36works122min

　

This series of 37 films which George Maciunas began gathering as early as 1966 was compiled by Jonas Mekas at New York’s Anthology Film Archives in 1992. Though some films are still missing, it is the most complete version to date since Maciunas’ death in 1978. He often changed the choice and order of films as he saw fit. A short 40-minute version dates from the summer of 1966. In the winter of that same year, this version was extended to 100 minutes. The 1974 version ran 2300 feet, or 64 minutes.
The Fluxfilm Anthology is an example of a collective work produced by Fluxus, much like their musical recordings, publications and Flux Foods, a sort of theme-based culinary meeting. This program was shown at the well-known Ann Arbor independent film festival in the United States in 1966 where it won the critics’ prize.
　
The artists who took part were not known as filmmakers, with the exception of George Landow and Paul Sharits whose work occupies an important place in American avant-garde cinema of the sixties and seventies, and Yoko Ono, whose filmography has for the past ten years been considered part of her work by museums.
　
George Maciunas often presented the set of Fluxfilms as “art by the meter.” These were mural environments under the heading of “Flux Film-Wallpaper.” Short films were projected as continuous loops inside of cubes known as “Flux Space Centers,” or sometimes “Capsules.” They were approximately three-and-a-half meters on a side, made of white cotton or vinyl sheets and protected from outside light. These film environments were often accompanied by music, such as Wagner’s REQUIEM for Dick Higgins’ INVOCATION OF CANYON AND BOULDERS, or street sounds amplified inside the projection space during loops of Maciunas’ ARTYPE and Yoko Ono’s FOUR and EYE BLINK.
　
Fluxfilms also appeared in the form of flipbooks, small pads that are rapidly “flipped” frame by frame, where the speed of sequential photographs reproduces the illusion of movement, the guiding principle behind animated film. Easy to carry, flipbooks are also an original way to see films, as they are available at any time or place. At first, Maciunas wanted to publish all the films as flipbooks, but only Dick Higgins’ INVOCATION OF CANYONS AND BOULDERS and Chieko Shiomi’s DISAPPEARING MUSIC FOR FACE were released in this form. These small books as well as 16mm and 8mm film loops were available through mail order at affordable prices. This was an attempt to develop film distribution in a form other than that of projection in a theater. This distribution process brought Art out of the Museums, making it widely accessible. Popularizing moving pictures as an objet d’art, neither a reproduction nor a document such as a poster or video, the films preserve their own identity and their purchaser can reinterpret them freely due to their “do it yourself” presentation. Film loops sold in individual boxes can be considered as interchangeable wallpaper, taking on a purely decorative value. This popularization attempt advocated by Maciunas starting in the 1960’s made its mark as a utopian incarnation of consumer society.
　
Seen in the context of the delirious blaze of the 1980’s Art market, it would seem that Maciunas’ efforts to popularize Art and bring it out of its glass house were doomed to fail. His wish to find modes of representation other than the strict frontality of traditional projection is no longer respected, as programmers who present these films as multi-screen installations or loop events are rare. Distributors and cinematheques are unwilling to cut apart their prints of the Fluxfilm Anthology. These works are thus relegated to museums and art centers that generally project them to their audiences in their numbered order and in the traditional way, like animals in a Zoo, far from their place of origin.
　
Excerpt From Presentation by Maeva AUBERT on Fluxfilm Anthology

　
FLUXFILM #1: ZEN FOR FILM　　Nam June PAIK / 1964 / 16mm / 7min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #2: INVOCATION OF CANYONS AND BOULDERS　　Dick HIGGINS / 1966 / 16mm /1min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #3: END AFTER 9　　George MACIUNAS / 1966 / 16mm / 1min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #4: DISAPPEARING MUSIC FOR FACE　　SHIOMI Chieko / 1966 / 16mm / 11min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #5: BLINK　　John CAVANAUGH / 1966 / 16mm / 3min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #6: 9 MINUTES　　James RIDDLE / 1966 / 16mm / 9min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #7: 10 FEET　　George MACIUNAS / 1966 / 16mm / 28sec. (USA)
FLUXFILM #8: 1000 FRAMES　　George MACIUNAS / 1966 / 16mm / 42sec. (USA)
FLUXFILM #9: EYE BLINK　　ONO Yoko/ 1966 / 16mm / 1min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #10: ENTRANCE TO EXIT　　George BRECHT / 1966 / 16mm / 6min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #11: TRACE #22　　Robert WATTS / 1966 / 16mm / 2min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #12: TRACE #23　　Robert WATTS / 1966 / 16mm / 3min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #13: TRACE #24　　Robert WATTS / 1966 / 16mm / 2min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #14: ONE　　ONO Yoko / 1966 / 16mm / 5min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #15: EYE BLINK　　ONO Yoko / 1966 / 16mm / 1min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #16: FOUR　　ONO Yoko / 1967 / 16mm / 5min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #17: 5 O’CLOCK IN THE MORNING　　Pieter VANDERBEK / 1966 / 16mm / 5min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #18: SMOKING　　Joe JONES / 1966 / 16mm / 6min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #19: OPUS 74, VERSION 2　　Eric ANDERSEN / 1966 / 16mm / 2min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #20: ARTYPE　　George MACIUNAS / 1966 / 16mm / 4min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #22: SHOUT　　Jeff PERKINS / 1966 / 16mm / 2min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #23: SUN IN YOUR HEAD　　Volf VOSTELL / 1963 / 16mm / 6min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #24: READYMADE　　Albert FINNE / 1966 / 16mm / 45sec. (USA)
FLUXFILM #25: THE EVIL FAERI　　George LANDOW / 1966 / 16mm / 3min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #26: SEARS CATALOGUE　　Paul SHARITS / 1965 / 16mm / 28sec. (USA)
FLUXFILM #27: DOTS 1 & 3　　Paul SHARITS / 1965 / 16mm / 35sec. (USA)
FLUXFILM #28: WRIST TRICK AND UNROLLING EVENT　　Paul SHARITS / 1965 / 16mm / 3min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #29: WORD MOVIE　　Paul SHARITS / 1965 / 16mm / 4min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #30: DANCE　　Albert FINNE / 1966 / 16mm / 2min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #31: POLICE CAR　　John CALE / 1966 / 16mm / 1min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #36: UNTITLED　　Peter KENNEDY + Mike PARR / 1970 / 16mm / 2min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #37: UNTITLED　　Peter KENNEDY + Mike PARR / 1970 / 16mm / 2min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #38: JE NE VOIS RIEN JE N’ENTENDS RIEN JE NE DIS RIEN　　Ben VAUTIER / 1966 / 16mm / 7min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #39: LA TRAVERSÉE DU PORT DE NICE À LA NAGE　　Ben VAUTIER / 1963 / 16mm / 5min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #40: FAIRE UN EFFORT　　Ben VAUTIER / 1969 / 16mm / 2min. (USA)
FLUXFILM #41: REGARDE MOI CELA SUFFIT　　Ben VAUTIER / 1962 / 16mm / 3min. (USA)
　

Schedule

TOKYO：5/4 18:45　R program
KYOTO：5/21 13:45　R program
FUKUOKA：6/5 16:10　R program
NAGOYA：6/25 17:00　R program
YOKOHAMA：7/17 11:30　R program