Now perhaps I’m unusual because I don’t think kitsch and FLUXUS are incompatible or even mutually exclusive – to wit Thomas Kinkade. Now Tom is, arguably, both kitsch and FLUXUS in a contemporary kind of context and his work is especially so:
- when you/he make(s) jigsaws out of his paintings
- a <FLUXUSdevotee> post them to the edge of the world
- by CHANCE some customs people mix and shuffle the pieces
- AND from 3 separate puzzles of different (ascending!) complexity
- AND pretend that nothing has happened and that it wasn’t their fault when you hunt them down
- AND invoke 9.11 and then claim that it was for the good of the nation anyway (USA?, OZ?) – SAVE THE EDGE!!!
There’s a part of me that feels that John Cage would have approved and thus would happily admit Tom into the <FLUXUSclub>. Now some would argue that Madawg did (was responsible for!?) all of that but I’ll contest that. Madawg stopped being FLUXUS when he wrapped Kinkade’s ‘product’ in his MAILart albeit that he simultaneously assigned a <FLUXUSkitsch> ‘value’ to Kinkade’s ‘product’ .
There are tensions in FLUXUS and kitsch that are not too dissimilar and if Secret Fluxus are indeed closet kitschists I for one do not think they’ve got a thing to worry about and even less if they were to come out of their closet. I promise not to be unkind and also to be very understanding. You see my brother was a closet redneck gay person, and I forgave him when owned up, so I’ve got a track record.
Ray _from way out on the edge
eMail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (when the server’s up)
On 2/7/04 5:40 AM, "secret fluxus" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Dear Madawg,
Could you please define what you mean by kitsch?
We can't tell you if we feel we are doing kitsch until
we know what you mean by kitsch.
Sincerely,
Secret Fluxus
Date: Wed, 30 Jun 2004 12:30:40 EDT
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: FLUXLIST: question for secret fluxus
do you feel that what you are doing is Kitsch? If not, why not? Madawg
_________________________________________________________________
Stay in touch with absent friends - get MSN Messenger
http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger
