Editing Fluxus (section)

==Middle history: 1965–78==

===Perceived insurgencies and the Asiatic influence===
[[File:CutPieceOno.jpeg|thumb|''Cut Piece'', a performance piece by Yoko Ono in which the audience is invited to cut off her clothing. This version was staged at Carnegie Recital Hall, New York, 21 March 1965. Still taken from a film by [[Albert and David Maysles]]]]
The picketing of ''Originale'' marked the high point of Maciunas' [[agitprop]] approach,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.stewarthomesociety.org/ass/fluxone.htm |title=Stewart Home, The Assault on Culture, The origins of Fluxus and the movement in its 'heroic' period, Chapter 9 |access-date=16 June 2012 |archive-date=2 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090602022154/http://www.stewarthomesociety.org/ass/fluxone.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> an approach that estranged many of Fluxus' early proponents; Jackson Mac Low had resigned immediately after hearing 'antisocial' plans laid in April 1963, such as breaking down trucks [[Holland Tunnel|under the Hudson River]].<ref>Jackson Mac Low quoted in {{harvnb|Maciunas|Ay-O|1998|pp=94–95}}</ref> Brecht threatened to quit on the same issue, and then left New York in the spring of 1965. Despite his continued allegiance to Fluxus ideals, Dick Higgins fell out with Maciunas around the same time, ostensibly over his setting up the [[Something Else Press]] which printed many texts by key Fluxus-related personalities and other members of the avant garde. Charlotte Moorman continued to present her [[Annual Avant Garde Festival]] in New York.

Such perceived insurrections in the coherence of Maciunas' leadership of Fluxus provided an opening for Fluxus to become increasingly influenced by Japanese members of the group.{{sfn|Kellein|2007|p=101}} Since returning to Japan in 1961, Yoko Ono had been recommending colleagues look Maciunas up if they moved to New York; by the time she had returned, in early 1965, [[Genpei Akasegawa|Hi Red Center]], [[Shigeko Kubota]], Takako Saito, [[Mieko Shiomi (composer)|Mieko Shiomi]], [[Yasunao Tone]] and [[Ay-O]] had all started to make work for Fluxus, often of a contemplative nature.{{sfn|Kellein|2007|p=102}}

In Tokyo Japan 1964 Yoko Ono, a nonconformist to the Fluxus community,<ref>Weisman, S. (2011). ''The mind music of Yoko Ono: Screams and silences at the intersection of the real and the imagined (195-196)''(Order No. 3458632). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (872186218).</ref> independently published her artist’s book ''[[Grapefruit (book)|Grapefruit]]''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Laynor |first=Gregory |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1257952914 |title=The Making of Intermedia: John Cage to Yoko Ono, 1952 to 1972 |date=2016 |others=University of Washington. English, Brian Reed |isbn=978-1-339-94191-2 |volume=78-03A |location=Ann Arbor |pages=(94) |oclc=1257952914}}</ref> The book’s text itself encompassing event scores and other forms of participatory art.<ref>Sallabedra, M. (2012). ''Like an elephant's tail: Process and instruction in the work of Michael Rakowitz, Rirkrit Tiravanija and Yoko Ono (7) (9-20)'' (Order No. 1514168). Available from ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global. (1026566248).</ref>

An event score from the book:

'''Cloud Piece'''<ref>Ono, Y. (1964). ''Grapefruit''. Wunternaum Press.</ref>

Imagine the clouds dripping.

Dig a hole in your garden to put them in.

===Proto-performance art===

On September 25, 1965, the '''FluxOrchestra''', with La Monte Young conducting, played at [[Carnegie Recital Hall]] in New York City with a poster and program designed by George Maciunas. Copies of the program were folded into paper airplanes and launched during the evening, which included performances of "Falling Event" by [[Chieko Shiomi]], "Symphony No. 3 'On the Floor from 'Clouds Scissors'" by [[George Brecht]], "4 Pieces for Orchestra to La Monte Young" by Yoko Ono, "Disappearing Music for Face" by Shiomi, "Tactical Pieces for Orchestra" and "Olivetti Adding Machine in Memoriam for Adriano Olivetti" by [[Anthony Cox (producer)|Anthony Cox]], "Trance for Orchestra" by Watts, "Sky Piece to Jesus Christ*" by Ono, "Octet for Winds 'In the Water' from 'Cloud Scissors" by Brecht, "Piece" by [[Shigeko Kubota]], "1965 $50" by Young, "Piano Piece" by [[Tomas Schmit]], "Sword Piece" by Cox, "Music for Late Afternoon Together With" by Shiomi, "2" by Watts, "c/t Trace" by Watts, "Intermission Event" by [[Willem de Ridder]], "Moviee Music" by [[Stan Vanderbeek]], "Mechanical Orchestra" by [[Joe Jones (Fluxus musician)|Joe Jones]], and "Secret Room" by [[Ben Vautier]].

In 1969, Fluxus artist [[Joe Jones (Fluxus artist)|Joe Jones]] opened his ''JJ Music Store'' (aka ''Tone Deaf Music Store'') at 18 [[North Moore Street]], where he presented his [[Repetition (music)|repetitive]] [[Drone (music)|drone]] music machines. He created there an installation in the window so that anyone could press numerous door buttons to play the [[noise music]] machines displayed there.<ref>[http://www.sukothai.com/X.SA.07/X7.Jones.f1.html Interview with Joe Jones by Nakagawa Shin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103101126/http://www.sukothai.com/X.SA.07/X7.Jones.f1.html |date=3 January 2017 }} (1992)</ref> Jones also presented small musical installation performances there, alone or with other Fluxus artists, such as [[Yoko Ono]] and [[John Lennon]],{{sfn|Smith|1998|pp=206–209}} among others. From April 18 to June 12, 1970, Ono and Lennon (aka [[Plastic Ono Band]]) presented a series of Fluxus art events and concerts there called ''GRAPEFRUIT FLUXBANQUET''. It was promoted with a poster designed by Fluxus leader [[George Maciunas]]. Performances included ''Come Impersonating John Lennon & Yoko Ono, Grapefruit Banquet'' (April 11–17) by George Maciunas, [[Yoshimasa Wada]], Nye Ffarrabas (formerly Bici Forbes and Bici Forbes Hendricks), [[Geoffrey Hendricks]], and [[Robert Watts]]; ''Do It Yourself'' (April 11–17) by Yoko Ono; ''Tickets by John Lennon + Fluxagents'' (April 18–24) with Wada, [[Ben Vautier]] and Maciunas; ''Clinic by Yoko Ono + Hi Red Center'' (April 25-May 1); ''Blue Room by Yoko + Fluxmasterliars'' (May 2–8); ''Weight & Water by Yoko + Fluxfiremen'' (May 9–15); ''Capsule by Yoko + Flux Space Center'' (May 16–22) with Maciunas, [[Paul Sharits]], [[George Brecht]], [[Ay-O]], Ono, Watts, [[John Cavanaugh (sculptor)|John Cavanaugh]]; ''Portrait of [[John Lennon]] as a Young Cloud by Yoko + Everybody'' (May 23–29); ''The Store by Yoko + Fluxfactory'' (May 30-June 5), with Ono, Maciunas, Wada, Ay-O; and finally ''Examination by Yoko + Fluxschool'' (June 6–12) with Ono, Geoffrey Hendricks, Watts, [[Mieko Shiomi]] and [[Robert Filliou]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://specificobject.com/objects/info.cfm?inventory_id=23254&object_id=19915&page=5&search=George%20Maciunas&sort=pubdate&search_type=basic&pobject_status=All&options=artist |title=Joint Yoko Ono, John Lennon, & Fluxgroup Project / Press Release -- April 1, 1970 |access-date=15 January 2021 |archive-date=21 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210121071320/https://specificobject.com/objects/info.cfm?inventory_id=23254&object_id=19915&page=5&search=George%20Maciunas&sort=pubdate&search_type=basic&pobject_status=All&options=artist |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Objects blurring boundaries===
As Fluxus gradually became more famous, Maciunas' ambitions for the sale of cheap multiples grew. The second flux-anthology, the ''Fluxkit'' (late 1964),<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2011/fluxus_editions/works/fluxkit/ |title=Fluxkit, MoMA |access-date=4 July 2012 |archive-date=17 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120517191326/http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/2011/fluxus_editions/works/fluxkit/ |url-status=live }}</ref> collected together early 3D work made by the collective in a businessman's case, an idea borrowed directly from Duchamp's ''Boite en Valise''{{sfn|Hendricks|1988|p=76}}<ref name="MoMA, Interactive">{{Cite web |url=http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/1999/muse/artist_pages/duchamp_boite.html |title=MoMA, Interactive exhibitions |access-date=28 June 2012 |archive-date=4 September 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904044659/http://www.moma.org/interactives/exhibitions/1999/muse/artist_pages/duchamp_boite.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Within a year, plans for a new anthology, ''Fluxus 2'', were in full swing to contain Flux films by [[John Cage]] and Yoko Ono (with hand held projectors provided), disrupted matchboxes and postcards by Ben Vautier, plastic food by [[Claes Oldenburg]], FluxMedicine by [[Shigeko Kubota]] (containing empty pill packages), and artworks made of rocks, ink stamps, outdated travel tickets, undoable puzzles and a machine to facilitate humming.{{sfn|Hendricks|1988|p=124}}

Maciunas' belief in the collective extended to authorship; a number of pieces from this period were anonymous, mis-attributed, or have had their authorship since questioned.<ref>Yoko Ono, for instance, has claimed authorship of Mieko Shiomi's Disappearing Music For Face (aka Smile) for instance.</ref> As a further complication, Maciunas was in the habit of dramatically changing ideas submitted by various artists before he put the works into production.
''Solid Plastic in Plastic Box'', credited to [[Per Kirkeby]] 1967, for instance, had originally been realised by Kirkeby as a metal box, inscribed 'This Box Contains Wood'. When opened, the box would be found to contain sawdust. By the time the multiple had been manufactured by Maciunas, it was a block of solid plastic contained in a plastic box of the same color.<ref name="MoMA, Interactive" /> Conversely, Maciunas assigned ''Degree Face Clock'', in which a clock face is measured out in 360°, to Kirkeby despite being an idea by [[Robert Watts (artist)|Robert Watts]];{{sfn|Hendricks|1988|p=290}}
<blockquote>Some years ago, when I spoke with Robert Watts about ''Degree Face Clock'' and ''Compass Face Clock'', he had recalled thinking up the idea himself and was surprised that George Maciunas advertised them as Per Kirkeby's. Watts shrugged and said that was the way George worked. There would be ideas in the air and Maciunas would assign the piece to one artist or another.{{sfn|Hendricks|1988|p=291}}</blockquote>
Other tactics from this time included Maciunas buying large amounts of plastic boxes wholesale, and handing them out to artists with the simple request to turn them into Fluxkits, and the use of the rapidly growing international network of artists to contribute items needed to complete works. Robert Watts' ''Fluxatlas'', 1973, for instance, contains small rocks sent by members of the group from around the world.<ref>"All contributors will receive a box in return..." {{harvnb|Hendricks|1988|p=542}}</ref>

===Inventing performance art===
In addition to his numerous original compositions which have joined the collective's catalog of works, [[Larry Miller (artist)|Larry Miller]], associated with the group since 1969, has also been active as an interpreter of the "classic" scores and responsible for bringing the group's works to a wider public, blurring the lines between artist, producer and researcher. Besides Miller's own artistic work, he has also organized, reconstructed and performed at numerous Fluxus events and assembled an extensive collection of material on the history of Fluxus.<ref>[http://www.fluxus-east.eu/index.php?lang=en "Fluxus East: Fluxus Networks in Central Eastern Europe"]. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304063726/http://www.fluxus-east.eu/?item=exhib&sub=miller&lang=en |date=4 March 2016 }}</ref> Through Miller, Fluxus attracted media coverage such as the worldwide [[CNN]] coverage of ''Off Limits'' exhibit at the [[The Newark Museum of Art|Newark Museum]] (now The Newark Museum of Art) in 1999.<ref>Marter, Joan M. and Anderson, Simon. ''Off Limits: Rutgers University and the Avant-garde, 1957–1963''. Newark Museum. Newark, New Jersey</ref> Other Miller activities as organizer, performer and presenter within the Fluxus milieu include ''Performance in Fluxus Continue 1963–2003'' at Musee d'Art et d'Art Contemporain in Nice; ''Fluxus a la Carte'' in Amsterdam; and ''Centraal Fluxus Festival'' at Centraal Museum in [[Utrecht|Utrecht, Netherlands]]. In 2004, for Geoff Hendricks' ''Critical Mass: Happenings, Fluxus, Performance, Intermedia and Rutgers University 1958–1972'', Miller reprised and updated the track and field events of the Flux Olympics, first presented in 1970.<ref>Hendricks, Geoffrey, editor. Critical Mass: Happenings, Fluxus, Performance, Intermedia, and Rutgers. Mead Art Museum, Amherst, Massachusetts</ref> For ''Do-it Yourself Fluxus'' at AI – Art Interactive – in [[Cambridge, Massachusetts]], Miller worked as the curatorial consultant for an exhibit of works that allowed viewers hands-on experience including the reconstruction of several sections of the historic ''Flux Labyrinth'', a massive and intricate maze that Miller originally constructed with George Maciunas at ''Akademie der Künste'' in [[Berlin]] in 1976 and which included sections by several of the Fluxus artists. Miller created a new version of the ''Flux Labyrinth'' at the ''In the Spirit of Fluxus'' exhibit at the Walker Art Center in 1994, where Griel Marcus said, "Miller was... fine tuning the monster."<ref>Marcus, Griel. ''Real Life Rock: The Complete Top Ten Columns, 1986–2014''. Yale University Press, New Haven, Connecticut p. 114.</ref>

=== Feminism ===
Women associated with Fluxus such as [[Carolee Schneemann]] and [[Charlotte Moorman]], and founding members of the group such as [[Alison Knowles]] and [[Yoko Ono]], contributed works in varying media and with differing content such as Knowles' "Make a Salad" and "Make a Soup.". Each was shaped by their times and their associations with artists of the previous generation such as [[Sari Dienes]] who were pointing the way to the changes of the 1960s and 70s with strong personnas and art.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://whitehotmagazine.com/articles/museum-show-for-sari-dienes/5895|title=A New Book and a Museum Show for Sari Dienes|work=[[Whitehot Magazine]]|last=Bloch|first=Mark|author-link=Mark Bloch (artist)|date=July 2023|access-date=8 September 2023}}</ref> Some made experimental and performative work having to do with the body that created a powerful female presence, which existed within Fluxus from the group's beginning as illustrated by works including [[Carolee Schneemann|Carolee Schneemann's]] "Interior Scroll", Yoko Ono's "[[Cut Piece 1964|Cut Piece]]", and [[Shigeko Kubota]]'s "Vagina Painting". Women working within Fluxus were often simultaneously critiquing their position within a male dominated society while also exposing the inequalities within an art collective that claimed to be open and diverse. George Maciunas, in his rejection of Schneeman as a member of Fluxus, called her "guilty of Baroque tendencies, overt sexuality, and theatrical excess".<ref name="O'Dell">{{harvnb|O'Dell|1997}}</ref> "Interior Scroll" was a response to Schneemann's experience as a filmmaker in the 1950s and 1960s, when male filmmakers claimed that women should restrict themselves to dance.
{{Poem quote|text=
He said we are fond of you
You are charming
But don't ask us
To look at your films
We cannot
There are certain films
We cannot look at
The personal clutter
The persistence of feeling
The hand-touch sensibility
|sign=Carolee Schneemann<ref name="O'Dell" />
}}

In ''An evening with Fluxus women: a roundtable discussion'', hosted at New York University on 19 February 2009 by ''Women & Performance: a journal of feminist theory'' and the Department of Performance Studies, a passage from Mieko Shiomi reads "...the best thing about Fluxus, I think, is that there was no discrimination on the basis of nationality and gender. Fluxus was open to anyone who shared similar thoughts about art and life. That's why women artists could be so active without feeling any frustration."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Yoshimoto |first1=Midori |last2=Knowles |first2=Alison |last3=Schneemann |first3=Carolee |last4=Seagull |first4=Sara |last5=Moore |first5=Barbara |last6=Shiovitz |first6=Brynn Wein |last7=Yoshimoto |first7=Midori |last8=Pittman |first8=Alex |title=An evening with Fluxus women: a roundtable discussion |journal=Women & Performance: A Journal of Feminist Theory |date=November 2009 |volume=19 |issue=3 |pages=369–389 |doi=10.1080/07407700903399524|s2cid=194022721 }}</ref>{{rp|p=370}}

[[Shigeko Kubota|Shigeo Kubota]]'s ''Vagina Painting'' (1965), was performed by attaching a paintbrush dipped in red paint to her underwear, then applying it to a piece of paper while moving over it in a crouching position. The paint evoked menstrual blood. ''Vagina Painting'' has been interpreted as a critique of [[Jackson Pollock]]'s action paintings, and the male-dominated [[Abstract expressionism|abstract expressionist]] tradition.<ref>Terpenkas, Andrea (June 2017). "Fluxus, Feminism, and the 1960's". ''Western Tribularies''. '''4'''.</ref>

===Utopian communities===
A number of artists in the group were interested in setting up Flux communes, intending to 'bridge the gap between the artist community and the surrounding society'<ref name="Danielle">{{Cite web |url=http://www.wordsinspace.net/urban-media-archaeology/2011-fall/2011/10/11/project-proposal-2/ |title=The History of Artists and Art Production in SoHo, Danielle |date=11 October 2011 |access-date=2 July 2012 |archive-date=9 February 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130209090851/http://www.wordsinspace.net/urban-media-archaeology/2011-fall/2011/10/11/project-proposal-2/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The first of these, La Cédille qui Sourit or ''The [[Cedilla]] That Smiles'',<ref>Harren, Natilee. "La cédille qui ne finit pas: Robert Filliou, George Brecht, and Fluxus in Villefranche". ''Getty Research Journal'', no. 4 (2012), pp. 127–143.</ref> was set up in [[Villefranche-sur-Mer]], France, by [[Robert Filliou]] and George Brecht, 1965–1968. Intended as an 'International Centre of Permanent Creation', the shop sold Fluxkits and other small wares as well as housing a 'non-school', boasting the motto "A carefree exchange of information and experience. No students, no teachers. Perfect licence, at times to listen at times to talk."<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://catalogue.drouot.com/ref-drouot/lot-ventes-aux-encheres-drouot.jsp?id=1150365 |title=Fluxkit documenting the project |access-date=4 July 2012 |archive-date=6 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006102516/http://catalogue.drouot.com/ref-drouot/lot-ventes-aux-encheres-drouot.jsp?id=1150365 |url-status=live }}</ref> In 1966, Maciunas, Watts and others took advantage of new legislation drafted to regenerate the area of Manhattan known as 'Hell's Hundred Acres', soon to become rebranded as [[SoHo]], allowing artists to buy live/work spaces in an area that had been blighted due to a proposed 18-lane expressway along [[Broome Street]].<ref name="Danielle" /> Led by Maciunas, plans were laid to start a series of real-estate developments in the area, designed to create an artists' community within a few streets of the FluxShop on Canal Street. 
<blockquote>
'Maciunas wanted to establish collective workshops, food-buying cooperatives and theaters to link the strengths of various media together and bridge the gap between the artist community and the surrounding society'</blockquote>

The first warehouse, intended to house Maciunas, Watts, Christo & Jeanne-Claude, Jonas Mekas, La Monte Young and others, was located on Greene Street. Likening these communities to the soviet [[Kolkhoz]]s, Maciunas didn't hesitate to adopt the title 'Chairman of Bldg. Co-Op'{{sfn|Kellein|2007|p=131}} without first registering an office or becoming a member of the New York State Association of Realtors.{{sfn|Kellein|2007|p=132}} FluxHousing Co-Operatives continued to redevelop the area over the next decade, and were widened to include plans to set up a ''FluxIsland''- a suitable island was located near Antigua, but the money to buy and develop it remained unforthcoming- and finally a performance arts centre called the ''FluxFarm'' established in [[New Marlborough]], Massachusetts. The plans were continually dogged by financial problems, constant run-ins with the New York authorities, and eventually resulted, on 8 November 1975, in Maciunas being severely beaten by thugs sent by an unpaid electrical contractor.{{sfn|Kellein|2007|p=147}}