Emmett Williams
- Introduction
- Emmett Williams (4 April 1925 – 14 February 2007) was an American poet and visual artist. He was married to British visual artist Ann Nöel. Williams was born in Greenville, South Carolina, grew up in Virginia, and lived in Europe from 1949 to 1966. Williams studied poetry with John Crowe Ransom at Kenyon College, anthropology at the University of Paris, and worked as an assistant to the ethnologist Paul Radin in Switzerland. As an artist and poet, Emmett Williams collaborated with Daniel Spoerri and German poet Claus Bremer in the Darmstadt circle of concrete poetry from 1957 to 1959. One of his notable pieces from this period is "Four-Directional Song of Doubt for Five Voices" (1957), in which five performers are each assigned one word of the phrase "You just never quite know", and say their word according to a grid on a card, keeping together with the beat of a metronome: when a black circle appears on the grid, the performer speaks the word, and when no circle appears they say nothing. In the resulting performance, the core phrase "you never quite know" is overshadowed by other combinations of words, such as "you know" and "quite just".In the 1960s, Williams was the European coordinator of Fluxus and worked closely with French artist Robert Filliou, and a founding member of the Domaine Poetique in Paris, France. Williams was friends with Václav Havel during his dissident years' he translated some of Havel's work into English. Williams was a guest artist in residence teaching at Mount Holyoke College from September 1975 to June 1976. Williams' theater essays appeared in Das Neue Forum, Berner Blatter, Ulmer Theater, and other European magazines. He translated Daniel Spoerri's Topographie Anecdotee du Hasard (An Anecdoted Topography of Chance), collaborated with Claes Oldenburg on Store Days, and edited An Anthology of Concrete Poetry, all published by the Something Else Press, which was owned and managed by fellow Fluxus artist Dick Higgins. From the mid-1960s through the early 1970s Williams was Editor in Chief of the Something Else Press. In 1991, Williams published an autobiography, My Life in Fluxus - And Vice Versa, published by Edition Hansjörg Mayer, Stuttgart, and reprinted the next year by Thames and Hudson. In 1996, he was honored for his life work with the Hannah-Höch-Preis. He died in Berlin in 2007. In 2014, Edition Zédélé published a reprint of SOLDIER (Reprint Collection, curated by Anne Moeglin-Delcroix and Clive Phillpot), first published in A Valentine for Noel (1973) by Something Else Press and Hansjörg Mayer.
- Wikidata
- Q719185
- Nationality
- American
- Gender
- Male
- Roles
- Artist, Writer, Singer, Poet, Performance Artist
- Name
- Emmett Williams
- Ulan
- 500085600
Exhibitions
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Judson Dance Theater: The Work Is Never Done
Sep 16, 2018–Feb 3, 2019
MoMA
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Yoko Ono: One Woman Show,
1960–1971 May 17–Sep 7, 2015
MoMA
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Making Music Modern: Design for Ear and Eye
Nov 15, 2014–Jan 18, 2016
MoMA
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There Will Never Be Silence: Scoring John Cage’s
4′33″ Oct 12, 2013–Jun 22, 2014
MoMA
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Hand Signals: Digits, Fists, and Talons
Apr 5–Sep 8, 2013
MoMA
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Emmett Williams has
11 exhibitionsonline.
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Emmett Williams Cellar Song for Five Voices c. 1960
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George Brecht, Emmett Williams, George Maciunas George Brecht's Word Event (1961), performed by Emmett Williams and George Maciunas during Fluxus/Musik og Anti-Musik/det Instrumentale Teater, Nikolai Kirke, Copenhagen, November 23, 1962 1962
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Philip Corner, Emmett Williams, George Maciunas, Benjamin Patterson, Dick Higgins, Alison Knowles Philip Corner's Piano Activities, performed by Philip Corner, George Maciunas, Emmett Williams, Benjamin Patterson, Dick Higgins, and Alison Knowles during Fluxus Internationale Festpiele Neuester Musik, Hörsaal des Städtischen Museums, Wiesbaden, Germany, September 1, 1962 1962
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Philip Corner, George Maciunas, Emmett Williams, Benjamin Patterson, Dick Higgins, Alison Knowles Philip Corner's Piano Activities, performed by Philip Corner, George Maciunas, Emmett Williams, Benjamin Patterson, Dick Higgins, and Alison Knowles during Fluxus Internationale Festpiele Neuester Musik, Hörsaal des Städtischen Museums, Wiesbaden, Germany, September 1, 1962 1962
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Philip Corner, Emmett Williams, Alison Knowles, George Maciunas, Dick Higgins, Benjamin Patterson Philip Corner's Piano Activities, performed by Philip Corner, George Maciunas, Emmett Williams, Benjamin Patterson, Dick Higgins, and Alison Knowles during Fluxus Internationale Festpiele Neuester Musik, Hörsaal des Städtischen Museums, Wiesbaden, Germany, September 1, 1962 1962
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Philip Corner, George Maciunas, Dick Higgins, Emmett Williams, Benjamin Patterson, Alison Knowles Philip Corner's Piano Activities, performed by Philip Corner, George Maciunas, Emmett Williams, Benjamin Patterson, Dick Higgins, and Alison Knowles during Fluxus Internationale Festpiele Neuester Musik, Hörsaal des Städtischen Museums, Wiesbaden, Germany, September 1, 1962 1962
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George Maciunas, Dick Higgins, Nam June Paik, Alison Knowles, Emmett Williams, George Maciunas, Benjamin Patterson George Maciunas' In Memoriam to Adriano Olivetti, performed during Concert No. 5, Fluxus Internationale Festspiele Neuester Musik, Städtisches Museum, Wiesbaden, September 8, 1962 1962
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George Maciunas, Nam June Paik, Alison Knowles, Emmett Williams, George Maciunas, Benjamin Patterson George Maciunas' In Memoriam to Adriano Olivetti, performed during Concert No. 5, Fluxus Internationale Festspiele Neuester Musik, Städtisches Museum, Wiesbaden, September 8, 1962 1962
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Daniel Spoerri, Daniel Spoerri, Emmett Williams Daniel Spoerri's Composition for Chairs and Tables, performed by Daniel Spoerri and Emmett Williams during Festival of Misfits, Institute of Contemporary Arts, London, October 24, 1962 1962
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Emmett Williams Alphabet Symphony 1962
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Emmett Williams Alphabet Symphony 1962
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Emmett Williams Alphabet Symphony, performed during Fluxus/Musik og Anti-Musik/det Instrumentale Teater, Nikolai Kirke, Copenhagen, November 23, 1962 1962
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Emmett Williams Alphabet Symphony 1962
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Emmett Williams Alphabet Symphony 1962
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Emmett Williams, Daniel Spoerri Emmett Williams' Counting Song and Daniel Spoerri's Hommage à l’Allemagne, performed during Festum Fluxorum/Fluxus/Musik und Antimusik/Das Instrumentale Theater, Staatliche Kunstakademie, Düsseldorf, February 2, 1963 1962
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Various Artists, George Brecht, Claus Bremer, Earle Brown, Joseph Byrd, John Cage, Anthony Cox, David Degener, Walter De Maria, Ding Dong, Henry Flynt, Simone Forti, Dick Higgins, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Terry Jennings, Ray Johnson, Jackson Mac Low, Richard Maxfield, Robert Morris, Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, Terry Riley, Dieter Roth, James Waring, Emmett Williams, Christian Wolff, La Monte Young An Anthology 1962
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George Brecht, Claus Bremer, Earle Brown, Joseph Byrd, John Cage, Anthony Cox, David Degener, Walter De Maria, Henry Flynt, Yoko Ono, Dick Higgins, Toshi Ichiyanagi, Terry Jennings, Dennis Johnson, Ding Dong, Ray Johnson, Jackson Mac Low, Richard Maxfield, Robert Morris, Simone Forti, Nam June Paik, Terry Riley, Dieter Roth, James Waring, Emmett Williams, Christian Wolff, La Monte Young An Anthology of chance operations, concept art, anti art, indeterminacy, plans of action, diagrams, music, dance constructions, improvization, meaningless work, natural disasters, compositions, mathematics, essays, poetry 1963
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Emmett Williams abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz 1963
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Various Artists, Ay-O, George Brecht, Congo (a Chimpanzee), Dick Higgins, Joe Jones, Alison Knowles, Takehisa Kosugi, Shigeko Kubota, György Sándor Ligeti, Jackson Mac Low, Benjamin Patterson, Mieko Shiomi, Ben Vautier, Robert Watts, Emmett Williams, La Monte Young Fluxus 1 1964
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Various Artists, George Brecht, Stanley Brouwn, Congo (a Chimpanzee), Sohei Hashimoto, Dick Higgins, Joe Jones, Alison Knowles, Takehisa Kosugi, Shigeko Kubota, György Sándor Ligeti, Jackson Mac Low, George Maciunas, Benjamin Patterson, Takako Saito, Tomas Schmit, Mieko Shiomi, Ben Vautier, Robert Watts, Emmett Williams, La Monte Young Fluxus 1 1964
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Emmett Williams 13 Variations 1965
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Various Artists, George Brecht, Stanley Brouwn, Congo (a Chimpanzee), Dick Higgins, Joe Jones, Alison Knowles, Takehisa Kosugi, Shigeko Kubota, György Sándor Ligeti, George Maciunas, Jackson Mac Low, Benjamin Patterson, Takako Saito, Mieko Shiomi, Ben Vautier, Robert Watts, Emmett Williams, La Monte Young Fluxus 1 1964
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Various Artists, Ay-O, George Brecht, Dick Higgins, Joe Jones, Alison Knowles, Nam June Paik, Benjamin Patterson, Mieko Shiomi, Ben Vautier, Emmett Williams, La Monte Young Fluxkit 1965
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Various Artists, Eric Andersen, Ay-O, George Brecht, Giuseppe Chiari, Congo (a Chimpanzee), Willem de Ridder, Anna Halprin, Dick Higgins, Allan Kaprow, Alison Knowles, Jirí Kolár, Arthur Köpcke, Jackson Mac Low, George Maciunas, Nam June Paik, Benjamin Patterson, Tomas Schmit, Mieko Shiomi, Ben Vautier, Robert Watts, Emmett Williams, La Monte Young Construction of European Mail-order Warehouse/Fluxshop 1984 construction after 1964-65 photograph
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Emmett Williams Four Directional Song of Doubt for Five Voices c. 1964
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Emmett Williams Six Variations on a Spoerri Landscape 1973
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Various Artists, Ay-O, George Brecht, Congo (a Chimpanzee), Robert Filliou, Anna Halprin, Hi Red Center, Takehisa Kosugi, Joe Jones, Allan Kaprow, Alison Knowles, Shigeko Kubota, György Sándor Ligeti, George Maciunas, Jackson Mac Low, Yoko Ono, Benjamin Patterson, Tomas Schmit, Mieko Shiomi, Ben Vautier, Robert Watts, Emmett Williams, La Monte Young Fluxus 1 c. 1976
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Emmett Williams Selected Shorter Poems 1950-1970 1978
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Keith Godard, Emmett Williams Holdup 1980
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Eric Andersen, Joseph Beuys, John Cage, Philip Corner, Robert Filliou, Ken Friedman, Juan Hidalgo, Dick Higgins, Milan Knížák, Alison Knowles, Walter Marchetti, Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, Ben Vautier, Wolf Vostell, Robert Watts, Emmett Williams, La Monte Young, Various Artists Fluxus Anthology 1989
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Emmett Williams Untitled 2001
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