That front door is now on view in “Fluxus and the Essential Questions of Life,” at the Grey Art Gallery, New York University. It is a historically fascinating and excellently produced show of works that mostly masked revolutionary intentions behind deceptively modest, small-scale pieces of assemblage, print making, performance and wordplay.
What Fluxus was is a matter of some debate. Was it an art movement, an anti-art movement, a sociopolitical movement or, as the artists themselves tended to protest, not a movement at all?
Anyway, it did have a name, conceived by Maciunas (1931-78) in 1962, and a philosophy, which basically argued against all fixed notions about everything, including the cult of genius and the distinction between art and life. It involved a regular cast of players, including Nam June Paik, La Monte Young, George Brecht, Alison Knowles and Yoko Ono. These and some 50 others are represented in this show. (via ‘Fluxus and the Essential Questions of Life’ – Review – NYTimes.com)