Alfred Earl "Al" Hansen was an influential American artist, a pioneer of the Fluxus movement, and a seminal figure in the development of Happenings. Born on October 5, 1927, in New York City, Hansen's artistic journey was as eclectic and adventurous as the art forms he would come to embrace and shape. Hansen's early life in Queens was marked by creativity and a flair for the unconventional. As a child, he began drawing, and his home life provided early inspiration for his later work; he once described how his mother's Thanksgiving preparations, which involved drying slices of bread all over their home for stuffing, turned the house into a kind of Happening. Hansen's childhood friend, the columnist Jimmy Breslin, and his brother Gordon, joined him in creating a newspaper, The Daily Flash, for which Hansen drew cartoons. His service in the armed forces from 1945 to 1948 included a stint in the 82nd Airborne Division, where he executed what could be considered his first Happening by dropping a piano off a building during an Armed Forces show in Frankfurt. This act of creative destruction would echo throughout his career, particularly in his famous Yoko Ono Piano Drop performance piece. After the military, Hansen's education was varied and rich, attending Brooklyn College, the Art Students League, the Hans Hoffman School of Art, and Pratt Institute. His time at Tulane University in 1949 and his return to New York in the 1950s saw him engaging with various art forms and institutions. However, it was his attendance at the influential 1958 class at the New School for Social Research, taught by composer John Cage, that placed him at the epicenter of a burgeoning avant-garde art scene. This class was attended by many who would become key figures in the Happenings and Fluxus movements, including George Brecht, Dick Higgins, Allan Kaprow, and Jackson Mac Low. Hansen's art was characterized by its embrace of the everyday and the ephemeral. He was known for his collages and assemblages, often made from found objects like Hershey Bar wrappers, burnt matches, and cigarette papers. His work was part of a larger conversation within the Fluxus movement, which sought to break down the barriers between art and life, incorporating elements of chance, play, and simplicity into the creative process. Throughout the 1960s, Hansen was a prominent figure in the downtown New York art scene, collaborating with artists, musicians, and dancers, including Jim Dine, Claes Oldenburg, Yoko Ono, Wolf Vostell, Robert Rauschenberg, and Nam June Paik. His Happenings were multimedia events that could take place anywhere, from subways to rooftops, and involved music, light projections, and films. Hansen's influence extended into his writing, with his book "A Primer of Happenings and Time/Space Art," published in 1965, becoming an important text on performance art. He also had a significant impact as an educator, teaching at Rutgers University from 1967 to 1974, and later at Parsons School of Design and the Eskimo Art School in Greenland. In 1987, he founded the Ultimate Akademie in Cologne, Germany, which became a hub for artists. Hansen's personal life was as dynamic as his professional one. He was married twice, both ending in divorce, and had a daughter, Bibbe Hansen, who became an Andy Warhol protégé. He was also the grandfather and artistic mentor to the musician Beck. Hansen's legacy is carried on by his family, with Bibbe and her son Channing continuing to perform some of his most iconic works. Al Hansen passed away on June 22, 1995, in Cologne, Germany. His death was marked by a Fluxus funeral, planned according to his wishes, celebrating a life dedicated to challenging and expanding the boundaries of art. His work is held in notable collections such as the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, MoMA, and the Walker Art Center, and his influence continues to be felt in the realms of performance, collage, and conceptual art. Hansen's life and work remain a testament to the power of art to transform the mundane into the extraordinary, and his contributions to the Fluxus movement and Happenings have secured his place in the annals of modern art history.

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