Claes Oldenburg Happenings at the Whitney

Claes Oldenburg Happenings at the Whitney

Went to the Whitney to see the movies of Oldenberg’s Happenings. I wasn’t interested in seeing his drawings or sculptures, his own or those in which he collaborated with his wife. I had hoped to see his “The Store” recreated (see color image), but all they had were bits and pieces. All in all the show felt thin and half-hearted.

I did enjoy the movies, all in black and white, and clumsy in a good way. Everyone looked like they were having a good time as they channeled Buñuel, Alfred Jarry, and John Cage. Best of all they looked like they were not taking themselves too seriously. This has become almost a matter of principal for me of late but may just veil my own fear of getting cocky, arrogant, or too comfortable in ones output. I’ve included a couple of pictures but these may be of Happenings by Allan Kaprow. A third shows the cover of a video by Raymond Saroff-“Claes Oldenburg Happenings RAY GUN THEATER-1962”.

The movie I focused on (they had five or six playing at once on different walls) had one woman dressed in a spangled swimsuit marching, saluting, and smiling big time. Then a man came in carrying a chair that he kept starting to sit on, but then he’d pick it up instead and move, and then a man at a table, who was trying to read a paper, kept having to pick up a woman whose head kept falling on the table. A woman behind them began to climb up and down a ladder in high heels that she had to poke through a sheet of butcher’s paper that covered the stepladder. These scenarios repeated and multiplied and the room slowly filled. I came away wanting to make my own little movies. I’d just use the little video component on my camera and use it to grainy effect.

For more on the times go to http//:Wrongshow.blogspot.com and see previous blog entry for Whitney.