In 1961, filmmaker Gene Bernofsky and artist

Clark Richert Clark Richert (May 3, 1941 – December 24, 2021) was an American contemporary artist largely known for his colorful geometric paintings, but whose practice included animation, video, intervention, happenings, and publishing. He also developed Dr ...

, art students from the

University of Kansas The University of Kansas (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Lawrence, Kansas, United States. Two branch campuses are in the Kansas City metropolitan area on the Kansas side: the university's medical school and hospital ...

, developed an art concept they called Drop Art or droppings. Informed by the "

happenings A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow in 1959 to describe a range of art-related events. History Origins Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happening" in t ...

" of

Allan Kaprow Allan Kaprow (August 23, 1927 – April 5, 2006) was an American performance artist, installation artist, painter, and assemblagist . He helped to develop the " Environment" and "Happening" in the late 1950s and 1960s, as well as their theory. ...

and the impromptu performances a few years earlier of

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and Extended technique, non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one ...

Robert Rauschenberg Milton Ernest "Robert" or "Bob" Rauschenberg (October 22, 1925 – May 12, 2008) was an American painter and graphic artist whose early works anticipated the Pop art movement. Rauschenberg is well known for his Combine painting, Combines (1954� ...

and

Buckminster Fuller Richard Buckminster Fuller (; July 12, 1895 – July 1, 1983) was an American architect, systems theorist, writer, designer, inventor, philosopher, and futurist. He styled his name as R. Buckminster Fuller in his writings, publishing more t ...

Black Mountain College Black Mountain College was a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Black Mountain, North Carolina. It was founded in 1933 by John Andrew Rice, Theodore Dreier, and several others. The coll ...

, Drop Art began when Richert and Bernofsky started painting rocks and dropping them from a loft roof onto the sidewalk of Lawrence Kansas's main drag — watching the reactions of passersby. Early Drop Art included such pieces as ''Egg Drop'' and ''Pendulum'' (pictured) . Drop Art eventually led to the creation of

Drop City Drop City was a counterculture artists' community that formed near the town of Trinidad in southern Colorado in 1960. Abandoned by 1979, Drop City became known as the first rural "hippie commune". Establishment In 1960, the four original foun ...

, an experimental artist's community founded in 1965 near Trinidad, Colorado. The intention was to create a live-in work of Drop Art. Image:is this a dropping?.jpg, ''Is this a Dropping?'', by Drop Artists, 1962, Mexico City Image:Pendulumx.jpg, ''Pendulum '', by Drop Artists, 1962, (recreation) Lawrence Kansas Image:"Pythagorean Tree".jpg, ''Pythagorean Tree'', by Drop Artists, 1967, acrylic on panel, 48" diam. Image:"The Ultimate painting".jpg, ''The Ultimate Painting'', by Drop Artists, 1966, acrylic on panel, 60"x60" Image:DropCity.jpg, Drop City, 1967 Image:Egg Drop.jpg, ''Egg Drop'', by Drop Artists, 1962, (recreation) Lawrence Kansas

References

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External links

Ruins of Drop City, Trinidad, Colorado
a print by Joel Sternfield
Clark Richert Website
Clark Richert Website {{Avant-garde Avant-garde art