Thing/Thought: Fluxus Editions, 1962-1978

September 21, 2011–January 16, 2012

  • Introduction
  • Selected Works
    • Fluxus 1
    • Fluxkit
    • Flux Year Box 2
  • Exhibition Views
  • Other Resources
    • Exhibition Checklist
    • Blog
    • Video
  • Credits
MoMA

In 1965, Maciunas solicited fellow artists for contributions to another collective anthology, Flux Year Box 2, the last of the planned yearboxes completed. With this project, the assembled works nestle inside a partitioned wooden box designed by Maciunas and printed with a matrix of mismatched fonts on its hinged cover. In his request for ideas, Maciunas indicates the edition will be “limited to book events only, i.e. events that are enacted by the reader automatically as he inspects the book or box.” Scores for performances requiring additional props or instruments—for example, Ben Patterson’s Variations for Double-Bass from Fluxus 1—do not factor among this criteria. Rather, immediate sensation and contained experience are accentuated. A sort of tool kit or supply chest, Flux Year Box 2 contains materials for actions, such as corresponding using Ben Vautier’s The Postman’s Choice postcard, medicating oneself with capsules from Shigeko Kubota’s Flux Medicine, and sowing A Flux Corsage seeds. In addition, during this period Maciunas produced film programs called Fluxfilms, and incorporated this audiovisual dimension into Flux Year Box 2, including numerous short loops and a hand-crank viewer with which to watch them.

Selected components can be viewed in this slideshow.

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Flux Year Box 2
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Flux Year Box 2. c.1968, Fluxus Edition announced 1965

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Games and Puzzles (Bead and Swim Puzzles) from Flux Year Box 2
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George Brecht. Games and Puzzles (Bead and Swim Puzzles) from Flux Year Box 2. c.1968, Fluxus Edition announced 1964

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A Flux Corsage from Flux Year Box 2
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Ken Friedman. A Flux Corsage from Flux Year Box 2. c.1968, Fluxus Edition announced 1967

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Flux Medicine from Flux Year Box 2
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Shigeko Kubota. Flux Medicine from Flux Year Box 2. c.1968, Fluxus Edition announced 1966

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Questionnaire from Flux Year Box 2
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Benjamin Patterson. Questionnaire from Flux Year Box 2. c.1968, Fluxus Edition announced 1964

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E.S.P. Fluxkit, DOP from Flux Year Box 2
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James Riddle. E.S.P. Fluxkit, DOP from Flux Year Box 2. c.1968, Fluxus Edition announced 1967

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Gesture Piece (Fold/Unfold) from Flux Year Box 2
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Ben Vautier. Gesture Piece (Fold/Unfold) from Flux Year Box 2. c.1968

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The Postman’s Choice from Flux Year Box 2
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Ben Vautier. The Postman’s Choice from Flux Year Box 2. 1967, Fluxus Edition announced 1967. (recto and verso)

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Total Art Matchbox from Flux Year Box 2
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Ben Vautier. Total Art Matchbox from Flux Year Box 2. c.1968, Fluxus Edition unannounced

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Fluxfilms from Flux Year Box 2
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Fluxfilms from Flux Year Box 2. c.1968, Fluxus Edition announced 1965

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