M HKA Ensembles

Assemblage, 83.7 × 59.8 cm.

Collection: Collection Andersch, Neuss.

Excerpt of the conversation between Robert Filliou (RF) and Irmeline Lebeer (IL), Flayosc, France, August 1976.

IL: ‘When, in 1963, on top of the morning, I improvised the Whispered Art History, I began: “It all started a 17th of January, one million years ago…”’

RF: I don’t think there’s any reason to change it. I don’t see what you have in mind.

IL: Well, since we’re making a dictionary, we could…

RF: We won’t begin with that. We begin the dictionary like this: ‘Art’s Birthday.’ We have that straight away, and then this, and then that. We don’t put only the letter. We put everything. That’s ‘Art’s Birthday’.

IL: So: ‘“Art’s Birthday”, first celebrated time in Aachen in 1973…’

RF: See, here we could have the poster for instance. We write ‘first celebrated’ because I also want to mention that it was celebrated in many other places. In 1974 in Canada and in 1974–1976 Robin Crozier celebrated it every year, in Sunderland in England. Each time he sends me documents. I have boxes filled to the brim with the papers he sends me. It was also celebrated in Portugal. But I’ll talk about all that some other time. I’ll try to find a few photos, but the text is good.