Benjamin Patterson

Benjamin Patterson (Pittsburgh, May 29, 1934 – Wiesbaden, Juni 25, 2016) was an American artist. He lived and worked in Wiesbaden (Germany). The artistic work of BENJAMIN PATTERSON, who was co-organizer of the Wiesbaden Fluxus Festival and initial member of FLUXUS, combines music, composition, performance, objects, found materials, autobiographic and socio-political issues in unique way.

About Benjamin Patterson

Patterson was classical trained on the double-bass, but in the late 1950s it was difficult to find work as a black musician. After a brief career he settled in Cologne around 1960.

In his book Postface Dick Higgins wrote:”We in The States didn’t know that already that time Benjamin Patterson was beginning to do marvelous things in Cologne, such as the Paper Piece for Five Performers, the Sextet from Lemons, and the pieces in Methods and Processes”.

In September 1962 Ben Patterson was one of the organisers of the first FLUXUS Festival in Wiesbaden. His pieces were performed during the series of Fluxus concerts George Maciunas organised in Europe in 1962-63.

In 2003 he participated in the Centraal Fluxus Festival in Utrecht and Amsterdam.

Three years later he performed his composition My Tone, Your Tone, His Tone, Her Tone in Galerie A, Amsterdam.

On December 1, 2012 his legendary Licking Piece (‘Cover shapely female with whipped cream. Lick’) was executed during a Fluxus Dinner at the CultClub in Amsterdam.