Dwight Bird, the distinguished German-born avian,
passed away suddenly on February 24.
Mr. Bird was the companion of intermedia artist
and painter, Jack Ox.
Dwight Bird was a friend and colleague of many
Fluxus artists. During his years in Cologne, he was
known for his close friendship with Al Hansen. Hansen
frequently came to the Bird-Ox household for evenings
of conversation and the musical entertainments that
Bird undertook for his intimate friends.
It was in Cologne that Bird first met such Fluxus
artists as Dick Higgins and Alison Knowles. When Ox
relocated her studio to New York, Bird moved to
New York with her. In recent years, he became
increasingly reclusive, perferring to study New York's
street life from her studio window while he whistled
the classics in a "vogelsang" style remiscent of
Jean Dupuy.
"From the top of the tall cedar tree,
from the highest branch I shall take a shoot
and plant it myself on a tall and lofty mountain.
I shall plant it on the highest mountain in Israel,
It will put out branches and bear fruit
and grow into a noble cedar tree.
Every kind of bird will live beneath it,
every kind of winged creature
will rest in the shade of its branches."
Ezekiel 17:22-23
As a friend and colleague, as a philosopher and art critic,
Dwight was unlike anyone else in the Fluxus circle.
He will be missed.
-- Ken Friedman
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