Multiple Strategies: Beuys, Maciunas, Fluxus

Multiple Strategies stages a dialogue between the work of German artist Joseph Beuys and that of the international avant-garde group Fluxus, in particular its principal designer and impresario George Maciunas. Although their approaches were not necessarily compatible, both Beuys and Fluxus sought to erase the boundaries between art and life.

The production of multiples played a key role in these efforts, mediating between the creation of objects and a growing emphasis on artistic process and action unfolding in real time. Ignoring traditional aesthetic criteria and frequently emphasizing the observer’s direct participation, these works often demanded a radical reconsideration of the relationship between the object and its viewer. Organized thematically around a set of concerns common to both bodies of work, the exhibition examines the role of the printed or object multiple in these artists’ pursuit of an expanded notion of what art could and should be. Nearly 200 works, drawn from the significant holdings of Beuys and Fluxus in the permanent collections of the Busch-Reisinger Museum and the Fogg Art Museum respectively, are on display. A brochure accompanies this exhibition.

Organized by Jacob Proctor, Ruth V S Lauer Curatorial Assistant, Print Department, and Ph.D. candidate, History of Art and Architecture.