A few dozen chairs surrounded the double-wide card table in the middle of the Sesnon Gallery for an event on the afternoon of May 6, when artists Ian Everard and Maria Chomentowski performed the opening of a box. Handling the contents with white cotton gloves, the artists were mindful of the performance score. They encouraged audience members to participate.
The box is a Fluxus box; the score a brief list of actions (“Open the case. Take out the objects…”); the performance, called InFlux, an event in the spirit of Fluxus, an international movement of composers, artists, architects and designers in the 1960s and early ’70s influenced by Dada and springing from the ideas of composer John Cage. Prominent Fluxus artists included George Maciunas, George Brecht, Allan Kaprow (“happenings”), Yoko Ono and Nam Jun Paik. Fluxus influenced Christo and Gilbert and George among others including Ian Everard, an English-born artist now living in Santa Cruz. Everard is a copycat.
In a year when Santa Cruz could use a little more emotional sunshine, look who comes along to surprise us all—the most brightly lit star (literally) of all in the Cruzan bunch. Kudos to you, James Durbin, for giving Santa Cruz something to root for. It’s enough that Durbin had the chops to make the cut to be among the top contenders on the über hit American Idol; quite another that he’s proven he actually has creativity and—this is good—longevity. Oh, how The Durb has impressed. We raised our eyebrows when he belted out “You’ve Got Another Thing Coming” (by Judas Priest). We sat back and watched, rather amazed actually, by how well he wielded his vocal strength—with enough restraint—to deliver a winning rendition of Paul McCartney’s soulful “Maybe I’m Amazed.” Bon Jovi? Stevie Wonder? Bring it. 
