JOIN US in August & September 2025, where Basecamp Gallery in Metuchen, NJ, will host "BetweenUS", a Performance Art based exhibition spotlighting the evolution of New Jersey's performance art movement.
Featuring artists Nicole Strafaci, Spencer Soletto, Simon Keller, & Frank May, the exhibition will blend a gallery exhibition, live performances, installations, & interactive events that reflect on New Jersey and New Brunswick's rich artistic legacy of Fluxus, "Happenings," & contemporary expressions.
Rutgers University was an important center of Fluxus activity in the early 1960s and 1970s, and key members of the Fluxus group worked at Rutgers and lived in and around New Brunswick.
Set within Basecamp's vibrant space at 315 Main Street, this event is poised to be a highlight of Metuchen's late-summer arts calendar. http://instagram.com/basecamp_studio_gallery
History of Fluxus
Emerging in the 1960s and operating globally, Fluxus was an interdisciplinary and experimental approach to art that emphasized blending different artistic media and breaking down traditional boundaries between art and everyday life. Fluxus artists encouraged a playful and open-minded approach to artmaking, creating a wide range of unconventional works, often using ordinary objects and actions to challenge traditional notions of art and engage audiences in interactive experiences. George Maciunas, the primary founder and organizer of the movement, described Fluxus as, "a fusion of Spike Jones, gags, games, Vaudeville, Cage and Duchamp".While the vast majority of Fluxus artists conformed to some, if not all, of the main themes of the movement, many held contrasting ideals and different individuals viewed Fluxus in different ways, leading to significant variation. As filmmaker George Brecht stated, "In Fluxus there has never been any attempt to agree on aims or methods; individuals with something unnamable in common have simply coalesced to publish and perform their work." For some Fluxus artists, even the act of defining the movement was seen as restrictive and counterproductive to the spirit of their work. By resisting a clear definition, they maintained a commitment to challenging established norms and fostering a creative environment.
Key Ideas of Fluxus
- Unlike traditional art movements that compartmentalized different forms of artistic expression, Fluxus sought to break down these barriers and create a more interconnected and immersive artistic experience, integrating visual arts and literature with performance-based media including music, dance and theatre.
- Like the Futurists and Dadaists before them, Fluxus artists did not agree with the authority of museums to determine the value of art and they believed art was not only for the educated elite. Fluxus artists worked to dismiss and mock the elitist world of "high art" and to find ways to bring art to the masses through approachable artworks and the use of humor. Their irreverence for "high art" had an impact on the perceived authority of the museum to determine what, and who, constituted art and helped to change the balance of power in the art world.
- Fluxus works often relied on the element of chance to shape the ultimate outcome of the piece and one of the main ways this was achieved was through audience participation in artworks. This approach reflected a rejection of rigid artistic control and fostered a more interactive and open-ended experience, reflecting a broader, more inclusive approach to creativity.
