DICK HIGGINS
Dick Higgins was well-regarded as an American artist and composer. One of the co-founders of the Fluxus movement, Higgins, like many of his fellow Fluxus artists, named John Cage as one of his inspirations. To define his unique artistic style, Higgins coined the art theory term “intermedia,” which encapsulated a variety of interdisciplinary art activities that occur between genres.1 The term first made its appearance in a 1965 essay published in the Something Else Newsletter, by Higgins's publishing company, Something Else Press, founded in 1963.30 Something Else Press not only documented some of the earliest Fluxus performances, it also published texts by several artists and theorists including Gertrude Stein, Claes Oldenburg, Ray Johnson, and George Brecht.2
Higgins was also recognized for his Danger Music scores, which were experimental forms of avant-garde music and performance art. His interest in experimental art may have contributed to his use of computers as tools for art making, as well as his encouragement for other artists to do the same.3
In addition to his work as an artist and composer, Dick Higgins has published forty-seven books.33 Among them, The Book of Love & War & Death is regarded as one of the first computer-generated literary texts. Higgins was included in the Fluxus presentation at the Venice Biennale in 1989 and was the recipient of a number of grants and fellowship throughout his career.
Born in Cambridge, England, Higgins married fellow Fluxus artist Alison Knowles in 1960, with whom he had two daughters, Hannah and Jessica Higgins. Though Higgins passed away in 1998, both daughters have continued the family Fluxus legacy.
The New York Times: Dick Higgins, 60, Innovator in the 1960s Avant Garde