Marc asks:
>for such a long time i'm thinking about the question, what the difference
between
DADA and FLUXUS is?<
I think the most important thing to realise is that many of the similarities
between Dada and Fluxus are superficial. Many people think of the
performances at the Cabaret Voltaire and compare them to Fluxus events.
Perhaps the most important thing is intent: In other words what was each
group trying to achieve?
The Fluxus events were designed as a simple actions that could be realised
by anyone. This was not the case with Dada performances which were really
much closer to theatre than performance art. Dada did not offer the general
public a chance to perform Dada works in the way that Fluxus did/does.
I think that perhaps Dada is like an uncle to Fluxus, offering advice and
possibilities rather than instructions and method.
But Dada and Fluxus are often linked in the mind, perhaps Duchamp is the
glue that binds them together?
Most importantly Dada did not possess the democracy of Fluxus. Dada retained
class distinctions which Fluxus ignored. Fluxus is open to all, Dada was
not.
Dada was more politicised than Fluxus although Maciunas(but not Fluxus as a
whole) had similar (communist) political leanings.
Dada was not concerned with intermedia. Fluxus was.
The early manifestations of Fluxus-type works (1958 onwards) were labelled
Neo-Dada by the commentators of the day. Perhaps early on Fluxus was closer
to Dada in being somewhat "anti-art"...certainly Maciunas held this
position. However Fluxus was/is the sum of it's participants and was/is a
paradigm as oppose to a distinct movement like Dada. This is why Fluxus is
still functioning now in the 21st century whereas Dada died fairly quickly
and had to be reincarnated in surrealist work.
So anyway, these are difficult questions. I really think that Dada is best
described as an organised attack on the artistic culture of its day. I see
Fluxus as a creative paradigm for artistic activity, to me Fluxus offers a
system of creative production in which one considers what one has created,
the media one has used and the effect this creation has in the external
world. The results of such consideration then provide the basis for future
work. In this aspect Fluxus is like a scientific approach to creativity.
Dada on the other hand is the use of a new creativity to subvert traditional
modes of creativity, there is no interest in the essence and impact of
creativity itself as there is in Fluxus.
I think that Maciunas's early vision of Fluxus was as Neo-Dada. I think it
is thanks to the vast number and variety of participants in Fluxus over the
years that it has become so much more than that.
Of course I may be wrong.
The best explanation is that Fluxus feels different to Dada. Fluxus is
heavier and is unlikely to hurt when you try to pick it up.
cheers,
Sol.
