A new FluXus score was performed during the Nature of Experience Conference in Salem, Massachusetts. The score, titled “Real News,” was seen by multiple participants of the conference:

Grab a newspaper or magazine

Open it

Turn your back to the audience

Read an article backwards

The score was to be performed as written, to provoke the audience experience so that the performer is considered rude, irritating, and/or annoying. To create this atmosphere, the score was performed by the performer with their back to the audience. The content of the score was also read backwards, heightening the audience’s experience of annoyance.

The performer, Jennifer Weigel, chose to read the text about E-Prime posted on Wikipedia. This is an academic text and performing it in the score’s manner added to the irritation of the audience. The title “Real News,” is a comment on today’s news media, frequently provoking feelings of irritation or discomfort.