Harvard Art Museums > 2006.55: A Flux Atlas Multiples Collections Search Exit Deep Zoom Mode Zoom Out Zoom In Reset Zoom Full Screen Add to Collection Order Image Copy Link Copy Citation Citation"A Flux Atlas (Robert Watts)(Designed by George Maciunas)(Published by Fluxus) , 2006.55,” Harvard Art Museums collections online, May 01, 2024, https://hvrd.art/o/312540. Reuse via IIIF Toggle Deep Zoom Mode Download This object does not yet have a description. Identification and Creation Object Number 2006.55 People Robert Watts, American (Burlington, IA 1923 - 1988 Martins Creek, PA) Designed by George Maciunas, American (Kaunas, Lithuania 1931 - 1978 Boston, MA) Published by Fluxus, American Title A Flux Atlas Classification Multiples Work Type multiple Date 1973 Culture American Persistent Link https://hvrd.art/o/312540 Physical Descriptions Medium Mixed media Technique Mixed technique Dimensions 12 x 9 x 2.5 cm (4 3/4 x 3 9/16 x 1 in.) State, Edition, Standard Reference Number Standard Reference Number S. 520, ff. Acquisition and Rights Credit Line Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Margaret Fisher Fund Accession Year 2006 Object Number 2006.55 Division Modern and Contemporary Art Contact am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu Permissions The Harvard Art Museums encourage the use of images found on this website for personal, noncommercial use, including educational and scholarly purposes. To request a higher resolution file of this image, please submit an online request. Descriptions Description A 7-compartment transparent plastic box with offset printed labels on lid, and a second printed label on internal box top listing geographic locations. Each compartment contains a small stone keyed to locations on internal label with handwritten labels. Commentary This Fluxus edition is one example of how the members of the geographically-dispersed Fluxus community could work to each other's mutual benefit. In the April, 1973 Fluxnewsletter, Maciunas sent out a call for assistance: "We need about 50 pebbles...from specific and well described locations (country, town vicinity, which beach or shore, which sea, lake or river). This is for a large Geography box by Bob Watts, which will contain pebbles from various parts of the world....All contributors will receive a box in return." In its emphasis on collective artistic production and worldwide geographic distribution, it is closely aligned with works like Mieko (Chieko) Shiomi's series of "Spatial Poems" (M26472-M26475). Where Shiomi's works existed as coordinated but ultimately ephemeral actions, gaining their physical form through the gathering of information, Watts' edition gathers physical matter itself. As is often the case, much of the work necessary to transform the object from a "box of rocks" into a "Flux Atlas" is performed by Maciunas' label design. The compartmentalization of the designation "a flux atlas by bob watts" on the label mirrors the structure of the box's interior. The label's graphic association with a premodern cartographic tradition both indicates that this atlas is founded on actual experience rather than on rational, scientific principles, and participates in the longstanding Fluxus appropriation of outmoded graphic idioms. Exhibition History Multiple Strategies: Beuys, Maciunas, Fluxus, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 02/24/2007 - 06/10/2007 32Q: 1100 60’s Experiment, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 04/07/2017 - 09/27/2017 Verification Level This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of Modern and Contemporary Art at am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
