Fluxus , an international art movement of the late 1950s-‘60s that emphasized process over finished product and interdisciplinary work. Lithuanian-born artist George Maciunas is generally credited with naming the movement and writing its founding “manifesto.” Influenced by the ideas of Dada (particularly the work of Marcel Duchamp) and the compositional ideas of the composer John Cage, the movement had its beginning among a group of artists and composers in New York City in the late ‘50s. Among the innovations that came out of the Fluxus movement were happenings, event scores, intermedia, and video art. Maciunas also pioneered the creation of Fluxkits (also called Fluxboxes), small wooden or plastic boxes filled with brief instructions for the user to complete to create their own artwork. Among the loosely affiliated artists who were part of this movement were Yoko Ono, dancer/performance artist Carolee Schneeman, author/publisher Dick Higgins, video artist Nam June Paik, who often created works and performed with cellist Charlotte Moorman, and composer/performers George Brecht and La Monte Young. Fluxus festivals were held primarily in Europe during the movement’s heyday.Fluxus is said to have “ended” with Maciunas’s death in 1978, although its various practitioners have continued to create works through today, while others have been greatly influenced by its ideas.
See T. Kellein, Fluxus (1995), K. Friedman, ed., The Fluxus Reader (1998), S. Owen, Fluxus: The History of an Attitude (1998), H. Higgins, Fluxus Experience (2002), J. Baas and K. Friedman, Fluxus and the Essential Questions of Life (2011).
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