Art's Birthday and the Hollywood Decca Dance

Description:

The Hollywood Decca Dance was an event held at the Elks Lodge, Los Angeles on the occasion of the 1,000,011 anniversary of Art’s Birthday. This tradition was started by French Fluxus artist Robert Filliou who declared on January 17, 1963, that Art had been born exactly 1,000,000 years prior when somebody dropped a dry sponge into a bucket of water. 

Organized by Image Bank, Lowell Darling, Willoughby Sharp, Ant Farm, General Idea, and Western Front core members, The Decca Dance consisted of a parody of the Academy Awards. Over 800 artists from across North America and Europe who were connected through the “Eternal Network” gathered in Hollywood to imagine their own constellation of success and celebrity. Hosted by Sharp and Darling, the program featured the Mail Art Awards Ceremony, wherein artists presented awards to each other for various categories of absurd achievements; as well as performances by Pascal, Dr. Brute and the Brute Saxes, Mr. Peanut, and the Shark Fin Dancers. 

Video documentation by Kerry Colonna and Kate Craig is available upon request.