Dear Mr. Bowman,
We don't know what your interpretation of Fluxus is in any constructive sense. When you tell us to "get into the spirit," though, you obviously posit some kind of interpretation and against which you measure us.
You may well be in the spirit of things. Our note was a comment on your style of criticizing our view on this, with the demand that we get into the spirit of things while accusing us of pedantry.
Perhaps misattributing a piece does not lessen the enjoyment one has in the piece, but it does deprive good artists of the credit their work deserves. It often happens that better known or more widely publicized figures in a group of artists receive credit for what a community has done. Thisis quite contrary to the Fluxus spirit, and this is what George Maciunas avoided with his interest in careful attribution, neat and occasionally obssessive charts, and attention to historical issues and priority claims.
We have explained who we are and what we do a few times now. We will be happy to do it again. Following a few events and accidents last month, we are rethinking our own activities, so our view of ourselves may change, but we'll post a relatively current statement. We do indeed include a couple of art students in our midst, and many argue that solicitors are wankers, but the rest of the labels on your list are hardly neutral. If you truly intend no offence, there are better ways to avoid giving offence than by asking whether we are "killjoys, pompous little twerps, little children with big mouths" etc.
Sincerely,
Secret Fluxus
Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 17:49:55 +0200 From: "Alan Bowman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: FLUXLIST: Get into the spirit ?
> > Unless you claim some special standing as a Fluxus artist, we can't see why > your interpretation of the Fluxus spirit has priority over ours. >
i claim no special standing as anything, and i was in fact referring to the spirit of fluxlist in general and that of ray's silly week.
you have no idea what my interpretation of the fluxus spirit is and believe me I am in the spirit of things.
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Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 17:52:50 +0200 From: "Alan Bowman" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: FLUXLIST: Get
does the missattribution really spoil the enjoyment of a piece?
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Date: Sat, 19 Jun 2004 13:50:58 -0400 From: "Allan" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: FLUXLIST: Get into the spirit ?
Dear Mr. And Mrs. Secret Fluxus,
Re: "As we've said before, we are not pretending to be Fluxus artists."
Perhaps you would care to explain exactly who or what it is that you ARE pretending to be? I am not quite certain. Some of my guesses;
- - Grown-ups - - Histrionicians (Practitioners of histrionics) - - Historians - - Comedians - - Members of a secret society like "Skull and Bones" of Yale U - - Art Students - - Experts on ethics - - Killjoys - - Pompous little twerps - - Little children with big mouths - - Whiners - - Wankers - - Toy soldiers - - Life guards - - Nail clippers
Please note that no offence is intended. If any of my guesses are either correct or incorrect it would be most helpful if you would share that information on the flixlist.
Thank you ever so much!
Allan - -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of secret fluxus Sent: Saturday, June 19, 2004 8:10 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: FLUXLIST: Get into the spirit ?
Mr. Bowman,
Why don't YOU get into the spirit of things?
If you read the correspondence of such artists as George Maciunas and Dick
Higgins, you will see that they were quite careful to attribute works to the
right artists, and they made a great point from time to time about clearing up confusions and misattributions. On many occasions, both Mr. Maciunas and Mr. Higgins were quite blunt in criticizing the liberties others took when they recast Fluxus artists and Fluxus work into a form it never had. Other Fluxus artists have also made a point of clarifying such mistakes. Ben Vautier has often done so, and so has Ken Friedman.
As we've said before, we are not pretending to be Fluxus artists. We have our own views and our own interests. One of these is peforming and learning from the work of other artists. This involves knowing something about who did the work -- and it also involves knowing the work well enough to clear up these issues. For us, attributing work correctly is a matter of simple respect for the artists who created it.
Unless you claim some special standing as a Fluxus artist, we can't see why your interpretation of the Fluxus spirit has priority over ours.
Secret Fluxus
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