Claes Oldenburg "Happenings": Ray Gun Theater 1962 1962

Overview

Early in 1962 Claes Oldenburg offered a remarkable series of ten 'Happenings' in a store on East Second Street in New York City. The audiences were kept small to heighten the intimacy of the experience. What is a 'Happening'? It would seem impossible to describe afterwards. Yet Raymond Saroff compressed the rich and sprawling imagery of each evening-length work to the essential matter in hand, reassembling a visual realization of what was seemingly consigned to the memories of its audience. All