mischievous fluxus guide
Fluxus comes alive
a mischievous Fluxus guide presents:
FLUXKITS - games and jokes art kits:
The Fluxus publishing company has released a number of joke and game kits, otherwise known as fluxkits. Sets in mostly unified plastic boxes, sometimes envelopes, or wooden boxes are one of the most fascinating parts of the Fluxus movement.
There is also some confusion in terminology. The term Fluxkit is used for artwork. However, this name is also used for sets of kits which were sold full of original Fluxus kits.
Fluxkits
Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center has one of the largest collections of Fluxus works in the world – over 2500 items. Part of these works and the stories related to them will be revealed in the "Fluxus comes alive" project.
The focus of the project is to present works and their collections in a popular and accessible format. The project is curated by Mantas Kuginis and financed by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.
About the project
Fluxus was like a small label led by Jurgis Mačiūnas, with its own selected artists, creating and reproducing artworks, household items, newspapers, and joke/game kits, as well as organizing performances, events, and festivals.
Fluxus published works were sold in the Fluxus store or ordered by mail. It is an interesting fact that during the entire period of its existence, not a single work was bought from the store, but now these works are hunted by collectors and displayed in prestigious galleries.
Years of life
1962 -1978
Fluxus label
"Art is a joke", said Lithuanian expatriate Jurgis Mačiūnas, further referred to as George Maciunas as he has been known internationally. In 1962 he started the world-famous international artistic movement Fluxus in New York.
George Maciunas was the ideological leader of Fluxus, he produced the works of Fluxus artists, he engaged in the design of signs, labels, posters, and illustrations, and he actively created works of art and performances.
Maciunas' motto was "The cheaper, the better".Fluxus artists focused on simplicity – they worked with everyday materials that happened to be at hand.
Fluxus is a way of life based on jokes and ingenuity. Fluxus is parties, postage stamps, furniture, weddings, divorces, Masses, funerals, Olympics, protests, movies, concerts, a clinic, an island, cooperatives, clothes, tattoos, money, seal stamps, chess, toilets, a labyrinth...