Fluxus – informal international group of avant-garde artists active from the early 1960s to the late 1970s
New York: Edited by Fluxus Editorial Council, 1964-1979
Fluxus Editorial Council for Fluxus with G. Brecht, ed., “Fluxus cc Valise eTRangleE,” No. 3, March 1964, approximately 590 x 460 mm
Fluxus Editorial Council for Fluxus with G. Brecht, ed., “Fluxus Vacuum TRapEzoid,” No. 5, March 1965, approximately 560 x 43 mm
G. Maciunas, ed., “3 newspaper eVenTs for the pRicE of…,” No. 7, February 1966, approximately 560 x 430 mm
G. Maciunas, ed., “JOHN YOKO & FLUX,” No. 9, 1970, approximately 553 x 433 mm
R. Watts and S. Seagull, ed., produced by G.Hendricks and the Fluxus Editorial Council for Fluxus. “FLUXUS maciuNAS V TRE FLUXUS laudation script a pro GEoRge,” No. 10, May 1976, approximately 585 x 445 mm
G. Hendricks, ed. In collaboration of B. Vaultier, N. J. Paik, S. Seagull, P. and B. Moore. “a V TRE EXTRA, “ No. 11, March 1979, approximately 380 x 290 mm
Black printed offset on different papers (white, brown wrapping, and green)
Very good condition

This grouping is compiled of six Fluxus newspapers produced between 1964 and 1979. Included are “Fluxus cc Valise eTRangleE”, “Fluxus Vacuum TRapEzoid”, “3 newspaper eVenTs for the pRicE of…”, “JOHN YOKO & FLUX”,“FLUXUS maciuNAS V TRE FLUXUS laudation script a pro GEoRge” and “a V TRE EXTRA”. The newspapers propose avant-garde actions or ideas for Fluxus readers and were intended to be held read and manipulated by their users. Editions circulated widely amongst artists in the 1960s and 1970s.

“Fluxus cc Valise eTRangleE” measures approximately 590 mm x 460 mm, “Fluxus Vacuum TRapEzoid” measures approximately 560 mm x 43 mm, “3 newspaper eVenTs for the pRicE of…” measures approximately 560 x 430 mm, “JOHN YOKO & FLUX” measures approximately 553 x 433 mm, “FLUXUS maciuNAS V TRE FLUXUS laudation script a pro GEoRge,” measures approximately 585 x 445 mm and “a V TRE EXTRA” measures approximately 380 x 290 mm (height x width).

Fluxus (1961- ca. 1978)

Fluxus was an informal international group of avant-garde artists working in a wide range of media between the early 1960s to the late 1970s. Activities included public concerts or festivals and the distribution of ingeniously designed anthologies and publications that included a wide range of innovative creative outlets. The name ‘Fluxus’ was taken from the Latin word for ‘flow’ and was originally conceived in 1961 as ‘Neo-Dada’ by American writer, performance artist and composer George Maciunas. It was meant as a label for a series of anthologies profiling the works of a number of artistic souls including La Monte Young, George Brecht, Yoko Ono, Dick Higgins, Ben Patterson, Nam June Paik and others interested in experimental music, concrete poetry, performance events and ‘anti-films’. Fluxus embraced many of the ideas and practices behind the post-war avant-garde of Western Europe and North America. Some believe the Fluxus movement ended after the death of George Maciunas in 1978.

George Maciunas (Kaunas, Lithuania 1931-1978 Boston, Massachusetts)

George Maciunas is best known as the founder and organizer of Fluxus from 1962 until his death in 1978. At thirteen, Maciunas and his family fled Lithuania to avoid being arrested by the advancing Russian Army, eventually setting in the United States in 1948. Soon afterward, Maciunas studied art, graphic design and architecture at Cooper Union followed by architecture and musicology at the Carnegie Institute of Technology in Pittsburgh and, finally, art history at New York University’s Institute of Arts. In 1961, Maciunas opened the short-lived AG Gallery in New York City, which was devoted to new and groundbreaking art. After the AG Gallery’s closing, Maciunas took a job as a civilian graphic designer at a U.S. Air Force base in Wiesbaden, Germany. It was there that he organized the first Fluxus Festival in September of 1962. The following year, Maciunas’ contract with the U.S. Air Force was terminated due to chronic illness. He subsequently returned to New York and established the official Fluxus headquarters and shop. Though he held several prestigious positions as an architect and graphic designer at a number of firms throughout the years, Fluxus was his main focus. In 1977, Maciunas developed cancer of the liver and pancreas and died the following year.

George Brecht (New York 1926-2008, Cologne)

American conceptual artist, avant-garde composer and professional chemist George Brecht was born George Ellis MacDiarmid. In 1943, he enlisted in the military and while he was stationed near the Black Forest, Germany in 1945, he decided to change his surname to ‘Brecht’ because he liked the sound of it. After WWIII, Brecht studied chemistry at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science, finishing the degree in 1951. Over the next decade, he registered five U.S. patents and two co-patents. Brecht remained in the field of science until 1965 when he became increasingly interested in art that explored chance. He was initially influenced by artists Jackson Pollock and Robert Rauschenberg. Between 1958 and 1959, Brecht studied under John Cage at The New School for Social Research in New York. Brecht was an artist listed in a compendium titled ‘An Anthology of Chance’ designed and published by George Maciunas, the founder and organizer of Fluxus. Brecht remained a prominent member of Fluxus until Maciunas’ death in 1978.