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No Show



Robert Filliou
3 No-Plays, 1964
No-Play #1

This is a play that nobody must come and see. That is, the not-coming of anyone makes the play. Together with the very extensive advertising of the spectacle through newspapers, radio, T.V., private invitations, etc. ...

No one must be told not to come.

No one should be told that he really shouldn't come.

No one must be prevented from coming in any way whatsoever!!!

But nobody must come, or there is no play.

That is, if the spectators come, there is no play. And if no spectators come, there is no play either ... I mean, one way or the other there is a play, but it is a No-Play.

No-Play #2

In this No-Play, time/space is of the essence. It consists of a performance during which no spectator becomes older. If the spectators become old3r from the time they come to the performance to the time they leave, then there is no play. That is to say, there is a play, but it is a No-Play.




Ben Vautier
BEN N'EXPOSE PAS, 1966
"DU 18 JUIN 1966 AU 18 SEPTEMBRE 1966,
BEN
N'EXPOSE PAS À LA GALERIE "J",
8, RUE MONTFAUCON, PARIS 6."
PERSONNE, 1966
"Le Centre d'Art Total donnera le 16 Juin 1966 à l'Artistique, 22, Boulevard Dubouchage à Nice, une pièce d'Art Total Fluxus intitulée "PERSONNE". Le rideau se lèvera à 21 h 30 précises et tombera à 22 h 30 précises. Absolument personne ne sera admis à assister à la représentation."


       
    


Daniel Buren

"Closed show." Galerie Appolinaire, Milano, 1968.

[Gallery doors sealed with green-white stripes.]

 




Robert Barry
Closed Gallery Piece, 1969
"During the exhibition the gallery will be closed."


Stefan Brueggemann

No Programme, 2001
 
 





Sources

Robert Filliou: A Filliou Sampler. Great Bear Pamphlet. New York: Something Else Press, 1967, p. 14.

Lucy R. Lippard: Six Years: The dematerialization of the art object from 1966 to 1972. London: Studio Vista, 1973, p. 53.