In 1961, Jurgis Mačiūnas organized an event at the AG Gallery in New York that he officially named FLUXUS – a Latin word that means flow. This year, the whole world has been commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of this avant-garde movement through which Jurgis Mačiūnas brought together world-famous artists: Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, AY-O, George Brecht, Ben Vautier, Joseph Beuys and others.
And the difference between FLUXUS sixty years ago and now is not large. Then, as now, the movement’s goals are to provoke a viewer and not to accept the routine of politics and culture. It invites us to be spontaneous, to laugh and smile, and to look with joy at even the most serious of things. Moreover, both then and today, there are a lot of depressing things going on around us. Let’s be frank – there have always been people who have been surrounded by disasters and it has never been easy for them to live their lives, but everything depends on your attitude. As Prof. V. Landsbergis has said, “FLUXUS and J. Mačiūnas were a unique sort of medicine against the greyness, routine and stagnation of life and made an attempt to look at everything as being much less complex and more fun.”
The Jonas Mekas Visual Arts Center, commemorating the 60th anniversary of the FLUXUS movement and the 90th anniversary of Jurgis Mačiūnas’ birthday, presents Fluxus LAB – an app for Apple and Android phones that aims to playfully look at serious things, just as the pioneers of the FLUXUS movement did. We want to make people play and smile. The Fluxus artifacts presented side by side will truly stand as a testament to the fact that – FLUXUS IS A VERY REAL VACCINE TO PROTECT YOURSELF FROM DAILY ROUTINE.
Also you will see Jonas Mekas’ film about George Maciusnas Zefiro Torna or Scenes from the Life of George Maciunas, 1992.