Art's Birthday

Description:

Art’s Birthday was a tradition started by French Fluxus artist Robert Filliou who declared, on January 17, 1963, that Art had been born exactly 1,000,000 years prior when somebody dropped a dry sponge into a bucket of water. Over many decades, artists have continued to organize annual celebrations in the spirit of Filliou’s “Eternal Network” or “La Fête permanente.”

The celebration included music, birthday cake, and slowscan and fax exchanges with artists and organizations across Canada, the United States, and France. Presented during the International Festival of Telecommunication Art, this evening also marked the arrival of Mike Hentz and Benjamin Heidersberger from the European media group Van Gogh TV to Western Front. Over the course of the festival, Hentz and Heidersberger corresponded with Western Front as they made their way across participating European cities. 

Video documentation is available upon request.