By Katherine Bergman, Zeitgeist

Zeitgeist’s home turf will be abuzz with a multitude of visual arts, performance, film, and interactive media this Saturday as the Northern Spark Festival crosses the river into Lowertown St. Paul. As part of the all-night art festival, Zeitgeist is presenting “Studio Z in Flux,” a performance event featuring the ensemble plus a host of guest performers realizing classic and newly created pieces from the Fluxus tradition. The performance includes pieces by Yoko Ono, Dick Higgins, George Maciunas, Alison Knowles, Nam June Paik, and others.

Fluxus is an international artistic movement that began in the early 60s and continues to this day. The movement challenges preconceptions about the nature of art and encourages people to live artfully throughout every day, viewing every activity through an artistic lens, instead of saving the experience for museums and concert halls. Fluxus events are undertaken in the spirit of fun and discovery, with many works inviting all present to participate in the action. An open mind is a pre-requisite. Virtuosity is not. Expect balloons.

In addition to the Fluxus performance at 11 p.m., Studio Z will be filled with music throughout the night. Performances include:

• Contemporary chamber music for voice and guitar by Minnesota composers, performed by The Dream Songs Project
• A performance of free improvisation mixed with real time electronics and mixed media by Phil Fried and guest collaborators
• A solo project by singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Greg Byers
• Philip Blackburn’s experimental music-film “The Sun Palace”
• A spirited violin and mridangam (South Indian percussion) improvisational performance based on traditional South Indian music by Sandhya Ramachandran and Sriram Natarajan

Studio Z in Flux at Northern Spark 2013: 11pm – 6 a.m. at Studio Z,  275 East Fourth St, Suite 200, St. Paul

Click here for schedule and more information on Studio Z in Flux. Visit northernspark.org for information on all Northern Spark Festival events.