Kaprow Happenings Analysis

“A happening is for those who happen in this world, for those who don’t want to stand off and just look. If you happen, you can’t be outside peeking in. You’ve got to be involved physically” (Kaprow, , )Allan Kaprow acted as central figure in the repositioning the art world of 1960’s, his Happenings were a form of impulsive, chance driven, non-linear action, that revolutionized performance art. Although Kaprow began as a painter, his curiosity shifted in the mid 1950’s to the theoretical, based on the altering concepts of space introspectively experienced by the beholder. He was among many artist and critics who fixated on an intellectual, theorized view on art, renouncing abstract expressionism works and instead looking on the act of their production.
The term “Happenings” first appeared in 1958, in an article by Kaprow, this specifically referred to the performance work of the Vanguard within the late 1950’s, early 1960’s. Where boundaries were broken between various practices and collaged into celebratory spaces as, “quasi- theatrical event, creating indistinct boundaries within the separate arts”, a then- potential art form, (Rodenbeck 2011, p. 9).
Cage was highly influential on Kaprows progression as an artist, cage was a dominant influence in the principle to regards of the practice of chance and the equation of noise with music. Kaprow was interested in following these ideas, well beyond the current art boundaries into the events of everyday life, (Kelley 2004, p.19). Kaprow methodically developed this approach over time, that ultimately distinguished him for his mentor. “He exchanged the street for the concert hall, the chance encounter for the performance event, everyday experience for the creation of art.” (Kelley 2004,