Ben Patterson

Ben Patterson (United States 1934 - Germany 2016) A pioneer artist of the avant-garde Fluxus, Ben Patterson began by studying botany, zoology, rocks and minerals as a child, later devoting himself entirely to music. He began studying music at the University of Michigan in 1952, from which he graduated in 1956. Virtuoso double bass player, because of his skin color, he could not join an American Symphony Orchestra. He then joined, from 1956 to 1957, the Halifax Symphony Orchestra in Canada, then from 1958 to 1959, that of the 7th United States Army based in Germany, and finally returned to Canada with the Philharmonic Orchestra of 'Ottawa until 1960. His keen interest in electronic music research led him to travel to Cologne in Germany, in order to follow Karlheinz Stockhausen's work in the studios of the WDR. Nevertheless, during the concerts given in the studio of Mary Bauermeister, it was John Cage who fascinated him, whose world premiere he performed, Cartridge Music. At this time, he met Nam June Paik and Wolf Vostell, and presented his first musical works, Paper Piece, Solo for Double Bass, Variations for Double Bass (where objects such as pliers, clamps, etc. are fixed to the double bass) which will become essential pieces for Fluxus concerts. He publishes on his own account a collection of his artistic compositions and experiments, Methods and Process, with the help of Daniel Spoerri. In 1962, in Paris, he exhibited with Robert Filliou, his Puzzle Poems, collaborated with his “legitimate Gallery” (which fits in his hat), and participated, invited by George Maciunas, in the Fluxus concerts in Wiesbaden and Copenhagen (1963), then returned to New York where he held a position as librarian at the New York Public Library. In 1964, George Maciunas published Poems in Box and Instruction No. 2, and Ben Patterson created the performance Lick Piece (naked woman covered in whipped cream to lick). He gradually abandoned his artistic activity which he resumed by taking part in the Fluxus Festival of Wiesbaden in 1982, celebrating the 20th anniversary of the movement, then at the Sao Paulo Biennial in 1983. A personal exhibition was organized in 1988 at the Emily Harvey Gallery from New York. In 2012, he organized the 50 years of Fluxus, a major retrospective throughout the city of Wiesbaden in Germany. Since then, it has been the subject of numerous exhibitions in Europe, Asia, Russia and America, with concerts, readings and performances.