Monaco: Francis Merino, 1969. 27.5 x 21.5 cm. White cardstock portfolio housing 78 loose sheets, some printed recto and verso, some printed recto only. Some extremely light soiling to portfolio, very minor sunning, slight wear along spine, interior sheets overall very good. Limited edition of 500 copies.

An avant-garde catalogue for a non-physical exhibition organized by Ben Vautier. After soliciting contributions from various artists, Vautier collected the proposals for assorted happenings and events and printed or photocopied them. Contributors included Walter de Maria, Dieter Roth, Daniel Buren, Robert Fillious, Wolf Vostell, Daniel Spoerri, Ken Friedman, Marcel Duchamp, Joseph Beuys, George Maciunas, Guy Debord, Claes Oldenburg, Lourdes Castro, and others. The fifth through ninth sheets comprise a sort of table of contents of the items and artists included in the portfolio, each accompanied by a small whimsical annotation regarding what sort of contribution was received. These include sentences like, "Mosset sent Ben records to sell in his shop and then left for the Sahara desert with a rich girl", and "Flexner put a live fish in the holy water basin of Nice's Cathedral Notre Dame". The festival was listed as taking place "everywhere in the world from the 1st to the 15th of June 1969". Vautier's proposal for the festival is included in the portfolio, with examples in both French and English. The English reads: "Here are some possibilitys [sic] for a Festival that will maybe never take place...The term Festival does maybe not fit with Non Art, we could have chosen Carnival, Days, No Festival etc. But why be a hypocrite, a chair is a chair so would you like to participate to this FESTIVAL, which will take place...in the whole world. The point is to concentrate during 15 days ideas, gestures, declarations, and actions concerning the following attitudes: NON-ART, ANTI-ART, TRUTH ART, AND HOW TO CHANGE ART AND MANKIND. The results will be diffused as widely as possible. For that purpose a review without any title will be published at the end of the festival....This review will contain: a) a complete inventory of all the actions, gestures, ideas, which will have taken place in the whole world...as part of the festival. b) theoretical texts on non-art, anti-art, truth art and How to change art and mankind. All participants in the festival will have one page of the review at their disposal." After listing out the specific artists invited to participate, Vautier explains that "the reason of this choice is that these persons in their artistic activities seem to have always valued ideas and attitudes more than physical or commercial esthetical objects. Yet as this choice shouldn't be exclusive each participant may invite other participants. If you accept this invitation, let us know." A very scarce volume from an important member of the Fluxus movement; as of October 2024, OCLC locates only three holdings in North American institutions.

Book ID: 52095

Price: $4,500.00