George Maciunas

GEORGE MACIUNAS – BIOGRAPHY

Born: November 8, 1931 in Kaunas, Lithuania


EDUCATION:
1949-52: Cooper Union School of Art, studied art, graphic art, architecture
1952-54: Carnegie Institue of Technology, Pittsburgh, studied architecture and
musicology. B. of Architecture
1955-60: Institute of Fine Arts, NYU, studied European and Siberian art of migrations
CHARTS, DIAGRAMS AND ATLASES
1953: Atlas of Russian History (book of translucent pages, superimposed maps)
1958: Atlas of Prehistoric Chinese art
1955-60: History of Art Chart (incomplete) a giant 6 ft. x 12 ft. time/space chart categorizing all past styles, movements, schools, artists, etc.
1958-66: History of Art 3-dimentional Chart (1st category on drawer faces, 2nd category on horizontal surface of drawer interior and 3rd category on vertical multiple surfaces of drawer interior-faces of filing cards)
1969: Re-categorization of fields of knowledge, completed 2-dimentional diagram & tabulation, intended as the first surface of 3-dimentional storage and retrieval system, called a “learning machine”.
1966-present: History of Avante-garde, particularly its development from Futurism, Dada, Duchamp, Surrealism, John Cage, Happenings, Events, and Fluxus, with particular emphasis on documentation of Fluxus. 23” x 80”. (still in progress)
1972-present: Architectural monuments of the world, Atlas of maps. (still in progress)
OBJECTS AND EXHIBITS
1962-present: edited, published, designed containers, labels, packaging, other graphics of all flux editions (several hundred items)
1964: edited & published Fluxyearbox 1, anthology of flat objects in envelopes. Contributed a chart on architectural criticism.
1965: edited and published Fluxkit, an attaché case with various flux objects produced up to that date.
Flux-organ (12 bird calls activated by bellows), various chess sets
(pieces as grinders, colored balls, sand timers, etc.)
Edited, designed titles (using various animation and camera techniques) of some 20 films into Flux-film anthology, contributed: films made without camera (sing various adhesive patterns on clear film stock): Artype, 10 feet, end after 9, eyeblink (high speed camera).
1966: edited & published Fluyearbox 2, anthology of film loops, games and paper events. Contributed 4 film loops.
Designed first prepared ping pong and badminton rackets (undulating, convex, with hole, hinged, elastic etc. surfaces)
1967: stick-on tattoos of hardware etc. photo aprons (venus de milo, stomach anatomy, Napoleon, etc.)
1968: organized and participated in Fux-exhibit, Univ. of Calif. Sand Diego art Col.
1967: designed announcements for paper show annd body covering show at Museum of Contemporary Crafts, NYC. Participated in the first.
1969: clock faces: decimal, degrees, backward etc. multi-faceted mirror, adding machine, distilled coffee, tea, juices, eggs, containing vodka, noodles, egg-white; tea from ropes, pine cones etc.
1970: smile machine, 64 needle syringe, 12 bird aerophone machine, dancing duck call machine.
1971: Produced, designed and contributed to “This is not here” show of Yoko Ono and John Lennon at Everson Museum, Syracuse
1972: names spelled with objects, burglary kit, anthology of animal exreta, etc.
1975: edition of Hospital even, edited Fluxpack 3, contributed 3 stationary designs, 2 aprons, postage stamp[s, published by Multipla, Milan.
1976: Sept. initiated collaborative flux-labyrinth project, major contribution, to be exhibited at US. Centenial Exhibition, Berlin.
PERFORMANCE COMPOSITIONS, PERFORMANCES, FILM SCREENINGS,
EVENTS
1961: Organized a seies of events by Maxfiled, Cage Ichiyanagi, Higgins, Flynt, La Monte Young, Yoko Ono, Ray Johnson, Walter De maria.
1962: Initiated the Flux group activities with first flux festivals: 14 concerts in Wiesbaden state museum, 6 concerts in Copenhagen, 7 in Paris, First musical compositions (music scored by animals, music for lips, mud, bottles, pebbles, balloons, ladders, violin, 12 piano pieces, In
memoriam to Adriano Olivetti for bowler hate, 8 homages, etc.
1963: Flux festivals in Dusseldorf, Amsterdam, Hague, Nice (first street events)
1964: organized & contributed pieces for flux orchestra concert at Carnegie Recital Hall, (piano for carpenter, string quartet, etc.)
Piece for violin performed at Little festival of new music at Univ of London, also at Hague and Milan.
Organized a series of concerts and events at 359 Canal St., NYC. Initiated 1st sport events at Washington Sq. Gal. own: ping-pong & badminton.
1965: 2nd flux-orchestra concert at Carnegie Recital Hall, designed balloon tickets and glider programs. Flux-fest at NY Cinemathque
1966: Event at Village Gate (benefit for EVO) (adhesive net dropping over dancing guests) Organized flux fest in Prague
1967: Flux films shown at Cologne, Turin, Perugia, Como, Savona, Zurich, Belgrade, Zagreb, Sarajevo, several U.S. colleges,
Flux films awarded Milwaukee Art Center Award, 4th Ann Arbor film Festival Award.
Organized and contributed to Waldorf Astoria Hotel room clinic. Own pieces performed at Genoa, Nice, Paris, Rome etc.
2 paper performance pieces at Time & Life bldg, sponsored by Container Corp. & Museum of Contemp. Crafts, (arrow attack on paper curtain and a paper sound orchestra) Participated with paper objects in Paper show at Museum of Contemporary Crafts, NYC
1968: Organized first artist housing cooperatives in SoHo, NYC. Organized and contributed to first flux-food events
1969: 2nd flux-food event (funny foods) contributed egg pieces, rope, cone & wood tea, distilled juices etc. transparent coffee, etc.
1970: Composed flux mass, performed at voorhees chapel, Douglass College, NJ. At same college organized flux sport Olympiad (own handicap races, giant glove boxing, bicycle joust, various racket games, etc.)
Organized a flux festival in collaboration with Yoko Ono & John Lennon at 80 Wooster St. grapefruit banquet, funny tours & tickets, measuring clinic, garden of water events, made of difficult doors, film capsule-environments, etc.)
1972: Advised & contributed to the Flux shoe festival, at Falmouth, Exeter, Croydon, Oxford, Cardiff, Blackburn, Hastings, Nottingham (England)
1973: Ping-pong table & rackets set up at Contemporanea. Incontri Internazionali D’Arte. Rome.
Organized & contributed to flux game festival on Wooster St. (human treadwheel, multi-bike square vehicle, 2 swing joust, multi-player chess.)
1975: Organized & contributed to flux harpsichord recital at Film Archives, Organized 12 big name event & Rainbow food event (+ transparent)
1976: Organized & contributed to Time events at Clock Tower, Leonard St. & Broadway. Also flux-tours (2 weeks of events at SoHo, NYC)
Fall: will perform own pieces and organize entire harpsichord recital at the Berlin, SoHo show.
PUBLICATIONS, ESSAYS, ARTICLES:
1964: Covered in Postface by Dick Higgins, Something Else Press. Also in John Cage—Notations, 1962 various European newspapers.
1965: Tulane Drama Review, designed fluxus fold out section. Also article on Fluxyearbox 1 by John Wilcock in Village Voice, No. 25.
1966: essay: US surpasses all nazi genocide records! Publ. by Edizioni di cultura contemporanea, Milan, No.2, ED 912
1967-69: published in Arch Do, Milan. Also in Da a/u dela, magazine of arts, Milan
1968: Article on Fluxyearbox 2 by Grace Glueck, New York Times, June 16
1970: Article of Flux festival in Village Coice, May 20 & april 30. Happenings & Fluxus Catalog, Cologne, edited by Hans Sohm.
1972: Arts & Artist Magazine, England, issue devoted to Fluxus: Edited and contributed to special section of paper events. Oct. issue.
Flux shoe, published by Beau Geste Press, Devon, England.
1976: AQ 16, microdmystification. Contribution in special issue.
Article on Harpischord Flux recital by Peter Frank in SoHo News.
OBJECTS IN COLLECTIONS:
Stockholm Museum of Modern Art, Centre Beaubourg, Paris, Jean Brown Archives, Tyringham, Mass, Hans Sohm Archives, Germany, Cedille qui Sourit, France, Multiplan, Milan; collection of Yoko Ono & John Lennon, John Cage, Marcel Duchamp, Peter & Barbara Moore, etc.
May 2, 1976: recipient of “Laudatio scripta pro George Maciunas concepta hominibus fluxi”, organized by all flux-members (27)