Fluxus Biennal in Rome
The Fluxus Biennale opened January 26th in Rome and will explore this avant-garde movement, which wormed its way into the 20th century art canon, over the course of the next two years.
George Maciunas, Lithuanian-born American artist, embodies the enterprising and ideological force behind this international community of the artists which declared the death of the artist and the arts in 1965. Dismayed by the modalities of the art world of the sixties, he and contemporaries that shared his vision embarked on a mission to destroy traditional concepts about art which established the apotheosis of the artist as a genius, and to protest the bourgeois elitism and intellectualism of avant-garde art.
Their goals were the following: To consolidate art for the masses, expose the artist as an impostor, and celebrate the absurd and the chaotic through the arts. The birth of Fluxus was convened with the law of total anarchy.
One of the first Fluxus activities ultimately positioned it as anti-art par excellence, and introduced the happening to the world. In 1963 Maciunas, who was then working as a graphic designer in the U.S. air force in Wiesbaden, organized and conceived the first Fluxus music festival, which left the audience completely perplexed. One of the most memorable performances were the “Piano Activities“, which lead Maciunas and his colleagues to “play” a piano – symbol of the Bourgeoisie – by destroying it.
The Biennale is held in Rome and was inaugurated in the auditorium Parco Della Musica with a retrospective exhibition focusing on Maciunas. The show encompasses a variety of works by the artist and highlights the most interesting components of his body of work, as well as his critical spirit and influence on other artists, both past and present.
Starting with this inaugural exhibition, the festival will explore the most radical and innovative avant-garde movements of the 20th century within the framework of shows, events and concerts. The main focus is on Fluxus and its subversive activities and artworks. The group turned the conventions of the art world upside down, with works like Maciunas’ “Piano Activities” or sixties-era “Cut Piece” by Yoko Ono a performance piece where she would kneel in front of an audience and have her clothes cut off piece by piece until her body was exposed completely naked.
If you are interested in experiencing a happening or becoming witness of one of the most interesting and fun artistic experiments of the 20th century, you shouldn’t miss this show. Go to Rome. Rent apartments in Rome and sink into the anarchy and chaos of Fluxus.
