GEORGE MACIUNAS CURRICULUM
VITAE
GEORGE MACIUNAS
Born November 8, 1931 in Kaunas, Lithuania
EDUCATION
1949-52: Cooper
Union School of Art
studied art, graphic art, architecture
1952-54: Carnegie
Institute of Technology Pittsburgh, studied architecture and
musicology. B. of Architecture
1955-60: Institute
of Fine Arts, NYU
studied European and Siberian art of migrations
CHARTS, DIAGRAMS AND ATLASES
1953: Atlas
of Russian History (book of translucent pages, superimposed maps)
1958: Atlas of Prehistoric
Chinese art
1955-60: History
of Art Chart (incomplete) a giant 6 ft. x 12 ft. time/space chart
categorizing all past styles, movements, schools, artists, etc.
1958-66: History of Art 3-dimentional
Chart (1st category on drawer faces, 2nd category on horizontal
surface of drawer interior and 3rd category on vertical multiple surfaces
of drawer interior-faces of filing cards)
1969: Re-categorization
of fields of knowledge, completed 2-dimentional diagram & tabulation,
intended as the first surface of 3-dimentional storage and retrieval system,
called a “learning machine”.
1966-present: History
of Avante-garde, particularly its development from Futurism,
Dada, Duchamp, Surrealism, John Cage, Happenings, Events, and Fluxus,
with particular emphasis on documentation of Fluxus. 23” x 80”.
(still in progress)
1972-present: Architectural
monuments of the world, Atlas of maps. (still in progress)
OBJECTS AND EXHIBITS
1962-present: edited, published,
designed containers, labels, packaging, other graphics of all flux
editions (several hundred items)
1964: edited & published
Fluxyearbox 1, anthology of flat objects in envelopes.
Contributed a chart on architectural criticism.
1965: edited and published
Fluxkit, an attaché case with various flux objects
produced up to that date. Flux-organ (12 bird calls activated by bellows),
various chess sets (pieces as grinders, colored balls, sand timers, etc.)
Edited, designed titles (using various animation and camera techniques)
of some 20 films into Flux-film anthology, contributed:
Films made without camera (sing various adhesive patterns on clear film
stock): Artype, 10 feet, end after 9, eye blink (high speed camera).
1966: edited & published
Fluxyearbox 2, anthology of film loops, games and paper
events. Contributed 4 film loops. Designed first prepared ping pong and
badminton rackets (undulating, convex, with hole, hinged, elastic etc.
surfaces)
1967: stick-on tattoos of
hardware etc. Photo aprons (Venus de Milo, stomach anatomy, Napoleon,
etc.)
1968: organized and participated
in Flux-exhibit, Univ. of Calif. Sand Diego art Col.
1967: designed announcements
for paper show and body covering show at Museum of Contemporary Crafts,
NYC. Participated in the first.
1969: clock faces: decimal,
degrees, backward etc. multi-faceted mirror, adding machine, distilled
coffee, tea, juices, eggs, containing vodka, noodles, egg-white; tea from
ropes, pine cones etc.
1970: smile machine, 64
needle syringe, 12 bird aerophone machine, dancing duck call machine.
1971: Produced, designed
and contributed to “This is not here” show of Yoko Ono and
John Lennon at Everson Museum, Syracuse.
1972: names spelled with
objects, burglary kit, anthology of animal excreta, etc.
1975: edition of Hospital
even, edited Fluxpack 3, contributed 3 stationary designs, 2 aprons, postage
stamps, published by Multipla, Milan.
1976: Sept. initiated collaborative
flux-labyrinth project, major contribution, to be exhibited at US. Centenial
Exhibition, Berlin.
PERFORMANCE COMPOSITIONS, PERFORMANCES,
FILM SCREENINGS, EVENTS
1961: Organized a series
of events by Maxfiled, Cage Ichiyanagi, Higgins, Flynt, La Monte Young,
Yoko Ono, Ray Johnson, Walter De maria.
1962: Initiated the
Flux group activities with first flux festivals: 14 concerts
in Wiesbaden state museum, 6 concerts in Copenhagen, 7 in Paris, First
musical compositions (music scored by animals, music for lips, mud, bottles,
pebbles, balloons, ladders, violin, 12 piano pieces, In memoriam to Adriano
Olivetti for bowler hate, 8 homages, etc.
Flux festivals in Dusseldorf, Amsterdam, Hague, Nice (first street events)
organized & contributed pieces for flux orchestra concert at Carnegie
Recital Hall, (piano for carpenter, string quartet, etc.) Piece for violin
performed at Little festival of new music at Univ of London, also at Hague
and Milan.
Organized a series of concerts and events at 359 Canal St., NYC. Initiated
1st sport events at Washington Sq. Gal. own: ping-pong & badminton.
1965: 2nd flux-orchestra
concert at Carnegie Recital Hall, designed balloon tickets and glider
programs. Flux-fest at NY Cinematheque
1966: Event at Village Gate
(benefit for EVO) (adhesive net dropping over dancing guests) Organized
flux fest in Prague
1967: Flux films shown at
Cologne, Turin, Perugia, Como, Savona, Zurich, Belgrade, Zagreb, Sarajevo,
several U.S. colleges, Flux films awarded Milwaukee Art Center Award,
4th Ann Arbor film Festival Award. Organized and contributed to Waldorf
Astoria Hotel room clinic. Own pieces performed at Genoa, Nice, Paris,
Rome etc. 2 paper performance pieces at Time & Life bldg, sponsored
by Container Corp. & Museum of Contemp. Crafts, (arrow attack on paper
curtain and a paper sound orchestra) Participated with paper objects in
Paper show at Museum of Contemporary Crafts, NYC.
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