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RESUMO Relegado a notas de rodapé da história do Fluxus e cena pós-Cage de Nova Iorque, Henry Flynt desenvolveu, entre 1960 e 1966, uma abordagem crítica da vanguarda a partir de postura revolucionária, procurando respostas para perguntas que seus contemporâneos artistas aparentemente ignoravam. Trabalhamos aqui com três textos que radicalizam um discurso crítico à vanguarda que vai de uma crítica formalista até uma crítica total de caráter anticolonial e marxista. Estes três momentos são apresentados em rounds , um para cada enfrentamento com a vanguarda, passando por suas estruturas formal, social e política, em um percurso que vai do abstrato ao concreto e se manifesta em uma práxis revolucionária. ABSTRACT Relegated to footnotes in the history of Fluxus and the post-Cage scene in New York, Henry Flynt developed from 1960 to 1966 a critical approach to the avant-garde from a revolutionary stance, looking for answers to questions which his peers apparently ignored. We work here with three texts which radicalized a critical discourse against the avant-garde, going from a formalistic critique to a total critique of Marxist and anti-colonial character. These three moments are presented in "rounds", one for each confrontation with the avant-garde , passing through its formal, social and political structures, in a route that goes from the abstract to the concrete and is manifested in a revolutionary praxis. RESUMEN Relegado a notas en pie de página de la historia del Fluxus y a la escena posterior a Cage en Nueva York, Henry Flynt desarrolló, entre 1960 y 1966, un abordaje crítico de la vanguardia a partir de su postura revolucionaria, buscando respuestas para preguntas que artistas contemporáneos aparentemente ignoraban. Utilizamos aquí tres textos, que radicalizan un discurso crítico a la vanguardia que sigue desde una crítica formalista hasta una crítica total de carácter anticolonial y marxista. Esos tres momentos son planteados en “rounds” , uno para cada enfrentamiento con la vanguardia, pasando por sus estructuras formal, social y política, en un camino desde el abstracto hasta el concreto y que se manifiesta en una praxis revolucionaria.

Recognising that an environment of revolution can breed a culture outside of the mainstream - and that said culture can breed unique forms of expression – this thesis aims to answer questions hitherto undiscussed in violin performance practice discourse, and furthermore aims to propose a new direction in violin performance practice that is unique in current discourse. The research question represents a divergence from the ‘normalised’ perspective of the violin as an instrument traditionally associated with ‘classical’ or ‘museum-piece’ music, music that is relegated to consumption in state and corporate-sponsored orchestras and concert halls. The latter is a music that adheres to a set of rules and practices, whereas this thesis aims to bring attention to an alternative to modern norms in violin performance practices by asking the question: in what ways do the performance practices of underground violinists during the 1960s in New York City reflect the revolutionary ideals and philosophies of their creators, and do these practices thereby liberate the violin from these traditions and norms? These questions will be approached through three core methods: musical analysis, critical theory, and discourse analysis. The musical analysis describes the performance practices of underground violinists and in particular those of Tony Conrad and Henry Flynt, in detail. Their practices will be discussed via the discourse generated through conducting one-on-one interviews with, and analysing the writings of, Conrad and Flynt. This then leads to the pinnacle of this triangulation, the critical theory. Drawn from socialist thinkers and the “hauntology” theory of Jacques Derrida – as well as the specific philosophies of underground violinists and their comrades – the thesis culminates in the Manifesto of the Radical Violinist, ultimately proposing a new radicalised, socially and environmentally conscious violin practice.