Allen is right. Fluxus has devolved into the sad spectacle of those who originally disdained canonicity desperately trying to ensure the presence of their own work in the canon. It's a bit pathetic.
Fluxus, the original entity, has become a collection of objects and texts of interest only to academics, such as Hannah Higgins, bless her good intentions, whose new PhD will only sift another layer of dust over the legacy that she's preserving. Shows of Fluxus artifacts, like the one at the Walker Art Center a couple of years ago, are an incredible yawn, heaps of paper in vitrines. They are evidence of the end of the thing. Fluxus isn't meant to be an archive, it's meant to be a practice, and such practices cannot be owned. The current discourse around the idea of copyright that has been sparked by the internet illuminates this as well. There is a potential in the net for great and radical changes in the notion of the creative practice and its relation to the individual and to the culture at large. This potential is intimately related to the possibilities that Fluxus opened. So why, then, do later practicitioners want a relation to the name Fluxus? Why don't we simply call it something else, Flewage, whatever? Because the practice known as Fluxus is a legitimate component in what is happening, and it's weird and cumbersome to be forced to ignore it, a kind of falsification. Plus, to stop using the word is to acknowledge that a group of people who once pursued the practice own the word and its attributes, even own the practice. It's sort of like being disowned by one's parents. If my father insisted that the name "Klefstad" was his, and that all the characteristics that it implied stopped with him, because he owned the word and its attributes, and said, "Find your own name," that would be analogous to the sad and paranoid behavior of the Fluxus artists I've witnessed, from the Anderson/Friedman feud to the notion that the term "Fluxus" was reserved for the chosen few, even if that meant that the practice was doomed. I think we should just hijack the word. Ann Klefstad On 1/7/05 9:27 AM, "Alan Bowman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Allen Bukoff has asked me to forward this to all. I request that you all > read it and give it just consideration. > Allen, in my opinion, has had more to offer on the 'Fluxus' front than > many in recent years. Wether the "F" word matters or not is one thing, > Allen > and Fluxus Midwest has/have provided a valuable source of fluxus art > amusement over the years, and before it goes... > CHECK OUT http://fluxus.org and it's related sites. > > ab > > MESSAGE FOLLOWS > > > > Many are called, but none are now chosen. > > > > > > An open letter to 1st and 2nd generation Fluxus > > > > AYO > > Eric Andersen > > Henry Flynt > > Ken Friedman > > Geoff Hendricks > > Alison Knowles > > Larry Miller > > Yoko Ono > > Nam June Paik > > Ben Patterson > > Carolee Schneemann > > Ben Vautier > > Lamonte Young > > Emmet Williams > > -other names to be added to this list, as I distribute it. > > > > 6 January 2005 > > > > Dear Fluxus, > > > > I was very fond of Emily Harvey. I miss her a lot. I am sorry I will not be > there to help you honor and remember Emily Harvey tonight. > > > > Emily Harvey's passing marks a passing for me, too. I am walking away from > Fluxus. It is, unfortunately, unnecessary to announce my departure: most > of you don't even know me. You probably didn't even realize that I am a > part of Fluxus and that I operate and host a number of websites that have > promoted Fluxus for the last nine years. And none of you have ever > acknowledged that I am, in fact, an active Fluxus artist who has pioneered > new little directions and forged new sensibilities in Fluxus for more than > 20 years now. That is why I am leaving. > > > > Twenty years ago I fell in love with Fluxus and the monumental creative > revolutions you all initiated more than 40 years ago. You changed and > expanded what creativity and knowing means. You changed Western culture. > You changed the world. You ripped a new hole in the universe. And you did > it with simple little ideas, games, objects, performances, and concepts. I > will always admire your astonishing accomplishments. What you did was so > big that no historian, writer, collector, or curator has ever gotten their > arms around it satisfactorily. > > > > But an equally astonishing thing has been going on in Fluxus for the last > twenty years. You have been letting Fluxus die. > > > > At one time you welcomed people to Fluxus. You recruited people to Fluxus. > I know you have always been a contentious lot, but there was a time when the > Fluxus door was open, you invited people in, and you made it grow. You > embraced a "second wave" of Fluxus artists-e.g., Ken Friedman, Larry Miller. > You encouraged new Fluxus work and new Fluxus projects. But as far as I can > tell, this pretty much stopped 20 or more years ago (Friedman's Young Fluxus > show in 1982 is the last time any of you sponsored a show of "new" Fluxus > artists). What happened to you? > > > > Letting Fluxus die is a terrific and unnecessary shame and I place most of > the blame on you (the people to whom this letter is addressed). I blame you > individually and I blame you collectively. You have served Fluxus poorly > during these last 20 years and you are letting Fluxus die. It didn't have > to be this way. For the last 20 years, an increasing number of mostly > young, bright, and talented people have been showing up and knocking on the > Fluxus club house door . and almost all of you have either been too deaf or > self-centered to hear them, or worse, you have continued to wring your hands > over whether anyone should or could open the door (the issue of who has the > "authority" to welcome and declare new Fluxus artists has been a convenient > excuse). All you really had to do was open the door and show a little > kindness. Why has that been so hard for all of you to do? > > > > During the last 20 years many different people have been "called" to Fluxus. > I am one of those people. We learned about Fluxus in one way or another and > were struck by lightning, had an epiphany.and generally felt we had found a > place where we really belonged. We had hoped to find a home in Fluxus. And > many of just started doing and being Fluxus in our own way.much like all of > the original Fluxus folks had their own individual understanding and gifts > for Fluxus activities. And one way or another as we have gotten stronger in > our own Fluxus work, we have stepped forward and tried to share this work > with you. Needing to find some acknowledgement and encouragement from the > people who launched this Fluxus ship. We approached you with respect. We > approached you as Fluxus authorities. We knocked on the door and you did > not answer. The most that some of you have been able to do for a whole new > generation of Fluxus artists is hand us some tedious book on Fluxus so we > could "study up," or you smiled patronizingly and encouraged us to attend > your next exhibition. You didn't even seem to consider that any of these > new folks could take you and Fluxus some place new and exciting where it > hadn't been before. And frankly, some of these new Fluxus folks have been > doing more interesting work and more truly Fluxus work than many of you have > been doing during the last 20 years. > > > > Many bright and talented people have not stayed long to knock, however. > They heard the authoritative pronouncements that Fluxus was "dead" or > "over." This was very confusing and discouraging-many of us could feel > the spirit of Fluxus alive in ourselves and in our own work, so we couldn't > understand how Fluxus could be dead. But you didn't answer the door and > many eventually walked away. I have knocked longer than most-for more than > 20 years now since I founded Fluxus Midwest in 1982. Dick Higgins and Emily > Harvey (and Carolee Schneemann) were the only ones to acknowledge and > encourage my own Fluxus work and experiments, but now Dick and now Emily are > gone, I'm out in the cold, and I'm tired of knocking. So I am packing up my > Fluxus bags, and taking my creativity and energies elsewhere. > > > > I am closing down the many internet websites I have constructed and hosted > to promote and honor Fluxus: The Fluxus Portal, the Fluxus Homepage, the > Emily Harvey Gallery, the Museum of the Sub-Conscious, the Dick Higgins > memorial website, and numerous other webpages promoting the work of many > original Fluxus artists. I doubt that many of you will notice. I have > also walked away from FLUXLIST-the pioneering Fluxus email discussion group > that I co-founded with Dick and Ken Friedman. FLUXLIST is another example > of what I am talking about. Most of you could never even bother to > subscribe. By not participating you have missed a great audience and a > wonderful chance to discover and encourage many new Fluxus artists and to > learn about their work. It would have given you back more energy than it > would have taken. > > > > Almost all of you have failed to recognize three obvious things about > Fluxus--about the Fluxus you helped create! > > > > 1.. Fluxus is more than Art. It's bigger than that. To confine it to > being understood as being primarily a phenomenon in the realm of art is to > let it die. > 2.. Fluxus can still be a vibrant and energetic force. By refusing or > failing to recognize this for the last 20 years, you have been letting > Fluxus die. > 3.. Fluxus is bigger than you. Fluxus is bigger than the initial group or > Fluxers, it's bigger than Maciunas. You guys didn't finish off or > "complete" the Fluxus project, you just got it started! Many others have > come to Fluxus with new Fluxus ideas and projects, and many of you haven't > even bothered to notice. By confining Fluxus to yourselves, you are letting > it die. > > > You all have spent so much time during the last 20 years trying to shape > your legacy and the legacy of Fluxus, and few if any of you are satisfied > with the results-the exhibitions, the collections, the books. Instead of > trying to manage Old Fluxus you could have been leading a new group of > Fluxus artists to explore new Fluxus directions and new Fluxus territory? > Wouldn't it have been a lot more energizing and a lot more fun to fan new > Fluxus flames than struggle with collectors who have catalogued your work > but failed to capture your spirit or the scope of your actual > accomplishments? > > > > I can only imagine that if George Maciunas were alive today he might have > excommunicated you all by now and found a new and younger gang of Fluxus > rabble rousers to continue his mischievousness. I imagine him cooking up > guerrilla art activities and staging "terrorist" art attacks against some of > the collectors and historians who demean him and you by saying Fluxus was no > bigger than him and no bigger than you. > > Fluxus has the potential to be a bigger, more vibrant and creative force in > the world today than even the project George Maciunas imagined. Certainly > the world's need for the expanded creativity and the knowing that Fluxus > provides is greater than ever. Because of the availability of more > publications and catalogs documenting Fluxus work and because of the > internet, more people know more about Fluxus than ever before. Fluxus is > attracting more people than ever before-as much outside the art world as in. > More people than ever before want to participate in and make their own > contribution to Fluxus. But you-the founders, the brave pioneers-have > turned your back on them. And you have turned your back on a marvelous > opportunity to expand your legacy and help Fluxus continue. > > > > Sincerely, > > > > > > > > Allen Bukoff, PhD > > Social Psychologist and Fluxus Artist > > Birmingham, Michigan > > visit the > FREEFORMFREAKOUT ORGANISATION > online! > http://freeformfreakoutorganisation.net > > >
