Scores Project Scholars Bring Experimental Art to Life at UH
University of Houston students explored experimental scores through hands-on sessions with leading scholars and artists, connecting archival research with contemporary creative practice.
University of Houston students explored experimental scores through hands-on sessions with leading scholars and artists, connecting archival research with contemporary creative practice.
Students enrolled in the interdisciplinary arts seminar Fluxus and Experimental Scores from Page to Stage at the University of Houston recently had a rare opportunity to work directly with leading collaborators of The Scores Project during a series of hands-on sessions that connected scholarship with artistic practice.
The Scores Project: Experimental Notation in Music, Art, Poetry, and Dance, 1950–1975 is a major digital publication co-edited and authored by UH Art History Associate Professor Natilee Harren in collaboration with musicologist Michael Gallope and poetry scholar John Hicks in partnership with the Getty Research Institute. Examining 11 groundbreaking experimental scores through more than 2,000 archival materials, the project offers new insight into the creative processes that reshaped postwar performance art.
With support from a Cynthia Woods Mitchell Center for the Arts Innovation Grant, the course welcomed an interdisciplinary group of visiting scholars and practitioners, including Gallope, art historian Emily Ruth Capper (also a contributor to The Scores Project), artists and composers David Dove and Li Harris, and artist and publisher Adam Marnie. Collectively, their expertise spans music, visual art, performance, publishing, and pedagogy—providing students with a vivid look at how experimental scores operate across disciplines.
For Harren, these in-person interactions are essential to student learning.
“It’s crucial for students to witness firsthand the real-world creative work being done with experimental scores, performance, and publishing,” Harren said.
“These collaborators helped bring to life the historical compositions we studied and showed students how generative and flexible working with scores can be, no matter one’s field of practice.”
That flexibility was reflected in the classroom itself, where students from a wide range of backgrounds—painting, sculpture, photography, performance, graphic design, philosophy, art history, and music—engaged with the material. Harren described the group as “surprising and exciting,” noting that their diverse perspectives mirrored the interdisciplinary spirit of experimental art practices such as those of the Fluxus movement, a special focus of the course.
During visits to view special collections at UH’s William R. Jenkins Architecture, Design & Art Library and the Hirsch Library at the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, students handled rare works by artists such as Allan Kaprow, George Brecht, Alison Knowles, Yoko Ono, and John Cage. Discussions highlighted the varied approaches artists took to experimental notation: Kaprow’s use of present-tense, evocative language to draw participants into immersive performances, and Brecht’s practice of distributing scores without confirming whether they were ever performed—two distinct approaches that challenged traditional notions of authorship and artistic control.
The visiting scholars also shared insights into the intellectual and creative rigor behind open-ended works. Capper emphasized that ambiguity does not equate to a lack of intention.
“Fluxus scores were open-ended, but that didn’t mean they didn’t care,” she explained. “They were extremely passionate about debating or theorizing one or more ways of realizing the same score.”
Students were encouraged to adopt a similarly thoughtful yet flexible mindset in their own work as performers, exploring scores through their own interpretations. Harren teaches them to approach experimental scores with equal parts critical inquiry and creative openness.
“Examine the score carefully, as each word or graphic represents a particular choice made by the composer,” Harren said.
“Consider multiple interpretations, but don’t become so rigid that you can’t welcome serendipitous events that emerge from the performance context itself.”
Beyond performance, the course also emphasized the importance of archival research—an essential component of The Scores Project, which includes a massive trove of newly digitized materials from the Getty Research Institute special collections.
Students explored artists’ notes, sketches, and drafts, gaining insight into how ephemeral events are documented and understood. Their visit to the Jenkins Library culminated in a collaboratively curated exhibition that will remain on view through the summer of 2026, titled This Is Not Here: Fluxus Scores and Ephemera from the William R. Jenkins Architecture, Design & Art Library.
Students selected the items for display, composed interpretive labels, made audio guide recordings, and designed signage for the show. With guidance from Harren and Marnie, students created their own artists’ book reflecting on historic Fluxus scores, which is included in the exhibition as a new acquisition of the Jenkins Library rare books room for future audiences to learn from.
Harren’s own path to this provocative area of research reflects the interdisciplinary nature of the work. Drawn by a combination of interests in sound, archives, conceptual art, embodiment, and philosophy, she sees experimental scores as a transformative force in contemporary art.
“So much of what we now take for granted about contemporary art became possible in the wake of these experimental, interdisciplinary approaches,” she said.
The momentum surrounding this field continues to grow. Harren notes a global resurgence of interest in experimental scores, positioning current students at the forefront of an evolving conversation.
“These students are entering an important, dynamic moment in scholarly discourse and contemporary practice as it’s unfolding in real time,” she said.
Looking ahead, Harren is expanding her research into related areas, including modern and contemporary drawing and creative practices of listening. Her upcoming projects include a book on artist Walter De Maria and another exploring listening as a critical, yet often overlooked, dimension of contemporary artistic practice.
At its core, The Scores Project aims to reshape how performance art is studied, taught, and experienced. Harren hopes it will serve as a lasting resource for students, researchers, artists, and the general public alike.
“I want to see new courses built around it, new scholarship generated from it, and new works of art and performance inspired by it,” she said. “It’s truly one-of-a-kind in the field, setting a new bar for what’s possible with digital publishing in the arts.”
For students in the classroom, that impact is already tangible. Through direct engagement with scholars and practitioners, experimental scores moved beyond static texts to become living frameworks—inviting interpretation, collaboration, and discovery.
"I want to see new courses built around it, new scholarship generated from it, and new works of art and performance inspired by it," Harren said. "It's truly one of a kind in the field, setting a new bar for what's possible with digital publishing in the arts."
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