ONE SELF PORTRAIT EVERY DAY in 2020 : 281 

In 2006 I organised my first Susak Expo, the idea was to organise something that looked like an international art fair but that wasn’t. A quarter page advert was placed in Frieze magazine to “validate” it. The idea would be to have a space and time for artists to get together and be. Making ‘art’ objects or works would be secondary.

Performances, a paintings, sculptures, poems, photographs, songs would be interesting bi-products but the main thing would be having a time open for exchange and conversation. I like to imagine art taking place and then what is left are art droppings which act as a reminder to the art that has been.

The first expo didn’t go smoothly, 32 artists took part and some where unhappy because they expected more organisation and direction and I’m sure I was at fault for not being clear enough about what the expo was about. By 2018 (the 7th expo) things were just right. Unfortunately Susak Expo 2020 had to be cancelled but I am hoping that things will be OK for Susak Expo 2020 to take place in May 2021.

So, in early 2006 I was researching for similar things to the expo I had in mind and I came across an artist called Tom Marioni, he was a kind of precursor to relational aesthetics “craze”, in the 1970s he did a series of works called “The Act of Drinking Beer is the Highest Form of Art” where he would invite friends to a gallery or museum space and they would drink beer together, then for the rest of the exhibition, the empty beer bottles would be displayed.

Anyway, in January 1980 he invited 37 people to spend time together on the Pacific island of Ponape. He asked 12 artists to prepare a 12 minute talk / reading / performance that were given in the evenings before and after dinner. The days were spent exploring.

The twelve talks were published by Crown Point Press in a 3 LP (vinyl) box set (two talks per side). The 12 artists were Laurie Anderson, Chris Burden, Daniel Buren, John Cage, Bryan Hunt, Joan Jonas, Robert Kushner, Brice Marden, Tom Marioni, Pat Steir, Marina Abramović and Ulay, William T. Wiley.

I wanted to find these recordings but I couldn’t find them online (apart from John Cage’s one) so I tried to buy the box set one eBay and Abe books but they were too expensive ranging from $300 to almost $1000 for the ones in mint condition. I then saw that Crown Point Press still existed and that they had the box set for sale on their website for $35. I got it a few weeks later and its beautiful, the albums are in white vinyl and has an LP size booklet with photos from the event. It was crazy to think that people were selling second-hand ones for so much money when you could still buy brand new ones for a fraction of the cost.

I have just checked the website and they are still for sale but now for 75$.

https://store.crownpoint.com/…/vision-4-word-of-mouth-1980

Here is the audio for John Cage’s talk:

https://www.mixcloud.com/…/vision-4-word-of-mouth-1980…/

One more thing, around that time I was talking to Bruce McLean about the would be Susak Expo, about Ponape and Tom Marioni and he told me that he knew him and that they had an argument. I wish I could remember more clearly what he told me or that I had written it down but I remember that he was with him (and I think other people too) that they had a lot to drink, they had an argument which became a bit of a fist fight.

I AM STILL ALIVE

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