Miriam Karraker on the Collaborative Process

A few years ago I was looking at some book on Fluxus, I can’t remember which, and haven’t been able to shake my interest in happenings and event scores since. I started writing scores to bridge a disconnect I felt between my writing and performance practices—I needed a mode to document work I’d already done, and to speculate on future scenarios.

An event score can be performed, or it can remain a text; the reader has the option (but not the obligation) to perform. When I write a score, I’m trying to strike a balance between structure and play. When someone encounters a prompt or set of instructions, what choices will they make? What gestures are accessible to them; what materials are available?

With an open form, the possibility for iteration and improvisation is exciting, but I’m equally interested in the reader’s decision not to perform, the power of that refusal. When someone reads a score, they may or may not envision themself as a performer, which is itself a decision about how the piece is or isn’t actualized. The option to refuse participation is inherent to the event score’s design, resulting in a scenario where refusal and acceptance of the prompt are shown to be collaborative acts.