FLUXUS AS A (NON) RELIGION: YOKO ONO

 

FLUXUS AS A (NON) RELIGION: YOKO ONO

(Photo: Blaine Campbell) Author: Nicholas Agafontsev Instructor: Reyhan Yazdani HUMN-101-s033-2022

     This research concerns the effect of the fluxus art movement on

human psychological behaviour and its similarity to the psychological
effect of religious experiences. Yoko Ono’s ‘Imagine Peace’ exhibition
at the Vancouver Art Gallery is an example of art related to the
fluxus movement. The exhibition features interactive pieces that
incite the participants to experience and get involved in the
exhibits. The interactivity affects each person at a deeper level in a
similar way with a ceremony that would touch ones inner self. In a
person’s search for inner peace and guidance, organized religion helps
people focus and live a fulfilled life. As organized religion and the
associated total works of art lose ground in Canada, some of its roles
are left unfulfilled (Lipka). Fluxus is a decentralized movement about
total works of art that have certain similarities to religious
ceremonies. Yoko’s fluxus performance art and music, works to
democratize phenomenological experiences, intending to heal people in
a similar way as religious practices do.

     The Fluxus art movement came about as a manifesto for change. In
fluxus, art is required to be fluid and not a frozen object, but
rather an evolving experience made from the familiar objects of the
everyday world (Cuno). Fluxus, the term, derived from Latin indicates
that “nothing is permanent and invincible to metamorphosis, and that
in fact, change is the nature of life, and particularly of art” as

fluxus critic Peter Frank said(Cuno). Yoko Ono’s Imagine Peace
exhibition, uses fluxus concepts in an attempt to help empower love,
peace and interconnectedness (Lennon). Religious teachings also
reinforce simple life values such as living in peace, loving oneself
and each other and pursuing good. Yoko’s fluxus art attempts to heal
people in a similar way to religious ceremony. Repetitiveness is used
in fluxus and religion to deepen the understanding of these simple
values(de Botton). A total work of art is a form of art found
throughout traditional religions in their rituals (Brown). This form
of art is necessary and welcomed as a means of fulfilling the vacuum
created by the lack of religious practices in large segments of an
increasingly atheistically oriented population (Lipka). This essay
makes the case that fluxus art is well suited to fulfill this role.

     Secular educational systems, such as college and university level
education, assume that people know how to learn, behave and live,
while religious institutions assume that people are flawed and that
they need help fulfilling their human condition(de Botton). Yoko Ono,
as a promoter of the fluxus movement, acknowledges this vulnerability
in her art. In directing the people on reaching peace and taking care
of themselves, Yoko exhibits incite participation in rituals that
remind viewers of their ability to connect to their environment
helping achieve a state of calm and benevolence. For example, Yoko
Ono’s ‘SOUND PIECE 3’, asks the participant to “listen to your town
breathing” at different times of the day (Lennon). She helps people
appreciate the sounds of life with this exercise, connecting people
with their larger homes, the macro-system of the entire city. After

introducing this simple message, the author directs the participants
to its repetition for reinforcing the habit and interconnection. The
piece directs the participants to take part in the exercise five times
a day. The frequency is similar to how in religious practices, simple
and important messages are repeated countless times so that they
become embedded into day to day practice(de Botton). Contemporary art
displays still maintain a physical distance from its viewers assuming
that the public is informed and ready to appreciate the display. In
contrast fluxus artists such as Joseph Beuys tried to eliminate this
distance and invite visitors to appreciate the art by getting involved
(Gewertz). Artworks maintain value due to its uniqueness and limited
edition while fluxus art lacks physical value and emphasizes
sentimental value. The material value of art is undermined in fluxus
art. One way this is achieved is by distributing fluxus art using
multiples, such as large quantities of artworks(Gewertz). John Lennon
mirrors this attitude in ‘Bed Peace’ where he says that messages about
love and peace should not be intellectual and that they should be
highly distributed, like commercials (Bed Piece).

     In ‘PULSE PIECE’ Yoko asks the reader to ‘listen to each other’s
pulse by putting your ear on the other’s stomach’. This artwork
involves an array of senses such as hearing, feeling, touch, and
closeness to ones partners. but it also involves the sense of touch.
Yoko uses various mediums such as performance, art, and music for her
practice which is highly interdisciplinary, as is typical in the
fluxus art movement (Bed Piece)(Cuno). This is similar to how
religions put an emphasis on involving a wide range of senses,

religions “employ the body to make a lesson”(de Botton). The rituals in religion are considered total works of art because of their involvement of a wide range of senses and activities(Brown). “The total work of art is not merely a synthesis of artistic media per se, but is often times a form of mass spectacle that engenders total immersion, social collectivity, and even spiritual redemption by those who experience it” (Brown). The arrangement of the artworks in the gallery serves to reinforce the status of Yoko’s art as a total work of art, mimicking the way a person goes through various steps in a religious service. Different mediums are grouped together, in order to achieve positive feelings and touch upon most faculties. Yoko’s gallery is an example of fluxus art, displaying a shift to a more holistic view of art as an experience. “This is the moment when art shifts from being about objects to being about experiences,” (Gewertz).

     Yoko and Lennon’s ‘Bed Peace’ is exemplary of activism that using
fluxus’s methods created a powerful message using everyday objects
(Bed Peace). Religious art is also a form of activism. Religious art
stands for what the religion believes is good, bad, and how people
should live. Secular art tends to operate in a more strictly aesthetic
realm, leaving one to experience the art based on its own values,
culture and likings(de Botton).

     The fluxus art movement rejects the fixation on traditional
mediums and focuses on creating meaning from mundane, everyday
objects(Cuno). The medium is not only more economical, but also
concerns availability and familiarity of the objects displayed By

looking at the world through the lens of a fluxus artist the entire
world is a potential piece of art, a massive spectacle, where all
should participate and explore. Fluxus advocate and artist Peter Frank
said “[e]verything was made of the most familiar objects. It could’ve
been taken off a desk or a kitchen counter or something, and put into
action. They were inert, but their meaning wasn’t. I thought to
myself, this isn’t art; it’s better” (Cuno).

     Fluxus isn’t a religion, however, this art movement accesses the
power of ritual in a similar way to religion. Religions help bring
diverse groups of people together despite their differences (de
Botton). Nevertheless, their long histories in cultures around the
world mean that the fluxus movement (originating in the early sixties)
does not have the same cultural and historical weight as most
religions (Cuno)(Hall). The lack of religion coincides with the demand
for peace in all people around the world regardless of their religion
or nationality(Bed Peace). Universality is at the heart of fluxus. The
lack of a fixed religious narrative and centralized distribution is
part of what gives fluxus its democratic nature and power. Religion
creates special moments by recognizing certain under appreciated
aspects of life. Fluxus’s focus on using everyday objects means that
it creates an environment where one is bound to notice under-
appreciated aspects of life (Cuno). Fluxus is about democracy, the
art, created from the everyday world is meant to be created and
appreciated by people around the world (Gewertz).

     It is known that, religiosity and spirituality help reduce
various psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, by

developing the human brain (Azab). In search of inner peace and
understanding of our meaning in this world, people explore various
forms of meditation, practices, rituals and ceremonies. Art,
especially fluxus is a valuable instrument in fulfilling some of these
needs. In conclusion, fluxus artwork may help solve the vacuum created
by a lack of ritual and guidance without religious activity, without
religion in an increasingly atheistic Canada.

WORKS CITED

Azab, Marwa. “Can Religion Help Depression? Brain, Religion & Depression ...” Psychology Today, 5 Apr. 2019, https:// www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/neuroscience-in-everyday-life/ 201904/can-religion-help-depression-brain-religion-depression.

Brown, Steven, and Ellen Dissanayake. “The Synthesis of the Arts: From Ceremonial Ritual to ‘Total Work of Art.’” Frontiers, Frontiers, 1 Jan. 1AD, https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/ fsoc.2018.00009/full.

Cuno, Jim. “Podcast: Fluxus, Change, and the Nature of Art.” Getty Iris, 14 Sept. 2021, https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/podcast-fluxus- change-and-the-nature-of-art/.

de Botton, Alain. “Alain De Botton - Religion for Atheists (Ideas ... - Youtube.” Youtube, 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch? v=Br8m2S98HU4.

Gewertz, Ken. “Is Democracy Merry?” Harvard Gazette, Harvard Gazette, 15 Dec. 2017, https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2007/03/is- democracy-merry/.

Hall, Reed. “How Old Are the Religions?” Religion 101, Beliefnet, Inc. and/or Its Licensors, 23 Oct. 2012, https://www.beliefnet.com/ columnists/religion101/2012/10/how-old-are-the-religions.html.

Lennon, Yoko Ono. “Bed Peace Starring John Lennon & Yoko Ono (1969).” YouTube, 22 June 2012, https://youtu.be/mRjjiOV003Q.

Lennon, Yoko Ono. “Home.” IMAGINE PEACE, 5 Jan. 2022, http:// imaginepeace.com/.

Lennon, Yoko Ono. “Yoko Ono: Growing Freedom.” The Instructions of Yoko Ono / The Art of John and Yoko, 2021, https:// www.vanartgallery.bc.ca/exhibitions/yoko-ono-growing-freedom.

Lipka, Michael. “5 Facts about Religion in Canada.” Pew Research Center, Pew Research Center, 30 May 2020, https:// www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2019/07/01/5-facts-about-religion- in-canada/.