A flexible history of Fluxus facts and fictions

"In his third volume exploring the roots and fruits of "the most radical art movement of the past half century", Emmett Williams turns cartoonist, following in the footsteps of Lyonel Feininger, Rube Goldberg and Ad Reinhardt. His colourful, pseudo-historical drawings, painstakingly remastered by Ann Noel for this edition, are often peopled with less than flattering made-up images of his real-life friends and colleagues. It is fun to watch the octogenarian poet, the oldest living Fluxus artist, assume the role of a know-it-all ringmaster in a three-ring circus limelighting the fanciful antics of the stars of Fluxus, Happenings and Performance Art - George Maciunas, John Cage, Joseph Beuys, Robert Filliou, Ben Vautier, Claes Oldenburg, Yoko Ono and John Lennon, Nam June Paik and Charlotte Moorman, Christo and Jeanne-Claude - and dozens more including Williams and Ann Noel themselves. The book may be irreverent and pseudo-historical, but the author stresses in his introduction that even in the most far-fetched pictures "there is an iota, a jot, or a tittle of truth"--And there, on the left-hand pages, opposite each of the cartoons, are enlightening documents from the author's personal archive relating some of the unlikely things that really happened in Performance Art "show biz" over the years. Yes, Emmett Williams' brand of history can be fun as well as informative - and in tune with George Maciunas' manifesto describing Fluxus art-amusement as "a fusion of Spike Jones, Vaudeville, gag, children's games and Duchamp." (Yes, Duchamp himself stars in the book!)"--Jacket.