The Fluxus Reader [Paperback]

Ken Friedman (Editor), Edited by: Ken Friedman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0471978582 | ISBN-13: 978-0471978589 | Publication Date: November 4, 1998 | Edition: 1

The Fluxus Reader offers the first comprehensive overview on this challenging and controversial group. Fluxus began in the 1950s as a loose, international community of artists, architects, composers and designers. By the 1960s, Fluxus had become a laboratory of ideas and an arena for artistic experimentation in Europe, Asia and the United States. Described as 'the most radical and experimental art movement of the 1960s', Fluxus challenged conventional thinking on art and culture for over four decades. It had a central role in the birth of such key contemporary art forms as concept art, installation, performance art, intermedia and video. Despite this influence, the scope and scale of this unique phenomenon have made it difficult to explain Fluxus in normative historical and critical terms.

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

The Fluxus Reader Fluxus began in the 1950s as a loose, international community of artists, architects, composers and designers. By the 1960s, Fluxus has become a laboratory of ideas and an arena for artistic exprmentation in Europe, Asia and the United States. Described as 'the most radical and experimental art movement of the 1960s', Fluxus chaqllenged conventional thinking on art and culture for over four decadese. It had a central role in the birth of such key contemporary art forms as concept art, installation, performance art, intermedia and video. Despite this influence, the scope and scale of this unique phenomenon have made it difficult to explain Fluxus in normative historical and critical terms. The Fluxus Reader offers the first comprehensive overview on this challenging and controversial group. The Fluxus Reader is written by leading scholars and experts from Europe and the United States. It is edited by Ken Friedman, a Fluxus artist as a sixteen-year-old university student in 1996 and now Associate Professor of Leadership and strategic design at the Norwegian School of Management, Oslo, where he also directs the Nordic Center for Innovation.

About the Author

The Fluxus Reader is written by leading scholars and experts from Europe and the United States. It is edited by Ken Friedman, a Fluxus artist as a sixteen-year-old university student in 1966 and now Associate Professor of Leadership and strategic design at the Norwegian School of Management, Oslo, where he also directs the Nordic Center for Innovation.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons; 1 edition (November 4, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471978582
• ISBN-13: 978-0471978589
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,714,344 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An important resource for anyone who needs current research, May 3, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Santa Monica, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Fluxus Reader (Paperback)

From Umbrella, vol. 22, no. 1 (April 1999): The Fluxus Reader,edited by Ken Friedman (London, Academy Editions, 1998) is a mostwelcome addition to the growing Fluxus literature, one which puts Fluxus into the scholarly pursuits of present and future scholars. It took three decades to fulfill the request of George Maciunas to do a "history" of Fluxus. But this book is more than a history; it gives a theoretical basis for the study of Fluxus, amplifies the known sources and expands upon the ideas and theories of artists, scholars and theoreticians. The influx of new Fluxus scholars, the younger scholars, has given new insights into a movement that over the more than 30 years has become part of the history of art. The book is divided into History, Theory, Critical perspectives, a transcript of the videotaped Interview with George Maciunas, Two Fluxus theories: one by Ken Friedman and one by Dick Higgins, and a chronology, a list of selected Fluxus art works and related primary source materials, and a list of selected Fluxus sources and related secondary sources. There is much in this volume compacted so the lists are fine for my eyes, but might require a magnifying glass. But the book is indeed the first comprehensive overview on this challenging and controversial group.

Judith A. Hoffberg, Editor & Publisher, Umbrella

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An outstanding survey of a major modern art movement, January 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Fluxus Reader (Paperback)

This is the first widely useable source on Fluxus, an experimental group of artists and composers whose work in the 1960s reshaped the art of our times. Experimental in the extreme, these artists were controversial and contemplative, sometimes contentious and often cooperative. Their number included many central figures in contemporary art. Nam June Paik, the founder of video art and the man who named the information superhighway, was one of the best known. So were Joseph Beuys, Emmett Williams, Dick Higgins, and La Monte Young. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to understand the philosophy of an exciting but confusing moment in art history. A thorough documentary section supports the book. The chronologies and bibliographies are particularly valuable. They make this book a necessary companion to anyone who hopes to make sense of the exhibition catalogues and artist books that have been the only source of information on Fluxus until now. An exciting team of scholars wrote this book. They range from the distinguished senior scholars such as Stephen Foster and Estera Milman to articulate new voices such as Ina Blom and Craig Saper. The book is edited by Ken Friedman, once one of the central figures in Fluxus, and now a management professor. If you are interested in intermedia, video, performance art, or happenings, this book is a must-read.