Editing Henry Flynt

{{about||the British comic book artist|Henry Flint|the American antiques collector and museum founder, Henry Flynt|Historic Deerfield}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox person
|name          = Henry Flynt
|image         = Henry Flynt photo.jpg
|image_size    =
|caption       = Henry Flynt at the [[Cafe Oto]] in October 2008.
|birth_name    = 
|birth_date    = 1940
|birth_place   = [[Greensboro, North Carolina]]
|death_date    = 
|death_place   = 
|nationality   = 
|citizenship   =
|other_names   =
|known_for     =
|education     =
|alma_mater    = 
|occupation    = Philosopher, musician, visual artist, activist
|movement = [[Anti-art]], [[conceptual art#Origins|concept art]], [[nihilism]], [[avant-garde music]], [[downtown music]]
|website       = {{URL|henryflynt.org
}}
| module             = {{Infobox musical artist
| embed               = yes
| background          = musician
| years_active = 1960–1983, 2005–present
| genre =
| label               = Recorded, Locust, Superior Viaduct
| instrument          = Violin, guitar, voice
| associated_acts = [[Catherine Christer Hennix|C.C. Hennix]], [[Henry Flynt & the Insurrections]], Dharma Warriors, Nova'Billy, [[La Monte Young]], [[Walter De Maria]], [[the Velvet Underground]], [[Pran Nath (musician)|Pran Nath]]}}
}}

'''Henry Flynt''' (born 1940 in [[Greensboro, North Carolina]]) is an American philosopher, musician, writer, activist, and artist connected to the 1960s New York [[avant-garde]]. He coined the term "[[conceptual art#Origins|concept art]]" in the early 1960s, during which time he was associated with figures in the [[Fluxus]] scene.<ref>Wood, Paul, 2002. ''Conceptual Art'', London: Tate Publishing. Series: Movements in Modern Art, quoted in Schellekens, Elisabeth, "Conceptual Art", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Summer 2021 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2021/entries/conceptual-art/.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Higgins |first=Hannah |url=http://archive.org/details/fluxusexperience0000higg |title=Fluxus experience |date=2002 |publisher=Berkeley : University of California Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-520-22866-5}}</ref> He later received attention for his [[anti-art]] demonstrations against New York [[cultural institution]]s in 1963 and 1964.

Since 1983, he has focused on philosophical writing related to [[nihilism]], science, [[mathematical logic]], [[post-capitalist]] economics, and [[personhood]]. A number of his archival musical recordings, which fuse [[hillbilly music]] with [[avant-garde]] techniques, were released in the 2000s. He has collaborated with artists such as [[C.C. Hennix]], [[La Monte Young]], [[George Maciunas]], and [[John Berndt]].

==Background==
Henry Flynt was born and raised in [[North Carolina]], where he first studied classical [[violin]]. He became interested in [[logical positivism]] as a teenager, and later attended [[Harvard University]] on a scholarship, where he studied [[mathematics]] alongside companions [[Tony Conrad]] and John Alten. At Harvard, Flynt was introduced to [[jazz]] and the "New Music" of [[John Cage]] by graduate students [[Christian Wolff (composer)|Christian Wolff]] and [[Frederic Rzewski]],<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Grubbs |first=David |url=http://archive.org/details/recordsruinlands0000grub |title=Records ruin the landscape : John Cage, the sixties, and sound recording |date=2014 |publisher=Durham : Duke University Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-8223-5576-2}}</ref> and he also discovered [[country blues]] music through [[Samuel Charters]]'s [[The Country Blues (book)|1959 book on the subject]] at this time.<ref name="wire2004">{{cite journal |last1=Licht |first1=Alan |title=The Raga 'n' Roll Years |journal=[[The Wire (magazine)|The Wire]] |date=2004 |issue=248 |pages=26–28}}</ref> He soon dropped out and visited New York in 1960, where through Conrad he was introduced to [[La Monte Young]] and other figures in the city's [[avant-garde]] scene.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Adlington |first=Robert edt ctb |url=http://archive.org/details/soundcommitments00adli |title=Sound commitments : avant-garde music and the sixties |date=2009 |publisher=New York : Oxford University Press |others=The Archive of Contemporary Music |isbn=978-0-19-533664-1}}</ref> Young would dedicate his 1960 composition "X for Henry Flynt" to him.<ref name="wire">{{cite web |last1=Grubbs |first1=David |title=Read an excerpt from David Grubbs's Records Ruin The Landscape |url=https://www.thewire.co.uk/about/artists/henry-flynt/read_extract-from-david-grubbs_records-ruin-the-landscape |website=The Wire |access-date=27 July 2020}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Morse |first=Meredith |url=http://archive.org/details/softisfastsimone0000mors |title=Soft is fast : Simone Forti in the 1960s and after |date=2015 |publisher=Cambridge, MA : MIT Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-262-03397-8}}</ref> In 1960 and 1961, Flynt took part in the monthly concert series held at [[Yoko Ono]]'s [[Chambers Street (Manhattan)|Chambers Street]] loft.<ref name=":0" /> He moved permanently to New York in 1963.<ref name=":1" />

Flynt’s work developed from what he called "cognitive [[nihilism]]", a concept he first announced in the 1960 and 1961 drafts of a paper called ''Philosophy Proper.'' The concept derives from insights about the vulnerabilities of [[logic]] and mathematics, and aims to turn the principles of scientific [[positivism]] and [[analytical philosophy]] against themselves. Embracing [[Rudolf Carnap]]'s [[empiricism]] and his positivist critique of [[metaphysics]], Flynt concluded that science itself did not satisfy the syntactical criteria for empirical claims; he therefore set about developing a "radical empiricism" (or "radical unbelief") which undermined scientific systematization and much "avant-garde" art.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dzwonkoski and Kye Potter |first1=Julia |title=The Answer You Like is the Wrong Answer |url=https://waxidermy.com/blog/features/the-answer-you-like-is-the-wrong-answer-an-interview-with-henry-flynt/ |website=Waxidermy |access-date=9 September 2020 |date=2007}}</ref> Flynt refined these dispensations in the essay ''Is there language?'' that was published as ''Primary Study'' in 1964.

==Concept art and activism==
In 1961, Flynt coined the term "[[conceptual art#Origins|concept art]]"<ref>The Times literary Supplement, August 6th, 1964, p. 688 "Henry Flynt concept art" .</ref> in the proto-[[Fluxus]] book ''[[An Anthology of Chance Operations]]''<ref>Kristine Stiles & Peter Selz, ''Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists' Writings'' (Second Edition, Revised and Expanded by Kristine Stiles) University of California Press 2012, p. 955</ref> (co-published by [[Jackson Mac Low]] and La Monte Young), released in 1963,<ref>Flynt, Henry. [http://www.henryflynt.org/aesthetics/conart.html] "Essay: Concept Art. As published in ''An Anthology of Chance Operations'' (1963)</ref> alongside works by Fluxus artists such as [[George Brecht]] and [[Dick Higgins]]. Flynt's ''concept art'', he maintained, devolved from cognitive nihilism and described art in which the medium was [[concept]]s.<ref>[http://www.henryflynt.org/meta_tech/crystal.html Henry Flynt, "The Crystallization of Concept Art in 1961"]</ref> Drawing exclusively on the [[syntax]] of logic and mathematics, concept art was meant to surpass both mathematics and "serious" compositional practices by evacuating concepts of substance via [[logical paradox]]. Flynt maintained that, to merit the label ''concept art'', a work had to be a critique of logic or mathematics in which the material is a linguistic concept, a quality which he claims is absent from subsequent "conceptual art".<ref>Henry Flynt, "Concept-Art (1962)", Translated and introduced by Nicolas Feuillie, Les presses du réel, Avant-gardes, Dijon.</ref>

In 1962, Flynt began to campaign for an [[anti-art]] approach to the arts.<ref>Michel Oren (1993) Anti-Art as the End of Cultural History, [[Performing Arts Journal]], volume 15, issue 2.</ref> He advocated that [[avant-garde]] art and its institutions be superseded by the terms of ''veramusement'' and ''brend''—[[neologism]]s meaning (approximately) pure [[recreation]].<ref name=":1" /> As part of his campaign, he demonstrated against cultural institutions in [[New York City]] (such as [[MoMA]] and [[Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts]]) with [[Tony Conrad]] and [[Jack Smith (film director)|Jack Smith]] in 1963 and against the composer [[Karlheinz Stockhausen]] twice in 1964 (accusing Stockhausen of [[white supremacy]] and [[cultural imperialism]]).<ref>Interview with Henry Flynt in The Village Voice, September 10th, 1964, by Susan Goodman, "Anti-Art Pickets Pick on Stockhausen" .</ref> Flynt read publicly from his text, ''From Culture to Veramusment'', at [[Walter De Maria]]'s loft on February 28, 1963—an act which can, in hindsight, be considered [[performance art]]. In the mid 1960s, Flynt converted himself to [[Marxism]], joining the [[Workers World Party]],<ref name=":1" /> and published the article "Communists Must Give Revolutionary Leadership in Culture" in collaboration with [[George Maciunas]], criticizing the [[white supremacist]] cultural touchstones of the left-wing tradition and championing [[African-American music]]. From 1964 to 1966, Flynt wrote regularly for the WWP's ''[[Workers World (newspaper)|Workers World]]'' under the pseudonym "Harry Stone", and edited the newspaper briefly in 1965.<ref name=":1" /> He left the party in 1967 after becoming dissatisfied with the party's support of the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name=":1" />

In 1987 he revived his "concept art" for tactical reasons; and spent seven years in the art world.

==Music==
Henry Flynt is known for musical work that attempts to fuse [[hillbilly music]] with the [[avant-garde music|avant-garde]],<ref name=":0" /> often with him performing on violin or guitar.<ref name="wire"/>  Other influences included the [[free jazz]] of [[Ornette Coleman]]; [[rockabilly]] and [[country blues]] music; and the [[North Indian classical music]] he learned with singer [[Pandit Pran Nath]].<ref name="wire"/> With the exception of the 1981 German cassette ''You Are My Everlovin'/Celestial Power'', Flynt's recordings remained unreleased until the 21st century, via labels such as Recorded and Locust.<ref name="wire"/><ref>Kristine Stiles & Peter Selz, ''Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists' Writings'' (Second Edition, Revised and Expanded by Kristine Stiles) University of California Press 2012, p. 956</ref>

Flynt performed duets with [[La Monte Young]] in the 1960s, but recordings of these performances were rejected by [[Mainstream Records]] employee [[Earle Brown]] as being too unconventional for a classical label.<ref name="wire2004"/> In an early 1960s conversation with [[John Cage]], Flynt announced his intention to abandon "serious" modern composition and pursue music in the style of rock artists like [[Bo Diddley]] and [[Chuck Berry]], to which Cage expressed confusion.<ref name="wire2004"/> Flynt briefly performed violin with [[the Velvet Underground]] in 1966 as a fill-in for [[John Cale]], and received guitar lessons from [[Lou Reed]].<ref name="wire"/> In 1966, he recorded several rehearsal demo tapes with [[Walter De Maria]], [[Art Murphy]], and Paul Breslin in the [[garage rock]] band the Insurrections,<ref name=":1" /> which were later compiled and released in 2004 on [[Locust Music]] as ''[[I Don't Wanna (album)|I Don't Wanna]]''.<ref>Cope. J. "Henry Flynt & The Insurrections: I Don't Wanna." Julian Cope Presents Head Heritage. Julian Cope's Album of the Month. November, 2005. http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/albumofthemonth/henry-flynt-and-the-insurrections-i-dont-wanna</ref><ref>Beta, A. "Henry Flynt/Insurrections: I Don't Wanna." ''Pitchfork.'' Pitchfork Music Festival.com. Feb. 19, 2004. http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/3288-i-dont-wanna-with-the-insurrections/ {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150915070110/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/3288-i-dont-wanna-with-the-insurrections/ |date=September 15, 2015 }}</ref>

In 1974 and 1975, Flynt led the group Nova'Billy and recorded material spanning rock, [[jazz]], [[country music|country]], and [[funk]] that was later collected on ''Henry Flynt & Nova'Billy'' (Locust, 2007). With [[Catherine Christer Hennix]], Flynt formed the [[jazz-rock]] group Dharma Warriors in 1978, initially including [[Arthur Russell (musician)|Arthur Russell]] on keyboard.<ref name="wire2004"/> ''Dharma Warriors'' (Locust, 2008) showcases another meeting between Hennix & Flynt recorded in 1980 in Woodstock, New York. ''Purified by the Fire'', recorded in December 1981, features Hennix on tamboura and Flynt on electric violin and was released in 2005 on Locust.

Flynt's first CD release was a reissue of ''You Are My Everlovin'/Celestial Power'' on Recorded (curated by [[John Berndt]], and initiating the ''New American Ethnic Music'' series on that label), quickly followed by ''Spindizzy'' and ''Hillbilly Tape Music'' also on Recorded. Later Recorded released NAEM 4, ''Ascent to The Sun.''  Recently, Flynt's ''Glissando No. 1'' was published by Recorded (2010).

==Philosophy==
Flynt's philosophical writing attempts to sketch out a [[post-capitalist]], post-scientific civilization which would be at odds with the current civilization's values.<ref>{{cite web |title=Serpentine Cinema: Henry Flynt and Owen Land |url=https://www.serpentinegalleries.org/whats-on/serpentine-cinema-henry-flynt-and-owen-land/ |website=Serpentine Galleries |access-date=18 January 2021}}</ref> Flynt's early philosophical writings on logic and epistemology, including the 1961 draft of ''Philosophy Proper'', was published in [[Milan]] in the book ''Blueprint for a Higher Civilization'' (1975). Deriving broadly from his early arguments around "cognitive nihilism" and positivism, Flynt's work aims to overturn the dogmatic [[scientism]] and apparent coherence of contemporary scientific and mathematical discourse.<ref name="stewarthomesociety.org"/>

In the early 1970s, he returned to college to study [[communist economics]].<ref name="stewarthomesociety.org">{{cite web |last1=Home |first1=Stewart |title=Stewart Home Interviews Henry Flynt |url=https://www.stewarthomesociety.org/interviews/flynt.htm |website=Stewart Home Society |access-date=5 August 2020}}</ref> In the late 1970s, he organized several meetings on the "crisis in physics" in an attempt to identify the areas where modern science represses incoherent or irrational logics in order to propagate its "objective" worldview. From about 1980, Flynt has written on philosophy and [[economics]] in mostly unpublished papers,<ref name="wire"/> focusing on two concepts which did not achieve the notoriety of the early actions: his concepts of meta-technology<ref>[http://www.henryflynt.org/meta_tech/lessonsinmeta-t.html Henry Flynt, "Lessons in Meta-Technology"]</ref> and personhood theory.<ref>[http://www.henryflynt.org/person_world/pertheorysketch.html Henry Flynt, "Personhood Theory: A Sketch"]</ref> These concepts continue his work in sketching a worldview which would supersede scientific objectification and dissolve contemporary determinations of [[objective reality]].<ref name="manipulating">{{cite web |last1=Flynt |first1=Henry |title=Manipulating the Determination of Reality: A Treatise on Meta-Technology |url=http://www.vasulka.org/archive/Artists2/Flint/ManipulatingReality.pdf |website=Vasulka |access-date=26 February 2021}}</ref> Much of his writing is now available on his website.

==Relationship with Fluxus==
Because of his friendship and collaboration with [[La Monte Young]] and [[George Maciunas]], Flynt sometimes is linked to Fluxus. While Flynt himself describes Fluxus as his "publisher of last resort" (Flynt did permit Fluxus to publish his work, and took part in several Fluxus exhibitions) he claims no affiliation or interest in the Fluxus sensibility. In fact, he is a strong critic of the neo-Dada sensibility.<ref>Owen Smith (1998) Fluxus: The History of an Attitude, San Diego State University Press.</ref>

==Bibliography==
* Henry Flynt, (1975) ''Blueprint for a Higher Civilization'', Milano
* Henry Flynt, (1988) "Being=Space X Action: Searches for Freedom of Mind Through Mathematics, Art, and Mysticism", edited by Charles Stein, a special issue of Io (#41) on Henry Flynt and [[Catherine Christer Hennix]].
* Henry Flynt, "Concept-Art (1962)", Translated and introduced by Nicolas Feuillie, Les presses du réel, Avant-gardes, Dijon
* Henry Flynt,"Concept Art," in An Anthology, ed. [[La Monte Young]] (1st edition, New York, 1963)
* Henry Flynt, "Concept Art" (revised), in An Anthology, ed. La Monte Young (2nd edition, New York, 1970)
* Owen Smith (1998) [[Fluxus]]: The History of an Attitude, [[San Diego State University Press]]
* Christophe Levaux, (2015) ''Henry Flynt et la réinvention des racines culturelles'', tacet 4.
* [[Kristine Stiles]] & Peter Selz, [https://books.google.com/books?id=WXV-HlsUzdcC ''Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art: A Sourcebook of Artists' Writings''] (Second Edition, Revised and Expanded by Kristine Stiles) [[University of California Press]] 2012, reprinting of Henry Flynt, ''Concept Art'' (1961) pp.&nbsp;974–975.

==Discography==
*''You Are My Everlovin' / Celestial Power'', Hundertmark/Recorded (1986/2001; recorded 1980–81)
*''Graduation and Other New Country and Blues Music'', Ampersand (2001; recorded 1975–79)
*''Raga Electric'', Locust Music (2002; recorded 1963–71)
*''C Tune'', Locust Music (2002; recorded November 17, 1980)
*''Back Porch Hillbilly Blues, Volume 1'', Locust Music (2002)
*''Back Porch Hillbilly Blues, Volume 2'', Locust Music (2002)
*''New American Ethnic Music, Volume 2: Spindizzy'', Recorded Records (2002; recorded 1968–1983)
*''New American Ethnic Music, Volume 3: Hillbilly Tape Music'', Recorded Records (2003; recorded 1971–78, 2001)
*''[[I Don't Wanna (album)|I Don't Wanna]]'', Locust Music (2004; recorded 1966)
*''Purified by the Fire'', Locust Music (2005; recorded December 14, 1981)
*''Henry Flynt & Nova' Billy'', Locust Music (2007; recorded 1975)
*''New American Ethnic Music, Volume 4: Ascent to the Sun'', Recorded Records (2007; recorded December 2004)
*''Dharma/Warriors'', Locust Music (2008; recorded 1983)
*''Glissando No. 1'', Recorded Records (2011; recorded 1978–79)

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Wikiquote}}
*[http://www.henryflynt.org/ Henry Flynt Philosophy] Collection of Henry Flynt writings
*[https://www.moma.org/artists/35796 Works by Henry Flynt] at the [[Museum of Modern Art]]
*[http://www.ubu.com/sound/flynt.html Henry Flynt Interviewed by Kenneth Goldsmith on WFMU] February 26, 2004 (3 hours)
*[http://www.artnotart.com/fluxus/hflynt--.html Fluxus: Henry Flynt:ACTION AGAINST CULTURAL IMPERIALISM]
*[http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/aca_centers_hitchcock/NewsS05.pdf "Taking Henry Flynt Seriously" by Benjamin Piekut, ISAM Newsletter, Spring 2005]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20060619041641/http://citypaper.com/music/story.asp?id=8256 Baltimore City Paper article on Flynt's Spindizzy]
*[http://www.stewarthomesociety.org/interviews/flynt.htm Henry Flynt interview from 1989]
*[https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2ECD528CC3398AEB Henry Flynt in New York] (29 videos)
*[http://ubu.com/historical/young/index.html pdf file of An Anthology of Chance Operations (1963)] at [[UbuWeb]]
*[http://www.glissando.pl/index.php?s=czasopisma_opis&id=211&t=1 Does Anyone Remember Henry Flynt?: Conceptualism and Raga Rock]
*[http://www.headheritage.co.uk/unsung/albumofthemonth/1437 Julian Cope's review of Henry Flynt & the Insurrections - I Don't Wanna]

{{Fluxus}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flynt, Henry}}
[[Category:1940 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Musicians from Greensboro, North Carolina]]
[[Category:American male violinists]]
[[Category:Fluxus]]
[[Category:Avant-garde violinists]]
[[Category:Postmodern artists]]
[[Category:Artists from New York (state)]]
[[Category:Mass media theorists]]
[[Category:American conceptual artists]]
[[Category:American experimental musicians]]
[[Category:American noise musicians]]
[[Category:Postmodern theory]]
[[Category:Postmodernists]]
[[Category:20th-century American philosophers]]
[[Category:20th-century American classical composers]]
[[Category:Experimental composers]]
[[Category:Postmodern composers]]
[[Category:American male classical composers]]
[[Category:American classical composers]]
[[Category:American sound artists]]
[[Category:Pupils of Pran Nath (musician)]]
[[Category:21st-century American violinists]]
[[Category:Henry Flynt & the Insurrections members]]
[[Category:20th-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:21st-century American male musicians]]
[[Category:Locust Music artists]]
[[Category:Grimsley High School alumni]]