WAM

 

Among the precedents of Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt's "Oblique Strategies", George Brecht's "Water Yam" is always cited. And, in fact, Eno and Schmidt's links with Fluxus, Brecht's current, are not lacking. "Water Yam", however, is something radically different. 

First marketed in 1963 in New York, Brecht's fluxkit consists of a box containing sixty-eight cards. And on the cards are the minimal scores of the events: single actions such as sitting down or getting up, drinking a glass of water or turning off the light switch. 

In essence, an everyday gesture is extrapolated from its context and performed before the eyes of the public. Together with his friend and colleague Bob Watts, George Brecht has been organizing, since the early 1960s, the Wam Festival, a festival entirely dedicated to the performance of events.