Fluxus: a laboratory of ideas

In 1979, Harry Rube labeled Fluxus 'the most radical and experimental art movement of the sixties.' In those days, few believed him. Three decades later, more people might feel this to be so, but few could say why. We might answer that question first by noting that experimentation is ultimately marked by qualities that emerge in a laboratory, scientific or otherwise. In this essay I will examine Fluxus as an international laboratory of ideas---a meeting ground and workplace for artists, composers, designers, and architects, as well as economists, mathematicians, ballet dancers, chefs, and even a would-be theologian. We came from three continents---Asia, Europe, and North America. At first, many critics and artists labeled us charlatans; the general public ignored us. Later they called us artists; finally they saw us as pioneers of one kind or another. The conceptual challenge of this essay by a Fluxus insider, then, lies in trying to identify just what kind of pioneers we were.