4.3 fluxus

1. Fluxus
“Everything is art and anyone can do it”
Fluxus Street Theatre by George Maciunas,
Copyright: © 2007 Gilbert and Lila Silverman
Fluxus Collection Foundation, Detroit.

2. Fluxus
“Fluxus remains the most complex – and
therefore widely underestimated – artistic
movement (or “non-movement,” as it
called itself) of the early to mid-sixties . . .
Fluxus saw no distinction between art
and life, and believed that routine, banal,
and everyday actions could be regarded
as artistic events, declaring that
‘everything is art and everyone can do
it.’”
Hal Foster et al., Art Since 1900

3. Fluxus
The Lithuanian-born George
Maciunas launched the Fluxus
movement in 1961
George Maciunas, Self Portrait, 1965
Wikipedia
“What Fluxus was is a matter of
some debate. Was it an art
movement, an anti-art movement,
a sociopolitical movement or, as
the artists themselves tended to
protest, not a movement at all?”
Ken Johnson, “Liberating Viewers, and the World,
with Stillness,” New York Times 23 September
2011

4. Fluxus
He had also studied with John
Cage at the New School
John Cage preparing a piano, c. 1964
Image source:
http://usoproject.blogspot.com/2008/01/european-premiere-john-cage-variations.html

5. Fluxus
Like Happenings, Fluxus
emphasized viewer participation
and an integration of art and life
Allan Kaprow, Words, 1962
Smolin Gallery, New York
Image source: http://www.no-art.info/kaprow/works/1961_words.html

6. Fluxus
But Fluxus was more international
in scope
Wiesbaden, Berlin and Kassel: Harlekin Art Berliner Kunstlerprogramm Des DAAD,
1982. First edition. Image source:
http://www.derringerbooks.com/shop/derringer/010077.html

7. Fluxus
And it was much closer to Dada in
its radical anti-art stance

8. Fluxus
Most Happenings were “theatrical”
in approach, retaining a division
between audience and performer
Jim Dine, the Smiling Workman, 1960

9. Fluxus
But Fluxus strove to beak down this
division by creating what could be
called “do-it-yourself-art”

10. Fluxus
In 1963 Maciunas issued a Fluxus
Manifesto
George Maciunas, Fluxus Manifesto, 1963
Image source:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/gallery/2008/nov/03/fluxus-
gallery?picture=339281412
“PURGE the world of dead art . . . . “
“Promote living art, anti-art, promote NON
ART REALITY to be grasped by all
peoples, not only critics, dilettantes and
professionals.”

11. Fluxus
A second Manifesto denounced art
as a self-promoting industry
George Maciunas, Self Portrait, 1965
Wikipedia
ART
To justify artist's professional, parasitic and elite status in society,
he must demonstrate artist's indispensability and exclusiveness,
he must demonstrate the dependability of audience upon him,
he must demonstrate that no one but the artist can do art.
Therefore, art must appear to be complex, pretentious, profound,
serious, intellectual, inspired, skillful, significant, theatrical,
It must appear to be calculable as commodity so as to provide the
artist with an income.
To raise its value (artist's income and patrons profit), art is made
to appear rare, limited in quantity and therefore obtainable and
accessible only to the social elite and institutions.
George Maciunas, Manifesto on Art/Fluxus Art Amusement 1965
http://www.artnotart.com/fluxus/gmaciunas-artartamusement.html

12. Fluxus
Maciunias promoted the idea of
Fluxus as a mass-produced
“amusement” that could be made
by anybody and that would be
accessible to all
George Maciunas, Self Portrait, 1965
Wikipedia

13. Fluxus
George Maciunas, Self Portrait, 1965
Wikipedia
FLUXUS ART-AMUSEMENT
Therefore, art-amusement must be simple, amusing, unpretentious,
concerned with insignificances, require no skill or countless
rehearsals, have no commodity or institutional value.
The value of art-amusement must be lowered by making it unlimited,
Mass-produced, obtainable by all and eventually produced by all.
Fluxus art-amusement is the rear-guard without any pretention
or urge to participate in the competition of "one-upmanship" with
the avant-garde. It strives for the monostructural and nontheatrical
qualities of simple natural event, a game or a gag. It is the fusion
of Spikes Jones Vaudeville, gag, children's games and Duchamp.
George Maciunas, Manifesto on Art/Fluxus Art Amusement 1965
http://www.artnotart.com/fluxus/gmaciunas-artartamusement.html

14. Fluxus
To this end, Maciunas set up a a
Fluxshop and mail order business
where he sold “Fluxkits” comprised
of items made by various Fluxus
participants
Fluxshop and Mailorder Warehouse, Fluxus Newspaper. Image source:
http://artsconnected.org/collection/118487/art-in-the-1960s?print=true

15. Fluxus
The “Fluxkits” contained games,
pamphlets, and other nonsensical
items
Fluxkit, 1964/65. Fluxus edition, assembled by George Maciunas. Photo: Walker Art
Center. Image source: http://slangfromchaos.wordpress.com/tag/fluxus/
“You could think of Fluxus as an
international, utopian conspiracy to alter
the world’s collective consciousness in
favor of noncompetitive fun and games
and other peaceable and pleasurable
pursuits. Their weapons of choice were
feeble jokes, verbal and visual puns, satiric
publications and instructions for absurd
performances. Bypassing the commercial
gallery system, Fluxus novelties were
meant to be sold cheaply by mail and in
artist-run stores.”
Ken Johnson, “Liberating Viewers, and the World, with
Stillness,” New York Times 23 September 2011

16. Fluxus
They were inspired by Marcel
Duchamp’s Boite en valise, as well
as his penchant for games
Marcel Duchamp, Boit en valise, 1941

17. Fluxus
A typical Fluxkit item is George
Brecht’s Water Yam -- a box of
“event scores” that were
instructions for ephemeral events
George Brecht, Water Yam, 1963
Flickr

18. George Brecht, Word Event, 1961.
From: Water Yam (collected scores), 1986.

20. George Brecht, Two Vehicles Events, 1961

21. MOTOR VEHICLE SUNDOWN 1960
Motor Vehicle Sundown is a verbal instruction piece
scored for any number of motor vehicles arranged
outdoors. For each vehicle, 22 auditory and visual
events and 22 pauses are written onto randomly
shuffled instruction cards. Beside 'pause', the events
include: Headlights on and off, Parking lights on and
off, sound horn, sound siren, sound bell(s), accelerate
motor, radio on and off, strike window with knuckles,
open or close door (quickly, with moderate speed,
slowly), open or close engine hood, operate special
equipment (carousels, ladders, fire hoses with truck-
contained pumps and water supply), operate special
lights (truck-body, safety, signal, warning, signs,
displays). At sundown '(relatively dark/open area
incident light 2 foot-candles or less)', the performers
arrive at the same time, seat themselves in the cars
and start their engines at approximately the same
time. They follow the instructions, substituting
equipment for that which they do not have, and turn
off their engines when they are finished.
http://members.chello.nl/j.seegers1/flux_files/brecht_performances.html#top
George Brecht, Motor Vehicle Sundown Event, 1960

22. Fluxus
This Fluxkit included Ben Vautrier’s
“Total Art Matchbox”
George Macunias, Flux Yearbook 2, late 1960s
Ben Vautrier, Total Art Matchbook, 1966
http://www.artnotart.com/fluxus/bvautier--.html

23. Inclined Plane Puzzle, 1965, Fluxus Edition, George Brecht, assembled by
George Maciunas, Wooden box with ball, label and score. Photo: Archiv
Sohm, Staatsgalerie Stuttgart. Image source:
http://slangfromchaos.wordpress.com/tag/fluxus/
Robert Filliou’s “Optimistic Box #3 — So much the better if you can’t play
chess (you won’t imitate Marcel Duchamp),” a fold-up chess set from 1969.
Image source:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/nyregion/celebrating-fluxus-a-
movement-that-didnt-create-by-the-rules-review.html?_r=1
“The idea of art (or life) as a game in which the
artist reconfigures the rules is central to Fluxus.
Martha Schwendener, “Celebrating Fluxus, a Movement that Didn’t
Create by Rules, New York Times 6 January 2012

24. Fluxus
Ay-O’s “fingerboxes” were filled
with soft material such as feathers
or foam
Fluxus, Ay-O’s Fingerboxes, 1964
Flickr

25. Fluxus, Ay-O’s Fingerboxes, 1964
Image source: http://artsconnected.org/collection/118487/art-in-the-1960s?print=true

26. Fluxus
There were also Fluxus music
festivals
George Maciunas, Poster for ‘Fluxusfestspiele’, 1962
http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/fluxusfestspiele/

27. Fluxus
George Brecht’s Drip Music was
clearly inspired by John Cage
George Maciunas performing George Brecht's Drip Music,
Amsterdam, 1963
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UT5lgaE-qZY

28. Fluxus
Other artists involved with Fluxus
included Nam June Paik who
performed Zen for Head at a Fluxus
festival in Wiesbaden
Nam June Paik, Zen for Head, 1962

29. Fluxus
Robert Rauschenberg’s Automobile
Tire Print was similar in concept
Listen to the artist discuss the work
at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=u7M6LQJnGcA
Robert Rauschenberg, Automobile Tire Print, 1953
SFMOMA

30. Fluxus
Paik collaborated with cellist
Charlotte Moorman on several
Fluxus musical performances
Peter Moore, Charlotte Moorman and Nam June Paik
Performing 26'1.499" for a String Player
1965/2003
Sound file: Charlotte Moorman, 26’1.499”
WBAI-FM “Avant Garde Concert III”. Originally
broadcast December 12 & 17, 1964. A Recording
of the Annual Avant Garde Festival Program of
August 30, 1964

31. Fluxus
He later became a leading pioneer
of video art
Lim Young-kyun, Nam June Paik, 1981
Wikipedia

32. Fluxus
Many Fluxus music performances
involved the actual destruction of
instruments
The piano, with its elitist
associations, was a favorite target
Piano Activities, by Philip Corner, as performed in Wiesbaden,
1962, by Emmett Williams, Wolf Vostell, Nam June Paik, Dick
Higgins, Benjamin Patterson and George Maciunas
Wikipedia

33. Fluxus
Nam June Paik (who was trained
as a classical pianist) performed a
piano piece by banging his head
against the keys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlVbT3cp0E0

34. Fluxus
George Maciunas wrote a series of
event scores for piano that anybody
could perform
http://www.artnotart.com/fluxus/gmaciunas-12pianocompositi.html

35. Fluxus
Sonic Youth’s performance of
Maciunas’ Piano #13 can be seen
on YouTube
It involves hammering nails into the
keys of a piano
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=832ApdjhMcs

36. Fluxus
Another artist associated with
Fluxus was Yoko Ono, who
became famous as the wife of John
Lennon
John Lennon and Yoko Ono in front of George Maciunus’s Fluxus
Flag comparing casualties in Vietnamn to historical genocide
records

37. Fluxus
Ono associated with the Fluxus
circle but was ambivalent about
belonging to a “movement”
Yoko Ono with Fluxus artists, 1965
“I never considered myself a
member of any group. I was just
doing my own thing, and I'm sure
that most artists I knew in those
days felt the same.”
http://www.a-i-u.net/onolife4.html

38. Fluxus
She composed conceptually-
oriented “instruction paintings” that
were similar to George Brecht’s
event scores
Yoko Ono, Painting to be Stepped On, 1960

39. Fluxus
The scripts could be performed or
imagined in the mind of the viewer
Yoko Ono, Painting to See the Skies, 1961

40. Fluxus
Ono distinguished her work from
“Happenings” by emphasizing their
conceptual orientation
“Among my instruction paintings, my interest is
mainly in “painting to construct in your head” . . .
There is no visual object that does not exist in
comparison to or simultaneously with other
objects, but these characteristics can be
eliminated if you wish. A sunset can go on for
days. You can eat up all the clouds in the sky.
You can assemble a painting with a person in
the North Pole over a phone, like playing chess.
This painting method derives from as far back
as the time of the Second World War when we
had no food to eat, and my brother and I
exchanged menus in the air.”
Yoko Ono, Lecture at Wesleyan University, 1966
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yokoonoofficial/2892207133/in/photostream/

41. Fluxus
In 1964 Ono published Grapefruit, a
collection of her instruction pieces

42. Fluxus
She also experimented with
performance art, such as Cut Piece
which was performed in several
international venues
Yoko Ono, Cut Piece, Yamaichi Concert Hall,
Kyoto, Japan, 1964

43. Fluxus
The artist explained her intention of
surrendering the ego of the artist
Yoko Ono, Cut Piece, 1964
“Traditionally, the artist’s ego is in the
artist’s work. In other words, the artist
must give the artist’s ego to the
audience. I had always wanted to
produce work without ego in it . . . and
the result of this was Cut Piece.
Instead of giving the audience what the
artist chooses to give, the artist gives
what the audience chooses to take.
That is to say, you cut and take
whatever part you want; that was my
feeling about its purpose.”
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yokoonoofficial/2892799120/in/
photostream/

44. Fluxus
But the performance has been
interpreted as a powerful Feminist
statement
Yoko Ono, Cut Piece, 1964

45. Fluxus
In 1966 Ono was invited to do a
show at the Indica Gallery in
London
It was here that she met john
Lennon
Indica Gallery, 1966

46. Fluxus
Works from this show, along with
notes, can be found on Yoko Ono’s
official photostream on Flickr (the
internet provides a perfect vehicle
for the Fluxus ideal of accessible
art)
Yoko Ono Official Photo Stream
Flickr

47. Fluxus
This was an interactive piece in
which the audience was invited to
“add color”
Yoko Ono, Add Color Painting, 1966

48. Fluxus
In this work the viewer was invited
to climb the ladder and view the
painting with a magnifying glass
Yoko Ono, Ceiling Painting, 1966

49. Fluxus
The magnifying glass revealed the
word “yes”
Yoko Ono, Ceiling Painting, 1966
“So it was positive. I felt relieved. It's a
great relief when you get up the ladder
and you look through the spyglass and
it doesn't say NO or FUCK YOU or
something.”
John Lennon, describing his reaction to
Ceiling Painting when first viewed in 1966
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yokoonoofficial/2891959833/in/
set-72157607541504677/

50. Fluxus
Shigeko Kubota was another
Japanese-American artist active in
the Fluxus movement
Shigeko Kubota and Nam June Paik

51. Fluxus
Her most famous work was a
performance in which she made a
painting with a paint brush attached
to her crotch
Shigeko Kubota, Vagina Painting, 1965
Performed during the “Perpetual Fluxus Festival,” New York

52. Fluxus
The work was meant to be a parody
of the “ejaculatory” rhetoric implicit
in public celebrations of American
action painting
Shigeko Kubota, Vagina Painting, 1965
Performed during the “Perpetual Fluxus Festival,” New York

53. Contradictions of
Fluxus
While Fluxus aimed to be
accessible, it was understandable
to few
George Brecht, Water Yam, 1963

54. Contradictions of
Fluxus
And while Fluxus challenged the
commercialization of art, it did so by
turning it into a mass-produced
commodity (which nobody wanted
to buy)
Fluxshop and Mailorder Warehouse, Fluxus Newspaper. Image source:
http://artsconnected.org/collection/118487/art-in-the-1960s?print=true

55. Web Resources
• Fluxus @ Theartstory.org
http://www.theartstory.org/movement-fluxus.htm
• Martha Schwendener, “Celebrating Fluxus, a Movement that Didn’t Create by Rules, New
York Times 6 January 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/08/nyregion/celebrating-fluxus-a-movement-that-didnt-
create-by-the-rules-review.html?_r=1
• Ken Johnson, “Liberating Viewers, and the World, with Stillness,” New York Times 23
September 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/24/arts/design/fluxus-and-the-essential-questions-of-life-
review.html
• Adrian Searle, “Snapshots of a Revolution,” The Guardian 9 December 2008
http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2008/dec/10/art
• Fluxus Archive (online archive of Fluxus documents and works)
http://www.artnotart.com/fluxus/index2.html