Taking its inspiration from Allan Kaprow’s “happenings,” which he described as “something spontaneous, something that just happens to happen,” the exhibition A Fragile But Marvelous Life presented a series of works that investigate the relationship between everyday movement and performance. Rather than a traditional catalogue, the accompanying publication functions as a reader on the thinking and conversations that took place leading up to the presentation of the exhibition itself. With the current resurgence of interest in experiential and performative practices, and the status of “liveness” as a prime value within contemporary culture, A Fragile But Marvelous Life includes texts by artists such as Robert Breer, Jason Dodge, Allan Kaprow, William Pope L., Emily Roysdon, and Cally Spooner that address how performance can be a generative force. [publisher’s note]