Ben Vautier
Nine Directions in Art
Amsterdam, The Netherlands: Galerie Amstel, 1964
[unpaginated], 13 x 18.5 cm., softcover
Edition size unknown
The contents of Fluxus 1 was always shifting, as George Maciunas ran out of copies of certain items, discovered new artists to include, or had falling outs with others. Less than a year after the announcement of the publication he was writing to Ben Vautier desperately seeking more content:
"We ran out of your 'bag over the head' then ran out of the small booklets you sent, then ran out of the record labels, so we have NOTHING FROM YOU TO PUT IN FLUXUS 1 !! So please send a quantity of your contribution. Send anything you like".
Presumably the "small booklets" cited above were copies of the slim Nine Directions in Art publications. An exhibition catalogue/leaflet as artist book, the title is now exceedingly rare. This copy comes from the Bonotto Foundation. The poster from the exhibition (below) is somewhat more common.
The nine directions are:
1. The Absence of art
2. Destroy all art
3. Everything is art
4. Don't sign art
5. Copy art
6. Do as usual art
7. Change art
8. You are art
9.
These can be seen as laying out the modus operandi for Fluxus in general, but particular for Vautier, who maintained his interest in the destruction of art, nothing in art, copying and signing for his entire career and to this day. Now in his mid-eighties, the artist is still active.
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