Quick Facts
Biography
Kenneth Sawyer Goodman Dewey (1934-1972) was an American performance artist, playwright, and director who was active in the Happening and Action Theatre movements in the U.S. and throughout Europe in the 1960s and early 70s. Dewey later became Project Development Director at the New York State Council on the Arts.
Career
Dewey studied sculpture with Oronzio Mandarelli and writing with playwright Theodore Apstein while attending Columbia University as an undergraduate. He lived in San Francisco in the early 1960s and he became an assistant director at the Actor's Workshop in San Francisco. He also studied mime with R. G. Davis and dance with Anna Halprin.
Performance art
Dewey became interested in performance art when he was introduced to the work of Robert Whitman. Dewey used geography, social science, architecture, and technology in his work. His projects were often designed around a particular city and focused on that city's infrastructure, history, and culture. Notable works in this vein included City Scale (San Francisco), Street Piece (Helsinki), Exit Music (London), and Cincinnati Journey (Cincinnati).
Dewey lived and worked in European cities from 1963 to 1964. He collaborated with Mark Boyle, Allan Kaprow and others on a happening at the International Drama Festival during the 1963 Edinburgh Festival.