Art’s Birthday 2009

This year, the celebrations for “Art’s Birthday” will begin the night before, on 16 January 2009, in memory of Fluxus artist Robert Filliou. In 1963, Filliou claimed that art had been born precisely 1,000 years early, to be exact, on 17 January, his own birthday. Filliou cited a fictive, chance event as art’s hour of birth: “When someone let a dry sponge fall in a bucket of water,” and remarked with self-irony: “modest beginnings, but look at us now.”
“Art’s Birthday” has been carried forth by artists throughout the world since Filliou’s death in 1987 with “mailart,” fax and “slow scan tv events.” The spontaneously carried out and networked events take place at a number of different sites. The only requirement is that every group is able to send and receive birthday presents. The Ars Acustica Group of the European Broadcast Union (EBU) has organized one of these events for the past five years: acoustic presents are exchanged among the international participants via the EBU satellite channels “Verdi” and “Ravel.” The motto of this year’s celebration is “safe and sound.”
The sound artist Stefano Gianotti, together with a Polish vocal soloist, two percussionists, and live electronics, will present live in the HfG, a work based on the theme “relativity of security.”

Stefano Giannotti Composition, sampling, electric guitar
Agata Zubel Vocal soloist
Frank Thomé Percussion
Rie Watanabe Percussion
N.N. Live electronics