Attended my friend Joshua's Fluxus art show this weekend.
I know very little about Fluxus (1962 - 1978, or 1962 - Present, depending on who you talk to), but from what I gather, it's an art movement influenced by the spirit of dada. The same anti-art, DIY attitude that pokes fun at the pretentious world of art. This attitude, I dig.
I was late for the main performance (common to Fluxus) , but it appeared to be a blast as I searched for a parking spot. I was able to witness Fluxus boxes, an art form closely associated to the movement. The fluxus boxes at the gallery were small, wooden boxes filled with word clippings from magazines and newspapers. The idea is that you would put the words together to build your own sentences, in this case, your own obituaries. Traditional fluxus boxes often include games, cards, and ideas.
source
Really, I was most impressed by the gallery space.
A stamp museum/manufacturer called Stampland!
Tables and walls lined with gorgeous, in-store made stamps! Wowee, some of these stamps were amazingly detailed. The line work flabbergasted me so totally that I, of course, needed to receive an explanation of the process of making stamps! William "Picasso" Gaglione, the owner of Stampland, made it sound so simple.
The process, from top (the beginning) to bottom (the product).
Basically and without technical terms, Picasso uses the metal plate on the left, which is made with the image elsewhere, but requested by Picasso, to print the image on the brown, linoleum-like plate in the middle using the machine (heat source) you see below (which is made with a car jack?!). Next, Picasso uses recycled rubber pressed against the brown, linoleum-like plate to create the stamp you see on the right. Afterwards, Picasso cuts away the excess rubber, stamps the top of a wood block and allows it to dry for near twenty-four hours. And finally, using a double-sided, adhesive material, Picasso attaches the rubber stamp to the wooden block.
Michael and I wandered around, with our jaws on the floor, browsing stamps the entire time we were there. There were so many, it's overwhelming!
Can you blame us?
Fluxus who, what?
<3
2 comments:
Wowww, that's awesome. I collect stamps secretly, but they're kind of expensive so I haven't bought any in awhile.
Oh, I've never heard of Flexus. Sounds really cool. I'll have to look into it.
I wish I could learn to make stamps. Maybe I'll buy some for packaging in our class.
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