Of his Happenings, Hansen once explained, “I only prepare the skeleton and then invite people to put meat on it and see what the animal looks like in the end.” In addition, Hansen created collages and found object assemblages made from burnt matches, cigarette papers and text ripped from Hershey Bar wrappers, often riffing on images of Venus.- artsy.net
The 1st Annual Outsiders Festival begins with an opening reception at the Provincetown Commons located at 46 Bradford Street on Thursday, May 8, 2025 at 7PM. The event is a Happening we have aptly titled, HERESY, honoring the legacy of early 1960s Provincetown gallerist and collage artist, Al Hansen. (The actual exhibit runs from April 30 – May13.)
We discovered Hansen via a 1964 Newsweek feature on Provincetown’s 50th anniversary celebration – fifty years of tradition vs. ignition – as an art colony. Hans Hofmann, an important teacher and artist based out of Provincetown is quoted, “I wish the Art Association (PAAM) a long existence and from time to time some healthy troublemakers which hold the creative spirit alive.” Hansen retorts, “The art Association is a great case of arteriosclerosis.”
Thus born was the inspiration for the Outsiders Festival.
Nobody seemed to know or remember who Al Hansen was or is but what we discovered is downright inspirational so we decided to share his story with the rest of the world.
It turns out that Al Hansen was born a troublemaker and storyteller. In the spirit of Provincetown provocateur and poet Harry Kemp, who was an early 20th century pioneer of a form of performance art which he called The Art of Spectacularism, a hybrid of self-mythos and media manipulation, Hansen (who died in 1995) left behind a legacy that was bigger than life.
As a soldier in Europe after WWII, he was struck by the surreal contrast between domesticity and devastation and his taste for gratuitous destruction developed. In bombed-out Frankfurt, billeted amidst the ruin, he became obsessed with a piano he saw in a fourth-floor apartment standing close to a gaping hole in the building. “I thought about that piano…while drinking and eating. I thought about it while fucking. I thought about it while jumping out of airplanes, while shooting machine guns, while on guard duty.” Finally finding courage and opportunity to push the piano off the edge, the spectacle of its fall and the sound of impact—“Tschwauuuuunnnngha! —It was wonderful” stayed with him and became a 1970 happening [Yoko Ono Piano Drop] and part of the growing legend of Al Hansen.
- – Al Hansen text ‘Al Hansen on Fluxus’ reprinted in “Beck & Al Hansen: Playing with matches”. Plug-In Editions/Smart Art Press [Vol.IV, No.40] 1998 [p.84]
On the front lawn of the Provincetown Commons, we will be disassembling an ancient Steinway upright piano to create sound sculptures and transforming the parts as a new piece of art. Musician Billy Hough begins the performance with his dissertation on the evolution of avant-garde piano performance pieces with a focus on John Cage. This performance begins at 7PM and continues until 10 PM.
Inside hangs objects representing his illustrious life and career. These objects are enhanced by Augmented Reality (AR) with the simple artivive app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.artivive&hl=en_US
The exhibit is accompanied by the collage works of collagists from the Provincetown art community curated by the co-founders of the modern Provincetown Collagist movement Karen Cappotto and James Ryan.
Collage Workshop with Karen Cappotto
Tuesday, May 6, 2025: 5:00 PM – 6:30 PM
Join Karen Cappotto, founding board member of The Commons and artist/gallery owner of RSVPtown in Provincetown, for an inspiring collage workshop. As part of her curation for Heresy, a collage show featuring over 40 local artists (April 30 – May 12), Karen will lead a hands-on workshop exploring the art of mixed media and collage.
https://www.provincetowncommons.org/commons-events/collage
The HERESY Afterparty begins at 10PM at the Gifford House Porch Bar with DJ Thunders.Posh.B.
DID YOU KNOW?
Al Hansen is the father of Andy Warhol Superstar Bibbe Hansen and grandfather of the rock star Beck?
Al Hansen was a member of the fringe art movement fluxus along with names like Yoko Ono and John Cage?
Al Hansen co-founded the Los Angeles punk club The Masque and managed seminal punk bands The Screamers and The Controllers?
Find out more at the 1st Annual Outsiders Festival May 8 – 11, 2025.
