Fluxfilm Anthology

Democratizing art – with this vision, a loose, international group of artists in the early 1960s began attempting to dissolve the separation between art and everyday life. The Fluxus movement – so named by architect and designer George Maciunas in a magazine – focused on actions that involved the audience – what they called “happenings” –, chance operations and collaborative practices.

In the mid-1960s, George Maciunas began compiling the partly very short, experimental films by Fluxus artists, which were shown at events and happenings in New York and still form the canon of Fluxus filmic work today. On the occasion of the overview exhibition of Yoko Ono’s work, we are presenting 32 of these films, which are in the film archive of Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art, in the cinema of Gropius Bau. Three of the 32 films – by 19 male artists and just two female ones – are works by Yoko Ono: EYE BLINK we screen the Studio Yoko Ono version), FOUR and ONE, all from 1966.

With contributions by the following artists: Erik Andersen, George Brecht, John Cale, John Cavanaugh, Albert Fine, Dick Higgins, Joe Jones, Peter Kennedy and Mike Parr, George Landow, George Maciunas, Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, Jeff Perkins, James Riddle, Paul Sharits, Chieko Shiomi, Pieter Vanderbeck, Benjamin Vautier, Wolf Vostell and Robert Watts.

 

Arsenal – Institute for Film and Video Art is a research and education centre, archive, distribution, festival and cinema. With its relocation from Potsdamer Platz to silent green Kulturquartier, Arsenal will not have its own cinema until the new one is completed in early 2026. As part of Arsenal on Location, film programs are being created in collaboration with numerous cultural institutions in Berlin, across Germany, and internationally. Arthouse cinemas and cultural institutions, such as Gropius Bau, are supporting the continuation and expansion of cinematic dialogue, especially during this time.