FLUXUS CELEBRATIONS

Of course we were not the only ones to think that the 50^th anniversary of Fluxus needed to be celebrated. There have been dozens of celebrations and there will be dozens more. Here is a pick.

Several museums in the US have cheated and started the celebrations a year early. The Zimmerli Art Museum in New Brunswick, New Jersey, for example, could not wait to celebrate the role that Rutgers College in New Brunswick has played in the history for Fluxus and opened its exhibition “at/around/beyond: Fluxus at Rutgers” already in September last year (on display until April this year). MoMA was early as well with its exhibition “Thing/Thought: Fluxus Editions 1962-1978” (September 2011 –January 2012). And the University of Michigan Museum of Art had a show called “Fluxus and the Essential Questions of Life” in February-May this year.

No doubt the largest event, however, is “Fluxus 50 – 1962-2012” in the city of Wiesbaden. Wiesbaden is where it all began (sort of), so it is only fair that the city makes an extra effort. The festival comprises a series of exhibitions, amongst them “Fluxus at 50” and shows of work by Benjamin Patterson and Joe Jones at the Museum Wiesbaden,  a performance program and a concert and performance series called “Festspiele neuester Musik” (after the Fluxus internationale Festspiele neuester Musik in Wiesbaden in 1962). In connection with the festival in Wiesbaden, m.a.x.museo in Chiasso, Switzerland, organised an exhibition called “Fluxus, a Creative Revolution, 1962-2012” (April-July this year). In Karlsruhe, meanwhile, the Zentrum für Kunst und Medien organised a concert by Patterson and Die Maulwerker on 28 April, and for those who missed Die Maulwerker there, there was a second chance to witness their efforts at the Museum Fluxus+ at Potsdam in connection with the “Fluxus Potsdam 2012” program, which also comprised lectures and film screenings.

Travelling south to Italy, the Fondazione Prada in Milan organised a programme called “Some Little Fluxus Events and Fluxus concerts” during the first week of September, as part of the exhibition “The Small Utopia”. Fluxus was given the honour or the title of “smallest of the small utopias of the 20^th century”.  France has celebrated and celebrates Fluxus with a whole host of exhibitions. On 27 October, the Musée d’art moderne in Saint-Etienne opens the exhibition “Fiat Flux: The Nebulous Fluxus, 1962-1978”. Ben Vautier has a solo exhibition at the Villa Arson in Nice (July-October). He is also busy transforming the Musée de l’objet in Blois into the Fondation de la doute. The opening exhibition, in October this year, presents a selection from the collection of Gino di Maggio.

The Serpentine Gallery in London has celebrated Fluxus with a show of works by Yoko Ono called “To the Light (June-September) Ono is also the artist that is chosen to represent Fluxus in the Slovenian town of Maribor, Europe’s Capital of Culture for this year.  And this is only a small pick. But guess who comes up first when you google “Fluxus 2012”? Who else but our very own Lunatics!