Ewa Partum & Fluxus

Ewa Partum – a classic figure of Polish neo-avant-garde art, conceptualism, and feminist art – moved to West Berlin in 1982, shortly after creating some of her most recognizable works, such as the photo-collage series Self-Identification (1980) and the performance Hommage à Solidarność (1982). She was invited to the German capital, where she still resides, by Wolf Vostell – a renowned intermedia artist and co-founder of the Fluxus movement alongside Nam June Paik and Dick Higgins.

It was Vostell who introduced Partum to Michael Wewerka, in whose gallery the artist performed Hair Concert – Hommage à Chopin in 1983 – one of her first performances after leaving the People’s Republic of Poland. It was also among the first of her performances to incorporate a classical music piece – in this case, Frédéric Chopin’s Piano Concerto in F minor. In the performance, Partum praised the composition while cutting her hair directly onto the vinyl record from which the concerto was being played. In doing so, she symbolically incorporated a part of her own female body into a canonical work authored and performed by a man. This act distorted the sound and, as a result, led to the creation of a new work of experimental music through performance.

As the artist herself confirms, her turn toward music-based actions and works was inspired by her contact with Vostell and the broader Fluxus context. At the same time, these works incorporate the persistent themes of Partum’s practice dating back to her days of active poetry: the inclusion of natural elements in performances, the dematerialization and institutionalization of art objects, and reflections on the medium itself as a carrier of record.