L IS FOR LITHUANIA and U IS FOR UNITED STATES
George Maciunas was one of the founding members of Fluxus, the transgressive movement with the goal to unite interdisciplinary artists and creators back in 1960s-70s. Maciunas was also the main coordinator and the author of the movement’s manifesto. He was a refugee from Lithuania and originally wanted to give the name “Fluxus” to a newspaper on Lithuanian emigre culture. It just so happened that a much cooler purpose was found.
Maciunas was also the person behind Flux kits and year boxes, an absolutely genius idea of artist-curated containers, which predated all the contemporary subscription boxes with their weak concepts. Can you imagine having a wooden chest curated by the era’s freshest artists? This is why I adore Fluxus. They had a talent for making use of the world around us for art’s purpose, and were way successful at it than most contemporary artists. What can I say, Maciunas was heading this so I’m not surprised. Emigrants are a very resourceful lot.
