1967
In the 1967 New York Max Neuhaus played a central role as the performing musician who realized John Cage's vision. At this "Happening" in Central Park, Neuhaus performed Fontana Mix-Feed, a work utilizing electronic amplification and an "immense battery of instruments" to turn the park's environment into a sonic landscape.
Neuhaus was at the time a leading interpreter of contemporary percussion. His performance involved striking, rubbing, and "beating the stuffings out of" various instruments, using microphones to amplify these sounds until they "tore at the ears" and echoed through the park.
This event exemplified Cage’s belief that "everything we do is music". By bringing this work to a public space like Central Park, the artists removed sound from the ivory tower of the concert hall and placed it in the "street energies" of Manhattan.
1967 was a pivotal year for Neuhaus. While he was performing Cage’s work, he was also beginning to transition from a "percussionist" to a "sound artist." That same year, he created Drive-in Music, one of the earliest examples of what he would later call a sound installation.