Discussing the latest iteration of his 1958 composition “Trio For Strings” with the New York Times pioneering Minimalist LaMonte Young said: “It’s the way it really should have been, and can be, and will be.” HELLO!
Young was an important member of the Fluxus (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluxus) movement, an arts scene that stressed cross-disciplinary work and that influenced, and was influenced in turn by a New York City underground arts world that included Yoko Ono, seminal filmmaker Jack Smith, George Maciunas, film distributor/preservationist Jonas Mekas, poet/filmmaker Ira Cohen, art-polymath/magician/EGC Bishop Harry Smith and Angus MacLise.
MacLise played with Young’s Theater of Eternal Music and left with viola player John Cale to help found the Velvet Underground; MacLise also co-founded a publishing house with Ira Cohen printing works of experimental poetry, prose and art, often with spiritual themes. He also had a trio with Hymenaeus Beta, Father Yod’s Jam Band.
There was a clear overlap between the burgeoning magical community and the art world at this place and time (reading through Equinox Volume III, No. 10 and American Magus — a collection of essays about Smith — makes the overlap clear).
In recent memory, OTO members did guerilla several rituals at Young’s Dream House (http://www.melafoundation.org/dream02.htm) and on one occasion, LaMonte walked in on one, looked around, nodded and walked out grinning.
Read the entire NY Times piece: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/23/arts/music/la-monte-young-is-still-patiently-working-on-a-glacial-scale.html?_r=0
