Artist(s): Julius Eastman
Date: January 28, 2018
First performed at The Kitchen in 1980, Crazy Nigger was reintroduced in partnership with Knockdown Center under the That Which is Fundamental series. The 1980 score was performed as a work for two pianos; Julius Eastman and Joe Kubera each playing one. The hour-long piece began with the repetition of one note, followed by another. As David Feldman wrote, “As more notes enter, the performers may choose from among various versions of the basic material, creating a simultaneous set of variations. … When a motif and all its variations exhausts itself, the whole process starts over, renewing itself, so to speak.”
The composition was performed in collaboration with The Knockdown Center, in 2018, as part of the Julius Eastman: That Which Is Fundamental series.