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Defoliation Piece
The first performance I did as an art performance was at Berkeley in 1969 [sic], for The Eighties show at the old Berkeley Museum. It was the defoliation of jasmine plants […] It was specifically designed for the people that I knew would be there […]…
40 Winks
On December 10, 1971 I staged a piece called 40 Winks for a show of free live performance at the Berkeley Museum. The piece had two parts. The first was a long involved message which was posed as a riddle and delivered by me. It began as I destroyed…
The Return of the Agrarian Society
No description available.
A Collaboration between Allan Fish and Tom Marioni
Richard Beggs taped my heartbeat – put it on a loop and with an oscillating machine speeded it up to a 4/4 tempo equil. to a heartbeat at its fastest. the piece was 34 mins. long. first 15 min. was the heartbeat slowing down to a Dead stop. while…
Don't Be Chicken Last Rites While Lying in my Own Shell
For three hours each day, lay in a "chicken" bed which had a twelve-foot wingspan, while wearing "chicken" costume. (Foley 1980: 145)
lecture/demonstration
In 1973 at the University Art Museum Berkeley I made a demonstration about intention. I called it “lecture/demonstration” because I meant it to be instructional. I outlined a square area with masking tape on the floor of the museum’s central open…
Splitting the Axis
Performance Proposal: Splitting the Axis The performance will consist of a single action on a vertical axis at point A on the diagram. Two men will climb a wood pole using metal lineman’s spurs and beginning at the top, thirty five feet above…
Waiting
No description available.
Performance Announcing His Candidacy for Governor
I arrived at the site early, finding a lone podium on a small mound in the sculpture garden, a mute monument to my apprehension. No marching bands, no placard-bearing youngsters, no old fools in straw hats, no giant pictures of my visage behind the…
The Perfect Kiss
Byars' works find their source in philosophy and theology rather than visual perception. The artist and poet William Blake once stated, "The eye envies the mind." Byars empathizes with such sentiments. His calculated actions and images serve…