Fluxus Digital Collection Launch
www.fluxusdigitalcollection.org
Photo: Left/Right, Ben Vautier, “Theatre D’Art Total,” 1967, Center, Milan Knížák, “Aktual Provo Fluxus,” 1965
April 7, 2015—We are pleased to announce the launch of The Fluxus Digital Collection. This online collection gathers an eclectic range of artworks by one of the most important movements of the twentieth century. Global in scope, Fluxus members moved between the USA, Europe, East Asia, and elsewhere. They worked across and between traditional media, opting for ephemeral materials, participatory approaches, and playful humor.
The collection includes digital tools that make interactive objects and text-based works available to viewers—many of which have not been read, seen, or heard outside of select archives. With technical tools that include 3D modeling, digital scanning, photography, and film, the Fluxus Digital Collection gives worldwide access to scholars, teachers, students, and art-lovers.
“Video pioneer Nam June Paik organized the first art exhibition on the World Wide Web in 1994,” explains Fluxus artist and collection donor Ken Friedman. “Since then, Fluxus artists and composers have had a durable presence of event scores, images, documents, web sites, exhibitions, publications, and more. Some vanished when links broke and web sites disappeared. Others continue to overcome the limits of fragile artifacts that museums preserve by protecting them from people. The Fluxus Digital Collection brings works back to life, returning them to the world where they belong with a future as lively as the past.”
The University of Iowa Special Collections houses a trove of yet-to-be processed Fluxus art, writing, and correspondence. The Fluxus Digital Collection will continue to grow as we add new content.
Artists featured in the collection include: John Cage, Dick Higgins, George Brecht, Robert Watts, Ken Friedman, George Maciunas, Yoko Ono, Joseph Beuys, Milan Knížák, Ben Vautier, Nam June Paik, Frank Zappa, Robert Filliou, Mieko Shiomi, Shigeko Kubota, Ben Patterson, Dieter Roth, Eric Andersen, Takehisa Kosugi, Ay-O, and others.
Supporting Partners
The University of Iowa
Digital Studio for Public Arts & Humanities
UI Library Digital Research & Publishing
Special Collections
Contact: Stephen Voyce (Director) | stephen-voyce@uiowa.edu | 1.319.333.1923
