"At a certain moment the canvas began to appear to one American painter after another as an arena in which to act- rather than a space in which to reproduce, redesign, analyze or express an object, actual or imagined. What was to go on the canvas was not a picture but an event."
- Harold Rosenberg in The American Action Painter
"The most powerful painter in contemporary America and the only one who promises to be a major one is a Gothic, morbid, and extreme disciple of Picasso's Cubism and Miró's post-Cubism, tinctured also with Kandinsky and surrealist inspiration. His name is Jackson Pollock." - Clement Greenberg in 1947
By Alexandra A Jopp
Allan Kaprow, in the 1958 essay “The Legacy of Jackson Pollock,” formulates the standards for the style in art that became known as “happenings.” Kaprow employed the term to describe what was occurring in given surroundings. The term appears toward the end of the essay in which Kaprow suggests two ways in which Pollock’s legacy might continue to develop: “One is to continue in this vein. Probably many good ‘near-paintings’ can be done varying this esthetic of Pollock’s without departing from it or going further. The other is to give up the making of paintings entirely – I mean the single flat rectangle or oval as we know it.” In other words, Kaprow suggests that the possibilities are to continue to develop an action type of painting (as Pollock did; however, Kaprow notes that while Pollock created some magnificent paintings, he also “destroyed painting”) or to “hop right into real life.” Kaprow writes that, to do this, new materials and new subjects should be used: “Objects of every sort are materials for the new art: paint, chairs, food, electric and neon lights, smoke, water, old socks, a dog, movies … they will disclose entirely unheard-of happenings and events, found in garbage cans, police files, hotel lobbies, seen in store windows and on the streets, and sensed in dreams and horrible accidents.” This is reminiscent of Marcel Duchamp and other Dada artists, for whom any material and subject could be turned into art.
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Jackson Pollock aka "Jack the Dripper" painting in his East Hampton studio. |
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Jackson Pollock. Autumn Rhythm (Number 30). 1950. |
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August 8, 1949 issue of Life Magazine |
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by George Maciunas, 1963. |
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"Fluxus is not: a movement, a moment in history, an organization. Fluxus is: an idea, a kind of work, a tendency, a way of life, a changing set of people who do Fluxworks."—Dick Higgins
Artist: various
Institution: Walker Art Center
Fluxus artists often collaborated in the creation of artworks, valuing the idea of community and collective spirit over the individualism of an artist in traditional art. The group produced many multiples, books, and publications such as newspapers, which enabled them to work together and produce something that expressed their philosophy of anti-art while serving a social function. Many of these editions were hand-assembled; the Fluxus artists, unlike other artists at the time, did not outsource production to external fabricators. These editions were unlimited, intended for mass production, and sold at low prices to underscore the ideal of accessibility while condemning the market-driven art world.
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cc V TRE (Fluxus newspaper # 1)
Artist: George Brecht, George Maciunas
Date: 1964
Medium: Other, Newspapers
Size: open 23.0625 x 36 inches
Institution: Walker Art Center
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single sheet from Fluxus Vacuum TrapEzoid (Fluxus newspaper # 5)
Artist: George Maciunas Date: 1965 Medium: Other, Newspapers Size: sheet 21.9375 x 18 inches Institution: Walker Art Center |
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