George Maciunas (November 8, 1931 – May 9, 1978) was a Lithuanian born, American artist who was a founding member of the Fluxus, an international community of artists, architects, composers, and designers. Events 1519 - Hernán Cortés enters Tenochtitlán and Aztec ruler Moctezuma welcomes him with great a Celebration Year 1931 ( MCMXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full 1931 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Events 1457 BC - Battle of Megiddo (15th century BC between Thutmose III and a large Canaanite coalition under the King of Year 1978 ( MCMLXXVIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays the 1978 Gregorian calendar) Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublika is a Country in Eastern often referred to as Northern Europe or in the The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Fluxus —a name taken from a Latin word meaning "to flow"—is an international network of artists composers and designers noted for blending different artistic media Maciunas is generally credited with having invented the name "Fluxus. "
George Maciunas (Lithuanian: Jurgis Mačiūnas, (pronounced ma-chew-nas) was born in Kaunas, Lithuania, to a Lithuanian father and Slavic mother. Lithuanian ( lietuvių kalba) is the official state language of Lithuania and is recognised as one of the official languages of the European Union. Kaunas ( ˈkoʊnəs is the second largest City in Lithuania and a former temporary capital. Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania (Lietuvos Respublika is a Country in Eastern often referred to as Northern Europe or in the As a young man, he moved to the United States where he studied architecture at Carnegie Mellon University. Carnegie Mellon University (also known as CMU) is a private Research University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United Later, he moved to Germany to escape his creditors. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. It was in Germany at a 1962 festival in Wiesbaden that Maciunas, Dick Higgins, Nam June Paik, Wolf Vostell, Emmett Williams, Alison Knowles, and Ben Patterson staged the first Fluxus festival. Dick Higgins (born Cambridge England 1938 died Quebec Canada 1998 was a composer poet printer and early Fluxus artist Nam June Paik ( July 20, 1932 - January 29, 2006) was a South Korean-born American artist Emmett Williams ( Greenville, South Carolina, April 4, 1925 &ndash February 14, 2007, Berlin, Germany Alison Knowles (born 1933 is an American Artist who produced work in a number of forms
His life-long interest in diagrams made him chart the political, cultural and social history as well as art history and the chronology of Fluxus.
Maciunas developed several loft buildings in SoHo New York and a farm in Great Barrington, Massachusetts as artist housing projects. This article is about an area of Manhattan, New York City. For the area in London UK see Soho. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Great Barrington is a town in Berkshire County, Massachusetts, United States. Maciunas pioneered SoHo as a haven for artists by converting tumbledown buildings into lofts and living space. His real estate ventures were usually several steps ahead of the law and in 1975 he was seriously injured in an assault arranged by an unpaid contractor related to the mob. The attack left Maciunas blind in one eye. After suffering from cancer, he died in a hospital in Boston, USA. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Three months before his death, he married one of his tenants, Billie Hutching. Their wedding was a performance piece called "The Fluxwedding. " The bride and groom traded clothing.
He was close to fellow artists Jonas Mekas, La Monte Young, Nam June Paik, and Yoko Ono, and did much to advance their careers. Jonas Mekas (jonɐs mækɐs born December 24, 1922 in the village of Semeniškiai, near Biržai) is a Lithuanian Filmmaker, writer La Monte Thornton Young (born October 14 1935) is an American Composer and musician Nam June Paik ( July 20, 1932 - January 29, 2006) was a South Korean-born American artist born in Tokyo on February 18 1933 is a Japanese Artist and Musician.
An oratorio loosely based on Maciunas and titled Machunas premiered in August 2005 in the St. Christopher Summer Festival in Vilnius, Lithuania. Saint Christopher ( Greek: Άγιος Χριστόφορος) is a Saint venerated by Roman Catholics and Orthodox Christians Machunas was conceived by artist Lucio Pozzi, with music by Frank J. Oteri. Several of Maciunas' friends and colleagues protested the fact that the libretto was mistaken by many as a biography.
References
- Mr. Fluxus: A Collective Portrait of George Maciunas 1931-1978 by Emmett Williams, Ann Noel, Ay-O (Thames & Hudson, 1998, ISBN 0-500-97461-6)
- Astrit Schmidt-Burkhardt, Maciunas' Learning Machines. Emmett Williams ( Greenville, South Carolina, April 4, 1925 &ndash February 14, 2007, Berlin, Germany Ay-O (Takao Iijima 1931 -) is a Japanese Artist, who has been associated with Fluxus since its international beginnings in the 1960s From Art History to a Chronology of Fluxus (Vice Versa, 2003, ISBN 3-932809-39-4)
External links
- Fluxus Performance Workbook
- Photo, links to books
- Collection of links
- Bibliography of Maciunas material.
- George Maciunas Inerview - KRAB Radio Broadcast, Seattle, 1977 (streaming audio clips)
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