Fluxus

Fluxus. A loosely organized international group of avant-garde artists set up in Germany in 1962 and flourishing until the early 1970s. There was no common stylistic identity among the members; one of their manifestos stated that its aim was to ‘purge the world of bourgeois sickness … of dead art … to promote a revolutionary flood and tide in art, to promote living art, anti-art'. Reviving the spirit of Dada, Fluxus was fervently opposed to artistic tradition and to everything that savoured of professionalism in the arts. Its activities were mainly concerned with Happenings (usually called ‘Aktions’ in Germany), street art, and so on. Fluxus festivals were held in various European cities (including Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Düsseldorf, London, and Paris), and also in New York, which became the centre of the movement's activities. The most famous artist involved with Fluxus was Joseph Beuys. Other participants included leading avant-garde artists from various countries, among them the Frenchman Robert Filliou (1926–87), the American Dick Higgins (1938–98), the Japanese-born American Yoko Ono (1933– ), and the German Wolf Vostell. The movement's chief co-ordinator and editor of its many publications was the Lithuanian-born American George Maciunas (1931–78), who coined its name—Latin for ‘flowing', suggesting a state of continuous change.