My father, Simon Blackall knew Byars when they both lived in Kyoto in the mid 1960s. He photographed some of Byars's conceptual, ephemeral, performance pieces for posterity; photographs which are now part of MoMA's collection. My father and step-mother are briefly in New York so we made a field trip to PS1 which was quite wonderful.
You can read the whole story here.
4 comments:
This looks so interesting! I love your illo. here.
How lovely to see Simon and Diane pop up on your blog. Please send my love! Susie
So fun to read the back stories. I actually remembered the Impromptu Father Christmas story. Keep them coming:) Laura
I am an art historian living in Japan, researching James Lee Byars' early days in Japan. I have published the results of my research written in Japanese in 2012. Excerpt will appear in English translation in the forthcoming catalogue for the exhibition James Lee Byars: 1/2 an Autobiography, which was held in the summer of 2014 at MoMA PS1 in New York. The complete series is currently being translated into English and is scheduled for publication in 2016 under a new title, James Lee Byars: Days in Japan. I have had some interviews of the witnesses, they are very curious and interesting. If possible, I would like to ask some questions to your father about the memories of JLB. My mail address is always available. I am very looking forward to hearing your answer. Thank you very much, shinobu.
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