsa.
The bulk of the materials in the Ken Friedman Collection date from 1967 to 1970 -- for Friedman, a period of expansive production of Fluxus materials and a continuing commitment to Happenings / events, collaborations, and the Unitarian Universalist Church and its affiliate organizations of Free Religious Youth (FRY) and Liberal Religious Youth (LRY). The collection best documents graphic design of the period (with many examples from Friedman's Fluxus offset press), works of the Fluxus group and publications by Aktual. Numerous scenarios, musical compositions, prose and poetry works are also included. Another interesting facet of the collection are the works and correspondence by poet d.a. levy and New York Correspondence School founder Ray Johnson.
Arranged in five series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE, 2) WRITINGS, 3) COLLABORATIONS, 4) FLUXUS, and 5) D.A. LEVY.
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