Fluxus - meaning ‘fluid’ - is an international network of artists.
Conceived by George Maciunas in the 1960s to ‘fuse cultural, social and political revolutionaries into a united front and action’, its philosophy is defined by the factors: Fluxus is an attitude, not style; Fluxus is intermedia: artists work with whatever materials are at hand; Fluxus works are simple and fun.
Fluxus artists, such as Joseph Beuys, Marcel Duchamp, Yoko Ono and Nam June Paik, believed that everyone can create artwork simply by ‘doing it’.
Fluxus emphasised not what artists made but what they did and thought.
Having strong positive social aspirations, they had plans to set up Flux Communes that would ‘bridge the gap between artists and society’, the plans that were dogged by financial problems and eventually resulted in artists being severely beaten by thugs.
Fluxus’s art forms are short performances and ‘Boxes’ (collections of images and ideas), as well as collages, videos, poetry, architecture, sound, and design.
Fluxus - still a vibrant living entity - opens up our definitions of what art and artists can be.
Alla Tkachuk is the founder of MASK, School for Creativity and Innovation. To book art or creativity training in your school or company, contact MASK on [email protected]
