Arts in New York City

Before attending the “Fluxus, and the Essential Questions of Life” exhibit I wasn’t exactly sure what Fluxus was. I had a vague idea from our discussions in class and reading “Lunch Poems”, but hadn’t been able to concretize it in my head. Only after viewing the art that isn’t art yet is art in person did I realize that there is no definition for Fluxus past “an art movement of the 1960’s”. The fact that there is no clear explanation that can capture the movement is reminiscent of the movement itself. Fluxus is questions and answers, yes and no, and everything and nothing. Fluxus asks and replies without actually providing an answer.

The artists were looking at everything and questioning, while turning it into an art form. The exhibit was set up according to what the pieces were asking of their audiences.  In the section entitled “Nothingness?” Nam June Paik’s “Zen for TV” and “Zen for Film” asked us if the blank screens in front of us were indeed blank. Does the fact that there is nothing on the screen except a line or static make it empty? Is anything ever truly empty?

In the section called “God?” we saw Ben Vautier’s “Fluxbox Containing God”. This piece was created to entice even the most hardcore skeptics to try to open it. However, the box is glued shut which shows the artist’s (or is he a non-artist?) doubt in whether God exists or not and puts those same thoughts in the head of one who tries to open the box and is disappointed.

Fluxus is unlike many other art movements in its accessibility. Anyone who wants to can pick up an event score and follow it in their own way, giving themselves a piece of Fluxus. There are no limitations or rules; anything can be art, which brings me back to my original question. What is Fluxus?