It baffles me.. why one would feel that they need/want/deserve/feel
in-titled to the fluxus label on their work or selves.
I wouldn't consider the things that I make and do to be Fluxus, rather
I might note that my inspiration and theory is sometimes derived from
fluxus or more accurately parts of fluxus, Just as some folks
associated with Fluxus were inspired by, shared and developed theories
that stemmed from DADA and earlier Avant Gardes or the idea that Cage
transformed Duchamp's ideas of the ready made and distinction into his
ideas on music and composition (4'33")
Why do we need to use Fluxus as a label?
I taught a section on Fluxus in a 3d design/intro to sculpture class a
few years ago. I had my students research Fluxus starting with Dick
Higgins 'A child's history of Fluxus' all the way up to the
'Performance Workbook'. They were then asked to develop their own
Fluxus scores and perform them the next class. The results were
wonderful and I was really amazed at how much they understood the
material and made it their own, though I wouldn't consider my students
to be Fluxus artists. They were inspired by Fluxus and what they did
was create works derivative of the ideas and formats they found in
Fluxus.
Even though we may make works that stem from the ideas in fluxus, We
can't just call ourselves Fluxus artists. So where is the solution?
Are we Fluxus or are we not? Who is Fluxus?
How do we distinguish between the fluxus of today and the fluxus of yesterday?
Owen has a very nice way of doing this, he describes what he does as
not fluxus but 'fluxist'.
For me Fluxus is an idea that seems to permeate the lives of those who
discover and continue to research it and it continues to spread and
mutate into many forms and ways of doing things.
-David
