Charlotte Moorman (1933–1991) was a Juilliard-trained cellist, avant-garde performance artist, and longtime collaborator of Korean-American artist Nam June Paik.  Moorman and Paik began their relationship after meeting at the 1964 New York Avant Garde Festival, which Moorman herself had organized. Through her performance of Fluxus compositions, Moorman forged a unique career in the gray area between composer and performer.

“Originale” was created by the German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen in collaboration with the artist Mary Bauermeister. It was first performed in 1961 in Cologne and is cataloged as work number 12⅔ in Stockhausen's oeuvre. It is regarded as one of the seminal multimedia performance works of the 20th century. |

A highlight of Manhattan’s Second Annual Avant-Garde Festival, “Originale” was performed at Judson Hall on September 8-9, and 11-13, 1964, the musical happening featured a community of contemporary performance makers, musicians, and artists whose actions were directed by Stockhausen’s score and complemented by notable electroacoustic compositions. The lineup included James Tenney, David Behrman, Max Neuhaus, Alvin Lucier, Allan Kaprow, Nam June Paik, Allen Ginsberg, Jackson Mac Low. The director, Allan Kaprow, described the event as “a collage of music and action.” This photo shows Moorman playing her cello while sitting on a balcony ledge as she performs in “Originale.”  

Besides the music, “Originale” included a walkie-talkie, a film sequence, a piano adorned with flowers and various items inside, a clothes rack, pillows, hi-fi equipment, a newspaper delivery boy, children constructing things from wooden blocks, a large clock, newspaper obituaries, scaffolding, the audience itself, thrown apples, a monologue in Greek, and a piece from Shakespeare, all punctuated by moments of insane laughter. The original program notes also state that one artist climbed a ladder and, from a height, dropped eggs, paprika, and other items onto a sheet of plastic, creating an action painting.