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Identification and Creation

Object Number
M26247.B
People
George Maciunas, American (Kaunas, Lithuania 1931 - 1978 Boston, MA)
Published by Fluxus, American
Title
Flux Stationery: Hand in Glove (envelope)
Classification
Prints
Work Type
print
Date
1972-1973
Culture
American
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/51983

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Offset photolithograph
Technique
Photolithograph
Dimensions
26.4 x 11.3 cm (10 3/8 x 4 7/16 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Peter Soriano, New York, New York, gift; to the Harvard University Art Museums, December 16, 2004.

State, Edition, Standard Reference Number

Standard Reference Number
Silverman 284, ff.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Peter Soriano
Copyright
© George Maciunas Foundation / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.
Accession Year
2004
Object Number
M26247.B
Division
Modern and Contemporary Art
Contact
am_moderncontemporary@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Descriptions

Description
Maciunas designed and printed the Flux Stationery for inclusion in "Fluxpack 3", distributed by Multipla in Milan. The stationery was also distributed by Maciunas himself, and by "Wooster Enterprises Edition, New York City." In a 1978 interview with Larry Miller, Maciunas discusses the Flux Stationery in terms of his conception of functionalism, which he describes as "when the piece that you are doing has an inherent connection to the form." After discussing his Venus de Milo apron, Maciunas notes that "the envelopes were like gloves and the letters were like hands. Now, again, the function is now...an envelope and a glove...same function: the glove encloses the hand...an envelope encloses the hand. Now, a non-functional envelope would be an envelope showing let's say lots of flowers...And the letterhead may be wheat or something. So the one has no connection with the other, and the fact that why flowers have to be on an envelope, they could be on a carpet, too...Now that's the difference." The stationery certainly stands among the most "functional" of Maciunas's creations, many of which (such as the one-card Flux-deck, Flux-postage, or the variously modified table-tennis rackets) are specifically designed to thwart any attempt to use them for their ostensible purpose. Like the Venus de Milo apron (the idea of which has since become a mainstay in novelty shops the world over), the stationery serves as a rare example of a commercially possible (even viable) extension of Fluxus practice. -Jacob Proctor

Exhibition History

  • 32Q: 1100, 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