GEORGE

The project

In 2010, while on a walk through SoHo, I realized the idea to make a feature length film/video portrait of George Maciunas, the founder and impresario of Fluxus. George Maciunas (1931-1978) was a Lithuanian born artist, art-historian, graphic designer, architect, urban planner, composer and contractor. Through his tireless efforts, Maciunas has influenced and shaped the course of contemporary art. He is also known for creating the first 15 artist run co-op buildings in SoHo. This documentary film portrait will provide insight into the life of a visionary revolutionary artist.

How was I introduced to Fluxus?

In 1963, in Tokyo when I was in the U.S. military, I met Yoko Ono by chance and she introduced me to Fluxus. Previous to the military service in Japan, I had been an art student in NYC, however, the providential meeting with Yoko gave me an entirely new direction to my thinking and practice as an artist. In 1966 in NYC, Yoko introduced me to George on a visit to his apartment at that time in Soho. I was working with Yoko on projects related to exhibitions in NY, some of which were projects for Fluxus events that George organized. I made a film for the First Fluxus Film Festival, called "Shout," and I was also the cameraman for Yoko’s film “The Bottoms Movie,” AKA "Fluxus Film #4." Meeting and working with George & Yoko was a very influential period of my life as a young artist.

Why am I making this film? 

I conceived the idea for this film on George as a unique portrait. However I knew that when I reached the Fluxus domain it was going to become a very complex story because Fluxus is a large and spreading compendium of many different artists, all contributing individual creative works, ideas and projects to the larger Fluxus envelope that George created and cultivated for his entire adult life.
This film will be made from the voices of all the persons who I have interviewed over the past 2 1/2 years. These are persons who knew and worked with George. I am very grateful that they have been willing to contribute their memories of George as well as works that they made for Fluxus. The story of George Maciunas is an incredibly adventurous one because of his unique character; my goal is to create a portrait of how he realized the body of Fluxus and its very unconventional character. The timing of this film is perfectly set in this year 2012 as it is the 50th anniversary of the birth of Fluxus in 1962. In addition to that, I realized that there had not been a feature length documentary film portrait of George. The voices in this film were inspired by their meetings, works and adventures with George and I am making this film for the same reason. He is an unforgettable image in our minds. George Maciunas tried to change the world. As Joe Jones said "he did the best that he could." And he did. And so do I.

Why are we fundraising?

I am an independent film maker, working from my apartment, without any outside funding sources. The entire production has been paid from my own limited personal resources, which has reached a point where I now need to ask for support of other persons. For the last two years I have been traveling around Europe, America and Japan, to film around 44 interviews with friends, family, scholars and professional associates of George Maciunas and Fluxus. I, along with the generous help of dedicated interns, have compiled a wide selection of photographs, letters, audio recordings, archival film and Fluxus work from the most important Fluxus collections in the world, including the Jean Brown Archive at The Getty Research Institute, The Sohm Archive at the Staatsgalerie Stuttgart, The Netherlands Fotomuseum, MoMA, and private sources.
We are now at the stage where in order to complete the film we are in much need of financial support. It is our mission to honor the legacy of George Maciunas which future generations can enjoy, learn and become inspired by. Our goal is to raise $20,000, all of which will go towards production costs: pre-editing, editing, acquisition of additional media, including still photographs and archival footage and the list goes on.

Rewards

To show my gratitude for your generous support I offer a selection of films and pieces from my personal Fluxus collection.  I have reached out to my Fluxus friends, who have donated a piece especially for this Kickstarter. Artists who have donated these works: Philip Corner, Simone Forti, Henry Flynt, Geoff Hendricks, Peter Frank, Alison Knowles, Eric Andersen, Yoshi Wada, Christian Xatrec, Fred Lieberman, Jessica Higgins, Ben Vautier, Takako Saito, Jeff Perkins. Please have a look a the rewards section for more details.

Interviews for the documentary completed to date:

Billie Maciunas, Nijole Valaitis, Jonas Mekas, Vytautas Landsbergis, Philip Corner, Ben Patterson, Eric Andersen, Alison Knowles, Yoko Ono, Shigeko Kubota, Takako Saito, Jon Hendricks, Geoff Hendricks, Henry Flynt, Carla Liss, Jean-Jacques Lebel, Jean Dupuy, Olga Adorno, Nam June Paik, Yoshi Wada, Midori Yoshimoto, Ben Vautier, Bernard Heidseick, Paul Armand Gette, Mary Beth Edelson, Astrit Schmidt-Burkhardt, Simone Forti, Harry Ruhe, Vyt Bakaitis, Peter Frank, Milan Knizak, Nijole Salcius, Peter Salcius, Frederick Lieberman, Willem de Ridder, Ay-O, Estera Milman, Kevin Harrison, Jed Curtis, Charles Dreyfus, Hollis Melton, Richard Foreman, Olivier Mosset, Jessica Higgins, Shael Shapiro.

Thank you for your support.

Jeffrey Perkins & Perkins Productions