Mar KEW xork auermeister SMITH COLLEGE MUSEUM OF ART NORTHAMPTON, MASSACHUSETTSTER THE CATACLYSM OF World War I, a number of assumptions about art and music were radically chal lenged in Germany. The premises underiying the heroic ealn Wagnerian Gesamtkunstwerk, or “total art-work,” became less af at the same time that the aesthetic of art as anilusion came into question. Did one need to put a painting in a frame? Was it necessary to have a fixed score-or even a score at all-for a musical composition? Lying inthe heart of Cologne, Mary Bauermeister’s Lintgasse studio became a forum for in 8 to at, as well as an incubator for develo terrogating traditional approa ping radical new ideas and techniques. Bauermeister inaugurated her first experimental Lintgasse program in March 1960, billed under the heading cture." This event drew an eclectic mixture of personalities from surrealist, ling George Maciunas, Joseph Beuys, David Tudor, John Cage, Nam June Paik, ‘Music-Text-Painting- Archit neo-Dada, and proto-Fluxus circles, incl ‘and Karlheinz Stockhausen: born ‘The collaboration between Stockhausen (1928-2007) and Bauermeist 1934) proved to be long lasting and extraordinarily fruitful for both (fig. 28)Thole frst work together (along with Paik, Tudor, Christoph Caskel, and others) was a sensational piece called Originale (Originals), which was biled {as musical theater? Conceived during a shared vacation that Bauermeister {and Stockhausen took in Finland, this “gross-out theater” premiered in Cologne during autumn 1961, The performers played themselves: among others, there was a painter (Bauermeister), ce poser (Paik), pianist (Tudor), percus- sionist (Caskel), conductor (Stockhausen) and even a newspaper salesperson (usted in the program as "Frau Hoffmann’) The music, which Stockhausen somposed earlier (independent of Orignale), was his piece Kontakte, a hybrid ive/electronic work for four-channel recorded sound and two live musicians Above this musical layer, performers in Origiale acted out scenes calculated to provoke the audience or simply to shock: they threw beans at onlookers took flying leaps into bathtubs fll of water. Stockhausen notated much of this ina precise score that specifies events, Although Originale is credited to Stockhausen, Bauermeister had much to do with conceptualizing the action,‘ and she contributed in other ways to the show's success: after the city of Cologne withdrew is financial support, Bauermeister and her team were able to raise enough money within twenty-four hours to keep it going Its feasibility now proven, the artistic collaboration between Bavermelsterand Stockhausen became more intense in the coming years, even though it ‘was often complicated by a concurrent personal relationship® Before Orignale opened in fal 1961, Bavermeistr took Stockhausen sem ar atthe Darmstadt International Summer Courses for New Musi. There, ‘Stockhausen formulated a view tat the structure of Baermstrs visual | artinvohed the seme basic approach as his own serial lechnique to music | composition, Historians have suggested that some seria das in visual at ae present already in Mone, whose many paintings ofthe Saint-Lazare train station and Rouen cathedral show the same subject or scene in constantly changing ght” Stockhausen cuningy reversed tese terms in hs maniesto of musical eras the myriad forms that serialsm generated were not he same thing in itfleent igh" but rather "something always ferentin the | same ight | Stockhausen's serialism was essentially a way of quantizing perceptual con- tinua (e., frequency, timbre, duration) and then choosing sets of elements Using series of integers. This mechanistic approach also left considerable leoway for improvisation, especially after Stockhausen sought to specify degrees of change, rather than using the serial system to generate individual ‘elements themselves" On the macroscopic evel, Stockhausen engaged withthe question of musical form, and this is where he saw the most direct ‘lationship with Bavermeiste’s work. In an essay from the program book accompanying Bauermeister's influential and highly successful 1962 exhibition at the Stedelik Museum in Amsterdam, Stockhausen wrote of her work in ‘similar terms to his own" Her early “dot pictures” (Punktchenbilder) exempiitied deterministic forms, which mediate between an individual object and a group of objects. Othor Bauermoister works related to the Stockhausenian concept (of group form, which confers “equal status in more highly organized organisms through characteristic group formations.” Stil others were understood as {embodying principles of statistical form, wherein the artist “attempts] to mediate collectives organized according to laws of large numbers with groups and points” In addition to these three categories of deterministic forms, ‘Stockhausen viewed several Bauermeister works as variable forms, which “attempt to compose indeterminacy relationships."® One such example is Bauermeister's Magnetbilder (1960), apiece that invited viewers to exchange panels that were mounted on a magnetic sheet!® During Bauermeister’s inaugural Amsterdam show, Stockhausen's music \was performed in the exhibition space. One work on the program, Refrain, includes a movable transparent plastic strip wit the printed score. This strip, Js printed with special musical symbols. When laid over the score, it adds 89‘recurrent aisturbances that ruff the ringing tranquilty™ of the relatively calm vibraphone, celeste, and piano texture. Stockhausen's veldeutiger Form (polyvalent form), a term he specifically used in connection with Refrain, described “an attempt to ensure that for each moment occurring in the ‘course of one context, not just one single combination is to be fixed, but variously many, all of which are equally valid." This category encompasses ‘Bauermeister’s next artistic innovation, which ushered in one of her most successful periods as an artist. (On their drive back from Amsterdam in 1961, Bauermeister and Stockhausen stopped at an antique store and found a wooden box filled with optical lenses. of every shape, size, and strength. Realizing that lenses were not just able toaltera static image, but could enable a more dynamic viewing experience, ‘she conceived the lens box" n 1963, she produced her first piece Ohne Titel (Untitled, figs. 1 and 12) utilizing this concept. This work, as well as her other ‘extraordinary lens boxes, consists of a detailed drawing with words, shapes and/or abstract designs situated on the interior of a custom-built wooden box. Then, several layers of optical lenses mounted on transparent plates are ‘ld in between the front of the box and the drawing atthe back. The result {s “reminiscent of peering into a basin of percolating liquid: vision is thrown Into oscillation, alternately drawing into the box’s interior and cast outside its boundaries”"” One work, called MUSIC BOX - from and with Karheinz ‘Stockhausen (1965) is @ genuine collaborative effort in that the basic drawings are in Stockhausen's own hand. Bauermeister's lenses hover in front of Stockhauser's fanciful beams of eighth notes, playful musical rests, and “performance indications," which seem to reach beyond their musical signifi cation, aspiring to become autonomous graphic elements themselves * ‘A few months after the Amsterdam show, Bauermeister moved to New York City, where she quickly embedded herself inthe city's vibrant contempo- rary art scene. Working with several prominent personalities including Allen Ginsberg, Alvin Lucier, and Charlotte Moorman, she helped direct the 1964 New York premiere of Originale with Allan Kaprow.” This run was one of the ‘more colorful music/theatrical productions of the decade, not just because of its motley cast of characters, but also because of the controversy surround ing it. It took place in a small theater across the street from Carnegie Hall. On| ‘opening night, a group of protesters picketed outside, carrying placards with slogans such as "down with cultural capitalism!” The rally was mostly against Stockhausen; stil, many Fluxus artists previously alied with Bauermeister ‘demonstrated, including George Maciunas, who led the event under the ban- ‘ner “Action Against Cultural imperialism.” The media viewed this and subse- ‘quent disruptions as part of the theatrical event itsel. As Maciunas's effortsto derail the show became more and more audacious, Bauermeister became increasingly adept at defusing them: When she was not defending Originale in the theater and on the street, ‘Bauermeister was planning her next solo show. Her frst lens boxes went on splay at the Bonino gallery in New York Cty in 1965." The overwhelming success of this show led to a long-term relationship with the gallery's owners and many more engagements across the United States As early as 1964, Stockhausen had assimilated Bauermeister’s newer ideas, and he applied ‘them to is own musical invention in an important work called Mikrophonie | (fig. 29). In this piece, two percussionists standing on either side of an enor- ‘mous tam-tam agitate it with cardboard tubes, plastic boxes, metal imple- ‘ments, double-bass bows, and other objects. Two other performers, pared with the percussionists, move microphones around the tam-tam in various patterns. The other two performers —the “sound projectionists,"to use a ‘common term in Stockhausen's vocabulary - sit in the center of the hal, «electronically manipulating the sounds that are picked up through the micro- ‘phones and distributing them through an array of loudspeakers. [As one vititer has noted, the amplification and “spatialization” of sounds ‘dramatically enlarges the scope of the work, since the “stereo effect will be three-dimensional, with sounds appearing to leap and dance in front of Karlin: Stockhausen. Mrophone 1964. Mateophoni te TamTam,2Mikrophone, 2 ierund Reger (6 Spicer, Ne 5. (©1974 by Universal Eatin London) Lt, London/UE 15138the loudspeakers."* This is another analog to Bauermeister’s “percolating” Figune 20, lens Bowes: as her maging lense amply the drawings bein ham, ates Stocthausen amples magn the sound energy aur te tartan atari But une Bayermetters stat crag, Stockhausen tantamconstanly—— Pmehan oscltes itive. Inthe andother works ofthe 1960s, Stockhausen ushered aman bata in an approach to composition wherein live sounds could be altered in real ee tne to nate anther ayer of compestona forming een comabene If Originale, Refrain, and Mikrophonie tare emblematic of the relationships between their artistic craftsmanship, then Stockhausen's Momente (Moments) sets its sights on the more personal aspects of the partnership: the couple officially married in 1967. A large-scale work for choir, vocal soloists, and or- Cchestra, Momente is a piece with reconfigurable elements (Ike Bauermeister's ‘Magnetbilder. In other words, sections of the piece may be rearranged or reordered. Stockhausen began composing Momente while the couple lived {and worked in an unheated Sicilan villa belonging to the Baron Francesco Agnello, shortly before Bauermeister’s 1962 exhibition. Among the many ‘sections or “moments” that make up Momente, those designated “M'" have ‘primarily melodic, horizontal, or monophonic characteristics. M, of course, stands both for Melody and Mary. When one type of moment “blends” with ‘another, itis indicated in parenthesis. The Mim) moment is unique because it represents the most ‘pure” instantiation of the M-type musi. In Partturbaum (1964) —a work assigned to Bauermeister's oeuvre —the Mim) music plays a central role (ig. 30). The piece consists of a tree trunk with an enormous ‘growth or bur ont. The stem is split open, and several pages of Stockhausen’ handwritten score appear, cut out from paper in the shape of what appears t0_be female genitalia As Stockhausen wrote, “Momente is dedicated to Mary Bauermeistr, who is musically ‘portrayed in several moments (2. in the solo of the M(m) moment)" inthis "Mary" moment, the main sung text 's the amorous Biblical Song of Solomon. Stockhausen's Momente and its ‘Quotation in the Partiturbaum suggest that Stockhausen was moving beyond the rationalism of his earlier works and towards a new conception of art as ‘a mote personal and sensual medium, After Momente, Stockhausen dedicated hs hour-long voeal work Stimmung (1968) to Bauermeister. Ths piece is remarkable for a number of reasons.” Ithas been interpreted as an ode to erotic love, but also it exhibits subtle Serial thinking even though the score may give the impression that it is freely constructed” Built entirely around a single overtone series whose partials, {are sung by the six singers (a“sex-tet’),Stimmung interweaves erotic texts i ‘among the slowly mutating musical figures. In one of these texts, Stockhausen pays homage to Bauermeiste's single-ine drawings by writing the phonemes 93Das Tempo kann etwas schwonKen pets deutsche Ausspradhe die anderen gehen mit. ” anderen gehen mi Un- d singendl sprechen eel ee (ele: mp 4, rat ekg titmlich hoch anfangen = betont ganz Kontinvierlich alle Silben verbinden auch einatmend sprechen. vane 21 Using a single pen stroke (ig. 11> The sensval sounds and texts in Morente Koran tether, and Stimmung ae, according to Leopado Sino, evidence ofan eruption of o— sroticism in ausen’s music” attributable to Bauermeister’s influence.” Caer eroticismin Slockhauseris music” tibutable to Bavermester'infue Vohatten 26 ey Une Even aster personal relationship wound down, aly ening indore in ———— 1973, Bauermeister and Stockhausen continued to collaborate occasionally. vevenos In Stockhausen's works Sirus (1975-77) and Harlequin (1975), Bauermeister helped design the scenes and costumes.» Stockhausen dedicated one of his pieces for solo clarinet from his collection Amour (1974-76) to her. The “Michael Sign, which is a central symbol throughout the massive Licht (1977 2003) opera heptology, was also a Bauermeister design. Consisting of three concentric circles with four phallic ris-bulbs emanating from the center (fig, 22), this icon adorns Stockhausen's grave * SStockhausen's graphic designs for his compact dise series, such as the artwork for the release of his late work Cosmic Pulses (fig. 33) often incorpo- rate important elements of his scores or sketches, redrawn in colorful ink to highiight essential structural relationships. Is this visual art, musical analysis, ‘or musical notation? Theodor Adorno's diagnosis that the boundaries among the arts were breaking down in the electronic age seems particularly appli- ‘cable here, though Larson Powell suggests that Stockhausen might not so ‘much have sought to refresh the Wagnerian Gesamtkunstwerk, but was in fact searching for a method to bring historically delineated art-forms into ten- sion with each other A similar analysis could apply to Bauermeister, whose Works incorporating stones from the beach (Eighteen Rows, pl 2, cat. 31) or ‘everyday linens woven by Sicilian women (Needless Needles, 1964) set these 94‘commonplace objects into tension with the singular, constructed tenden- ies of high art. The collaborations between Bavermeister and Stockhausen further develop an approach to art that can be traced to surrealists such as [André Masson and unconventional avant-gardists such as the Belgian artist and composer Jacques Calonne, These artists tended to view the boundaries between the arts as artificial, in much in the same way as Bauermeister and Stockhausen dia, It his relationship with Bauermeister resulted in Stockhauser's recognition ot the value in sensual aspects of musical creation, itis also quite possible that his encounter with her artwork marked an early stage n forming the view that the serial principles for music of the 1950s (which he constantly developed in subsequent decades) were only one facet of a much larger, more general cr even cosmological approach to design. Since he found it easy for his, {formal categories to cross boundaries into visual ar, it might have occurred to Stockhausen that they could apply to a much broader spectrum of cosmic activity. While tis reading of Stockhausen intellectual development is speculative itis certain that his collaboration with Bauermeister encompassed ‘one of the most productive periods of ther artistic ives. There is often a playful respectul attitude in their shared projects that is evident regardless Of the state of their personal relationship" Their work together forms an im- portant thread in the interwoven narrative of art and music inthe last century Mary Bavermelstor ‘and Karine Sion © Stockhausen tp wo ykarhoine ockhausen org Karlin Stockhausen ‘Coane Pulses, 2008- Foundation for Mise ipewwckarneins stockhousenors|96 endnotes Mary Bauermelster, eb hinge im Tholeniter Mein Lebon mit Karten ‘Stockhausen (Munich Elton Eke Heidenreich, 2010, p25 ited Darstet “Situation Moment, aby, FLURUS oder Das zorstrte (Origa Das Musiktheatr ‘Original’ von Kartnlnz Stockhausen," Hstorsches ‘chi der Stadt Kale, interment, ‘ontrovers, experiment Das Atoer Mary Bavermeiste n Ka 1960-1962, (Cologne: Emons Verlag, 19), pp. 188-205, Karlin Stockhausen, Texte zur Musi vol 2 (Cologne: DuMont, 1964), . 108 Bauermlster, ch hange im Trikeatr, 1.91" conceived Orginal in 961 along ‘th hi, but hs was not pub made ear | was ony one af the eighteen ‘originals’ Stockhauson was the compo: 9 it was considered is pleco” authors ‘ransation, Bavermeister, Heine Kisus Metzger ard ‘others speak in reater deta about ‘Orga a shorten by Gregor Zoot avaiable on Youtube at itps/ww. youtube.com/vatchy=2AGxPQG99. More on her comple relationship with ‘Stocknausers wie, Doris, canbe found in Bavormesters memo eh hinge im) Tholengiter and in Pau Miler, "Review cof Mary Bavermeisto. fh ge im Tologiter: Moin Lebon it Karine ‘Stockhausen’ Twentieth Contry Music vol 9/12 (March 2012) 221-27 Katharina 5ykora, Das Phinomon des Seren der Kunst Aspokte enor sinsterechen Method von Monet bie zur ‘amerkanischen Pop Art (Wirzburg: Verlag Kongshausen + Neumann, 1989), 2 Karine Stockhausen "Gruppenkopo- ston: Klavirstck in Texte zur Msi {vo (Cologre: DuMont, 1963). 70. For example a tradtonal way to quantize the ptch continuum wast fic twee cquaty-spaced pitches within the musical Interval of an octave, 10 2 6 7 Liget cautioned those who interpreted serilism a a simple dalctc between “Wreedom and mechanical compestion” (Gyérgy Ligat, Piorre Boulet. Leo Black, no Fei # [Bryn Mawr Theodore Presser, 1960, pp 96-971 sarnenestocknausen & mary _bavormeister, xttion catalogue wth an introduction by Karine Stockhausen (Amsterdam: Stedolik Museum, 1962), catalog 31 Reprinted {in Gorman) in Karhonz Stocknausen, Texte zur Musi vol. 2, 9p. 67-68 ‘Stockhausen, Mary Bavermeister” in Teste zur Musi vol. 2, pp. 187-69, 1 tome Ko (this translation has not ‘been published aso his date. longer ‘exposition of Stockhauser's formal eategories canbe found in Karhoinz Stockhausen Etindung und Enideckung, in Texte zur Musi volt p. 280-51 Bauermeister's diagrams of the Magnetbiser can be foun in intermedia ontowes, experiment 0.145, bn Macone, Other Planets (Lanham. Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2005), p88. Stockhausen Texte zur Musi, ol 2, 16, Jerome Kohl his warsation has not been published as of this dat) ‘Bavermelste, hinge im Tenge, pp.78-79. Natioe Haron, "Werdsin a Box: Mary Bauermeisor and the Expormental Art ofthe Sintios"hitp-/farttorumcom/picks! 'd-2726;Wew=pent (accessed August 11,2014, Infact, Stockhausens Afra already ‘has some associton wih the lens box ‘concep, because Tookng through the ‘wansparent trip t the music behinds ‘much ke ooking into alens box. Much lator, Stockhausen pt actual music into bates when he designed the too Torres (1975-78) music boxes, ach cof whic plays a melody spectealy com posed fora zodiac sin, These melodies -‘were compose so they could be played ‘on wind-up music boxes, hich were custom bul by the fem Jean Rouge in ‘Sutzeand (Kachoine Stockhausen, Tete 24 Must vo 4 [Cologne Dutton, 1978, p.275) Stockhausen dedicated the melody virgo to Bavermesster and aynae Stephens, Stockhausen incorpo rates these melodies nto many other subsequent works 18 Atree:part Youtube vido of this is aval able one as of August 2014 The frst tenminutevdeoin the sores (race ‘by Peter Moore) canbe found thos ‘oryutube com/atch?y-KGpwaBAA- 98E (accossed August 20,2014). 20 Bavermeisternarates he entre epsode Incolortul etal a Bauermeiste, 2h fringe i Teclenaiter, pp. 159-73. 21 Reinhard Speer, ed, Works ns Box Mary Bavermestor and the Experimental ‘Art of the Stes, exhibition catalog, ‘il Hack Musoum (Ludwigshafen ‘am Rein 2010), p70, See also ‘Bavermeister/pantngs and constructions, ‘extbiton catalogue wth an introduction by Alan Solomon (Now York: Galria Bonino, 2d, 1965) 22 See Bauermeisterpintngs and constructions. exibition catalogue (Wow York: Goria Bonin, 1967) “The impressive ist of shows atthe back ofthis catalogue bears witness to the pid andimpressve success ‘Bauermeister achieved between 1965 ‘1967 nthe United States, 23 Macone, Other Planets,» 257. 24 The koa of cutting someting open to reveal another layer of act ids its ‘way eto ater Stockhausen work, Musik ln Bauch Musi in the Bey” 1975), Towards the end of is remarkable piece, suspended ie-size dos spit open, reveaing tee of the alocementoned Trerigls music boxes, hich are then wound up and played forthe audence 25 Stockhausen, Texte zur Musk 4 59 author’ ranlton. 26 A general etroduction can be found inFichard Toop, Sie Lectures fram the ‘Stockhausen Courses Kirtan 2002 (Karten Stockhausen Verlag, 2005) aso '0e Grogory ose and Simon Emmerson "Stockhausen Stinmung”in Gantact Po, 20 (Autumn 1979} 20-24 27 Toop, Si Lectures, 38 28 An example of Bauormostesone-ine ravings Unsere ménage-a-tois ‘oder die gotione un ce veriorne Generation (1963), Bauormester, ch hinge in Trent, plate 12. Hardly Lnique to he, singlstne drawing for ‘continuous line drawing? was ear ‘explored by Andre Masson (1298-1087), a surealst artist who executed several such drawings “automaticaly” Masson ‘son Diogo has performed many of Stocknausers musical woeks 23 Leopoldo Sano, Mary Bauermeister and Karieie Stockhausen: Between Muse and Viual Artin the Sint Iectre ‘von atthe 201 Stockhausen Cow's, Kurt (unubished manuscript) 90 Bauormeieter, eh range im Toto, 268 31 bi. 290, 32 The icon is a deratie ofthe Michast ‘symbol mentioned inthe Urana Book, Paper 5354 {88 See Theodor Adorno “Art andthe Arts” tr Rodey Lningston, in Can One Live -ttor Auschwit: A Philosophical Reader (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2003) and Larson Powel "The Mod lated Subject” p. 1 Sear 7 (sumer 2010) at itp/fwwsearchnowmusicarg (accessed August 1, 2014). ‘34 Heather Roche identtes these charac {erst as important in collaborative relatonships between composers and performers ner short essay ntiacy in Performer-Composer Relaionsies ‘The Dynamics af Colaborative Space, athitplverwacademiacdu/248068 (accessed August, 2018) Q7