Kunst Als Lebenritual- Art as Living Ritual

In 1974 Dennis Oppenheim participated in a group exhibition with the Fireworks Sign "Narrow Mind"which was ignited on Monday, October 7 at 7:30 pm in a park in Graz, Austria. The fireworks armature and a photograph of the Fireworks Sign were then displayed in the gallery. Over the next few years a number of works that  used flare material to inscribe on land or function similarly, as a Fireworks Sign, were realized.   Shown is the plot diagram for the signs "Radicality" and "Pretty Ideas".

The initial exhibition concept for "Thought Collision Factories" at the Henry Moore Institute was for the show to  concentrate on works "(From the Firework Series)." The large installation pieces in this series developed out of the "Machineworks" that use industrial, mechanical and motorized elements in  a complex which the artist proposed as a metaphor for the inner workings of the mind in creative thought.  In 1980 the "Machineworks" were laced with fireworks turning each  sculpture "(From the Firework Series)" into "An Armature For Projection. " The light lines and  ricochet- the rockets,  fountains and flares depicted thought becoming airborne.

The Curator, Lisa Le Feurve expanded the focus of the show "Thought Collision Factories " to include these early flares pieces.   Three Fireworks Signs: "Narrow Mind," Mind Twist," "Mindless Less Mind" first done in 1975 at Artpark in  Lewiston,  New York were re-constructed,  ignited,  and  photographed. The armatures were shown in the reception  of the Henry Moore  Institute. 

Photos:  Dennis Oppenheim Studio, Henry Moore Institutt-  Jerry Hardman-Jones