The NJP Academy this year presents Nam June Paik Fluxus Studies, a lecture series examines leading Fluxus artists who worked together with Nam June Paik and their artistic activities as a starting point to understand Fluxus, an international avant-garde artist group and network. Following the genealogy of the avant-garde that appeared in the early 20th century, Fluxus was born in Europe and the United States in the late 1950s, and, as its name suggests, that is, a state of flow, Fluxus proposed ‘change.’ It sought to challenge traditional values and institutions, and to integrate art and life. Fluxus art, which unfolds unprecedented new thoughts in bold and provocative ways, has continued as a basis for the practices of contemporary artists.
Nam June Paik Fluxus Studies in connection with Nam June Paik Art Center’s exhibition Humor Has It, illuminates George Matiunas, Dick Higgins, George Brecht, Yoko Ono, and Kosugi Takehisa among Fluxus artists with Paik. Working in various forms in different genres such as art, music, performance, and poetry, they tried to put the spirit and attitude of Fluxus into practice, sometimes in their own way and sometimes through joint cooperation. Nam June Paik Fluxus Studies is a lecture course to understand Fluxus which had a major influence on contemporary art, by exploring its artists who suggested new conditions and directions for art in search of various ‘changes.’