Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Fluxus was an art movement of the 1960s and 70s that set out to abolish the canonized art idioms of the day. Pioneers of Conceptual Art and Minimalism, the Fluxus artists were known for their environments, performance art and mass-producible objects. This book is a study of the Fluxus movement.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

The Fluxus movement melded the tricks of Dada, the economy of Conceptualism and the collectivist spirit of Russian Constructivism to produce deliberately ephemeral and easily forgettable works. Fluxus artists made some witty, subversive objects, like Joe Jones's Violin in Bird Cage . To challenge our conventional notions, they created transparent dresses, a box filled with chromed earthworms, dollar-bill toilet paper, collections of rocks marked by weight, ceiling hatches, fashion handbills, ``Here I Come'' sweatshirts. Claes Oldenburg, Yoko Ono, Willem de Ridder and the group's ``resident genius'' George Maciunas were among the experimenters in the Fluxus orbit. Their inventions are much less revolutionary than the artists seem to think they are, more like private jokes than disturbing works of art. Hendricks is curator of the Lilia and Gilbert Silverman Fluxus collection, which this hefty tome catalogues. Its dictionary format with thousands of entries is well suited to the motley anarchy of this group. (Dec.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

CHOICE Review

Fluxus as a movement is closely related to the happenings of the '60s and '70s. Its promoter and champion was George Maciunas. Some of the artists associated with Fluxus ranged from Joseph Beuys and Claes Oldenburg to Yoko Ono, John Lennon, and Jonas Mekas. The movement produced what we would now call performance pieces, artists' books, mail art, stamp art, etc. Fluxus Codex catalogs the extensive collection of nonperformance items gathered by Gilbert and Lila Silverman. The collection covers material produced by Fluxus artists from 1961 to 1978. This is a handsome volume, well illustrated with photographs of some of the participants, games, kits, banners, broadsides, musical scores, musical instruments, installations, cancellation stamps, and other almost unclassifiable items along with descriptions of projects never realized. This book will make an excellent addition to undergraduate and graduate collections on 20th-century art and should prove to be an inspiration to art students everywhere. -I. Frank, University of South Florida