Joe Jones (1934–1993) was an American

avant-garde music Avant-garde music is music that is considered to be at the forefront of innovation in its field, with the term "avant-garde" implying a critique of existing aesthetic conventions, rejection of the status quo in favor of unique or original elem ...

ian associated with

Fluxus Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers, and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental performance art, art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finishe ...

, especially known for his creation of rhythmic

minimal music Minimal music (also called minimalism)"Minimalism in music has been defined as an aesthetic, a style, and a technique, each of which has been a suitable description of the term at certain points in the development of minimal music. However, two ...

machines.

Early life and career

Joe Jones was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

in 1934. He grew up in

Greenpoint, Brooklyn Greenpoint is the northernmost neighborhood in the New York City borough of Brooklyn. It is bordered on the southwest by Williamsburg at Bushwick Inlet Park and McCarren Park; on the southeast by the Brooklyn–Queens Expressway and East ...

and received a

classical music Classical music generally refers to the art music of the Western world, considered to be #Relationship to other music traditions, distinct from Western folk music or popular music traditions. It is sometimes distinguished as Western classical mu ...

al education at Hartnett Music School in

. In the late 1950s he began a short career as a

jazz drummer Jazz drumming is the art of playing percussion (predominantly the drum kit, which includes a variety of drums and cymbals) in jazz styles ranging from 1910s-style Dixieland jazz to 1970s-era jazz fusion and 1980s-era Latin jazz. The techniques an ...

. In 1960 Jones began to study

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

experimental composition first briefly with

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 ...

, and then

Earle Brown Earle Brown (December 26, 1926 – July 2, 2002) was an American composer who established his own formal and notational systems. Brown was the creator of "open form," a style of musical construction that has influenced many composers since, ...

. Through these associations he formed an artistic alliance with

Dick Higgins Dick Higgins (15 March 1938 – 25 October 1998) was an American artist, composer, art theorist, poet, publisher, printmaker, and a co-founder of the Fluxus international artistic movement (and community). Inspired by John Cage, Higgins was ...

Alison Knowles Alison Knowles (born 1933) is an American visual artist known for her installations, performances, soundworks, and publications. Knowles was a founding member of the Fluxus movement, an international network of artists who aspired to merge diffe ...

and

La Monte Young La Monte Thornton Young (born October 14, 1935) is an American composer, musician, and performance artist recognized as one of the first American minimalist composers and a central figure in Fluxus and post-war avant-garde music. He is best k ...

Fluxus

Jones first started experimenting with mechanical instruments in 1962, creating objects like musical boats, solar music umbrellas and a pedaled vehicle that pulled handmade instruments on wheels called ''The Longest Pull Toy in the World''.Obituaries, New York Times, 2/18/1993 "Joe Jones, an Artist With a Musical Bent and an Inventor, 58" The following year his works were exhibited at the

Betty Parsons Betty Parsons (born Betty Bierne Pierson, January 31, 1900 – July 23, 1982) was an American artist, art dealer, and collector known for her early promotion of Abstract Expressionism. She is regarded as one of the most influential and dynamic f ...

Gallery in New York City. Beginning in 1963 Jones participated in the

art movement, taking part in a number of Fluxus

performance art Performance art is an artwork or art exhibition created through actions executed by the artist or other participants. It may be witnessed live or through documentation, spontaneously developed or written, and is traditionally presented to a pu ...

activities with his

automaton An automaton (; : automata or automatons) is a relatively self-operating machine, or control mechanism designed to automatically follow a sequence of operations, or respond to predetermined instructions. Some automata, such as bellstrikers i ...

-like music machines that were made from found ready-made instruments.
Interview with Joe Jones by Nakagawa Shin (1992) In 1963 he performed his mechanical

noise music Noise music is a genre of music that is characterised by the expressive use of noise. This type of music tends to challenge the distinction that is made in conventional musical practices between musical and non-musical sound. Noise music include ...

at the ''Yam Festival'' in

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

and a year later he performed again at the Avant-garde music festival in New York City. He created many automaton drum machine exhibitions and art actions in New York City and

Nice, France Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department in France. The Nice urban unit, agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million

during this period.

Tone Deaf Music Store

In 1969 Jones opened his own ''Tone Deaf Music Store'' (aka ''Joe Jones Music Store'' and/or ''JJ Music Store'') at 18 N. Moore Street in New York City. There he presented his repetitive

drone Drone or The Drones may refer to: Science and technology Vehicle * Drone, a type of uncrewed vehicle, a class of robot ** Unmanned aerial vehicle or aerial drone *** Unmanned combat aerial vehicle ** Unmanned ground vehicle or ground drone ** Unma ...

music machines in the window so that anyone could press the numerous door buttons to play the machine

in the window. He also gave small musical installation performances by himself and musicians such as

Yoko Ono Yoko Ono (, usually spelled in katakana as ; born February 18, 1933) is a Japanese multimedia artist, singer, songwriter, and peace activist. Her work also encompasses performance art and filmmaking. Ono grew up in Tokyo and moved to New York ...

and

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer-songwriter, musician and activist. He gained global fame as the founder, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the Beatles. Lennon's ...

, among others there. After Jones moved out of this store-loft space, it became the art studio of

archivist and artist

Joseph Nechvatal Joseph Nechvatal (born January 15, 1951) is an American post-conceptual digital artist and art theoretician who creates computer-assisted paintings and computer animations, often using custom computer viruses. Life and work Joseph Nechva ...

, then the once

Theatre of Eternal Music The Theatre of Eternal Music (later sometimes called The Dream Syndicate) was an avant-garde musical group formed by La Monte Young in New York City in 1962. The first group (1962–1964) of performers consisted of La Monte Young, Marian Zazee ...

member

Jon Hassell Jon Hassell (March 22, 1937 – June 26, 2021) was an American trumpet player and composer. He was best known for developing the concept of "Fourth World" music, which describes a "unified primitive/futurist sound" combining elements of various w ...

and finally

video Video is an Electronics, electronic medium for the recording, copying, playback, broadcasting, and display of moving picture, moving image, visual Media (communication), media. Video was first developed for mechanical television systems, whi ...

artist

Bill Viola William John Viola Jr. ( , ; January 25, 1951 – July 12, 2024) was an American video artist whose artistic expression depended upon electronic, sound, and image technology in new media. His works focus on the ideas behind fundamental human ...

, before being merged into Walkers Restaurant.

Work with Yoko Ono and John Lennon

From April 18 to June 12, 1970,

and

(aka

Plastic Ono Band The Plastic Ono Band was a rock band and Fluxus-based artist collective''John & Yoko/Plastic Ono Band'' book by Yoko Ono and John Lennon, published by Thames & Hudson Ltd, October 2020, pp. 17-19 formed by John Lennon and Yoko Ono in 1968-9 fo ...

) presented a series of Fluxus art events and concerts at the Tone Deaf Music Store called ''GRAPEFRUIT FLUXBANQUET''. It was promoted with a poster designed by Fluxus leader

George Maciunas George Maciunas (; ; November 8, 1931 Kaunas – May 9, 1978 Boston, Massachusetts) was a Lithuanian American artist, art historian, and art organizer who was the founding member and central coordinator of Fluxus, an international community of ...

. Performances included ''Come Impersonating John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Grapefruit Banquet'' (April 11–17) by George Maciunas,

Yoshimasa Wada Yoshimasa "Yoshi" Wada (11 November 1943 – 18 May 2021) was a Fluxus-related Japanese sound art installation artist and new music musician who lived in New York City before moving to San Francisco, California. Life Born in Japan, after movi ...

, Nye Ffarrabas (then known as Bici Hendricks),

Geoffrey Hendricks Geoffrey Hendricks (July 30, 1931 in Littleton, New Hampshire – May 12, 2018) was an American artist associated with Fluxus since the mid 1960s. He was professor of art at Douglass College, Rutgers University, where he taught from 1956 to 2003 a ...

, and

Robert Watts Robert Watts (23 May 1938 – 30 September 2024) was a British film producer who was best known for his involvement with the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' film series. Career Watts began working in the film industry in 1960, after two ye ...

; ''Do It Yourself'' (April 11–17) by Yoko Ono; ''Tickets by John Lennon + Fluxagents'' (April 18–24) with Wada,

Ben Vautier Benjamin Vautier (; 18 July 1935 – 5 June 2024), also known mononymously as Ben, was a French visual artist. Early life Benjamin Vautier was born on 18 July 1935 in Naples, Italy, to a French family. He was the great-grandson of the Swiss p ...

and Maciunas; ''Clinic by Yoko Ono + Hi Red Center'' (April 25-May 1); ''Blue Room by Yoko + Fluxmasterliars'' (May 2–8); ''Weight & Water by Yoko + Fluxfiremen'' (May 9–15); ''Capsule by Yoko + Flux Space Center'' (May 16–22) with Maciunas,

Paul Sharits Paul Jeffrey Sharits (February 7, 1943, Denver, Colorado—July 8, 1993, Buffalo, New York) was a visual artist, best known for his work in experimental, or avant-garde filmmaking, particularly what became known as the structural film movement, al ...

George Brecht George Brecht (August 27, 1926 – December 5, 2008), born George Ellis MacDiarmid, was an American conceptual artist and avant-garde composer, as well as a professional chemist who worked as a consultant for companies including Pfizer, Johnso ...

Ay-O Takao Iijima (born May 19, 1931), better known by his art name Ay-O (靉嘔 ''Ai Ō''), is a Japanese avant-garde visual and performance artist who has been associated with Fluxus since its international beginnings in the 1960s. Biography Earl ...

, Ono, Watts, John Cavanaugh; ''Portrait of

as a Young Cloud by Yoko + Everybody'' (May 23–29); ''The Store by Yoko + Fluxfactory'' (May 30-June 5), with Ono, Maciunas, Wada, Ay-O; and finally ''Examination by Yoko + Fluxschool'' (June 6–12) with Ono, Geoffrey Hendricks, Watts,

Mieko Shiomi was a Japanese amateur photographer in Shōwa era Japan. Life Shiomi was born in Osaka, and graduated from Shimizudani Girls' High School in 1927 (Shōwa 2). Shiomi joined the Tampei Photography Club in 1948, and thereafter joined two othe ...

and

Robert Filliou Robert Filliou (17 January 1926 – 2 December 1987) was a French artist associated with Fluxus, who produced works as a filmmaker, action poet, sculptor, and happenings maestro. Life In 1943, Filliou became a member of the French Communis ...

. In 1971 Jones participated in the making of the album ''Fly'' with Lennon and Ono. Jones made automated instruments for Ono's recordings "Don't Count The Waves", "You", and "Airmale" that appear on ''Fly'' and the ''

Onobox ''Onobox'' is a 1992 comprehensive 6-disc collection of Yoko Ono's work from 1968 to 1985. The discs are grouped by era and theme. Disc one centers around the albums ''Fly'' and '' Yoko Ono/Plastic Ono Band'', while Disc two features nearly the e ...

''. Photos of these automated instruments can be seen in the gatefold of ''Fly''. Jones also co-founded the ''Fluxus-Airline'' with

Move to Europe

Soon after, Jones left New York for Europe; living in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

Asolo Asolo () is a town and ''comune'' in the Veneto, Veneto Region of northern Italy. It is known as "The Pearl of the province of Treviso", and also as "The City of a Hundred Horizons" for its mountain settings. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'It ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

, and finally

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

and continued to exhibit worldwide in galleries and museums. Since the mid-1980s Jones produced short

digital art Digital art, or the digital arts, is artistic work that uses Digital electronics, digital technology as part of the creative or presentational process. It can also refer to computational art that uses and engages with digital media. Since the 1960 ...

films on computer that he called ''Fluxus-Home-Movies''. His 1989 book ''My first book of computer drawings: Joe Jones music machines, 1962-1989'' was published by Rainer Verlag in

. Jones also devised larger

orchestra An orchestra (; ) is a large instrumental ensemble typical of classical music, which combines instruments from different families. There are typically four main sections of instruments: * String instruments, such as the violin, viola, cello, ...

-like installations with his music machines called ''Solar Orchestras'' that would perform automatically as the sun came up until the sun went down, powered by

solar power Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to c ...

. In 1988 his works could be seen at the

Museum Ludwig Museum Ludwig, located in Cologne, Germany, houses a collection of modern art. It includes works from Pop Art, Abstract and Surrealism, and has one of the largest Picasso collections in Europe. It holds many works by Andy Warhol and Roy Lic ...

Cologne Cologne ( ; ; ) is the largest city of the States of Germany, German state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with nearly 1.1 million inhabitants in the city pr ...

and in 1992-93 there was a touring exhibition of his work with stops in

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

, and

Wuppertal Wuppertal (; ) is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, in western Germany, with a population of 355,000. Wuppertal is the seventh-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia and List of cities in Germany by population, 17th-largest in Germany. It ...

Death

Jones died in

in 1993.Joe Jones, an Artist With a Musical Bent And an Inventor, 58. New York Times Feb. 18, 1993

References

Bibliography

* Owen Smith (1998)

: The History of an Attitude,

San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a Public university, public research university in San Diego, California, United States. Founded in 1897, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CS ...

Press * Block, René, ed. 1962 Wiesbaden Fluxus 1982. Wiesbaden (BRD): Harlekin Art; Wiesbaden: Museum Wiesbaden and Nassauischer Kunstverein; Kassel: Neue Galerie der Staatliche, 1982. * Friedman, Ken, ed. The Fluxus Reader. Chicester, West Sussex and New York: Academy Editions, 1998. * Gray, John. Action Art. A Bibliography of Artists’ Performance from

Futurism Futurism ( ) was an Art movement, artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such as the ...

to Fluxus and Beyond. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press, 1993. * Hendricks, Geoffrey, ed. Critical Mass,

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 ...

, Fluxus, performance,

intermedia Intermedia is an art theory term coined in the mid-1960s by Fluxus artist Dick Higgins to describe the strategies of interdisciplinarity that occur within artworks existing between artistic genres. It was also used by John Brockman to refer to ...

and

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

1958–1972. Mason Gross Art Galleries, Rutgers, and Mead Art Gallery, Amherst, 2003. * Hendricks, Jon. Fluxus Codex. New York: Harry N. Abrams, Inc. 1989. * Jon Hendricks, ed. Fluxus, etc.: The Gilbert and Lila Silverman Collection. Bloomfield Hills, Michigan: Cranbrook Museum of Art, 1982. * Higgins, Hannah. Fluxus Experience. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2002. * Kellein, Thomas. Fluxus. London and New York: Thames and Hudson, 1995. * ''Fluxus y Di Maggio''. Museo Vostell Malpartida, 1998, . * Milman, Estera, ed. Fluxus: A Conceptual Country, 'Visible Language'', vol. 26, nos. 1/2">Visible_Language.html" ;"title="'Visible Language">'Visible Language'', vol. 26, nos. 1/2Providence: Rhode Island School of Design, 1992. * Moren, Lisa. Intermedia. Baltimore, Maryland: University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 2003. * Paull, Silke and Hervé Würz, eds. ''How we met or a microdemystification''. Saarbrücken-Dudweiler (Germany) 1977, Engl.-German, AQ 16, Incl. a bibliography by Hanns Sohm. * Phillpot, Clive, and Jon Hendricks, eds. Fluxus: Selections from the Gilbert and Lila Silverman Collection. New York:

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, 1988. * Schmidt-Burkhardt, Astrit. Maciunas’ Learning Machine from

Art History Art history is the study of Work of art, artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Tradit ...

to a Chronology of Fluxus. Detroit, Michigan: Gilbert and Lila Silverman Fluxus Collection, 2005.

Discography

* Joe Jones, ''In Performance'', Harlekin Art Records, LP, 1977, Liner Notes by

* Joe Jones, ''Fluxus Is Dead'', Freibord, cassette, 1980, with cardboard box, produced in an edition of 100, numbered and stamp-signed * Joe Jones, ''Solar Music Tent'', Tone-Deaf Music (Joe Jones Self-released), cassette, 1982 * Joe Jones, ''Solar Music, April 20, 1983'', Hundertmark Editions, CD, Edition of 500 * Joe Jones, ''A Garden Party'', Edition Telemark, LP, 2016, Recorded in Erik Andersch's garden in

26 June 1983. Produced in an edition of 200 in gate-fold PVC sleeve including a book, poster and postcard. The book was originally released by Jones in 1987 in an edition of 15. The audio recording was previously unreleased. * Joe Jones, ''Back and Forth, Exhibition Sound, 31.8.1985'', Hundertmark Editions, CD, Edition of 500 * Joe Jones, ''Meditations'', Tone-Deaf Music (Joe Jones Self-released) cassette & LP, 1989 * Joe Jones, ''Xylophone'', Hundertmark Editions, CD, Edition of 500 * Joe Jones, ''Solar Music at Sierksdorf, Ostsee'', Hundertmark Editions, CD, Edition of 500 * Joe Jones, ''Solar Music #5'', Tone-Deaf Music (Joe Jones Self-released), CD, 2001 * Joe Jones, ''Solar Music Tent'', Edition Telemark, LP, 2018 * Joe Jones, ''Meditations 18.2'', Slowscan, LP, 2001

External links

Archivio Coz

Joe Jones "Flux Music Box"

Interview with Joe Jones by Nakagawa Shin (1992)

mp3s of music by Joe Jones at

UbuWeb UbuWeb is a "a pirate shadow library consisting of hundreds of thousands of freely downloadable avant-garde artifacts." It offers visual, concrete and sound poetry, expanding to include film and sound art mp3 archives. The site was created by ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Joe (Fluxus artist) 1934 births Fluxus American postmodern artists American noise musicians American experimental composers Postmodern composers American male classical composers American classical composers American sound artists 1993 deaths 20th-century American composers Classical musicians from New York (state) 20th-century American male musicians People from Greenpoint, Brooklyn Musicians from Brooklyn