Higgins used the term Intermedia as a method to consider his own working practice. The term is still used to describe artwork that made use of structural continuities between the arts: poetry that was both read and seen as form (visual poetry), poetry that was both read and heard as sound (sound poetry), theatre with musical and painterly elements (happenings), and all other arts in between.
A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, John Cage was one of the leading figures of the post-war avant-garde.
Cowell taugh Joh Cage at The New School before enlisting him to teach. A wider history on Cage's time at The New School can be read here.
Fluxus is an international avant-garde collective or network of artists and composers established in the 1960s and still continuing today. Founded by George Maciunas and Dick Higgins, it is known for its experimental and anti-establishment approach to art.
Dick Higgins performing Danger Music Number Seventeen