During our latest Fluxus Study Day, the Activating Fluxus team ventured across the North Rhine-Westphalia with stops at three locations: the Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach; Museum Ostwall, Dortmund; and, Kunstmuseum Bochum, Bochum.
At our first destination, Museum Abteiberg, we were taken by Felicia Rappe and Melanie Seidler, respectively the curator of the museum and research fellow, around their latest instantiation of ‘Field Test’, a fascinating exhibition concept alphabetically documenting and displaying the process of acquiring the extensive Fluxus collection assembled by Dorothee and Erik Andersch. Typically relegated to the archive and library, storage technologies including vaults, filing cabinets, shelves and folders take centre stage in the exhibition space containing a plethora of Fluxus knick-knacks. From quintessential editions to books and posters, ‘Field Test’ makes palpable the difficulty of sorting Fluxus collections into neat, orderly categories.
Next on our agenda, the Museum Ostwall amounted to enriching insights into the Feelisch, Cremer and Braun/Lieff collections, as well as a guided tour around the visiting exhibition Nam June Paik: I Expose the Music, open until the 27th of August 2023. Nicole Grothe, head of collections, and Anna-Lena Friebe, research fellow, shared deep knowledge of the collections’ histories and lives within Museum Ostwall, while members of the curatorial team of the Paik exhibition, Christina Danick and Stefanie Weißhorn-Ponert, guided us through the display and its multiple interactive elements.
Our journey concluded with a visit to the Kunstmuseum Bochum where we spent the late morning immersed in the delightful world of Takako Saito. The exhibition, Takako Saito: Pi-Pi-po, po – Ein Portrait von Takako, offered innumerable modalities for engagement with Saito’s enigmatic games and structures, equally enjoyed by a visiting group of school children whom elevated the atmosphere of play.
This visual essay, with photographs taken by Aga Wielocha, documents key moments of our Fluxus Study Day(s).
Felicia Rappe, curator of Museum Abteiberg, Mönchengladbach, explaining the display strategies to exhibit Fest-Stuhl (1976) by Robert Filliou from the Andersch Collection to members of the Activating Fluxus team.Felicia Rappe, curator of Museum Abteiberg, and research fellow, Melanie Seidler, explaining the display strategies to exhibit Fest-Stuhl (1976) by Robert Filliou from Andersch Collection to the members of the Activating Fluxus team.Activating Fluxus team exploring the exhibition of the Andersch Collection at Museum Abteiberg.One of the archival storage units used to display items from the Andersch Collection at Museum Abteiberg.
Anna-Lena Friebe and Geraldine Rokker from the team of Museum Ostwall facilitating access to the collection objects to the members of the Activating Fluxus team.Activating Fluxus team member engaging with collection objects at Museum Ostwall.Nicole Grothe, Museum Ostwall’s head of collections, presenting exhibited items from their Fluxus collections to a member of the Activating Fluxus team.Nicole Grothe, Museum Ostwall’s head of collections, presenting exhibited items from their Fluxus collections to the members of the Activating Fluxus team.Visiting exhibition Nam June Paik: I Expose the Music, Museum Ostwall, with Christina Danick und Stefanie Weißhorn-Ponert from the curatorial team.Visiting exhibition Nam June Paik: I Expose the Music, Museum Ostwall, with Stefanie Weißhorn-Ponert from the curatorial team. A member of the Activating Fluxus team engaging with artworks on display at Nam June Paik: I Expose the Music, Museum Ostwall.A member of the Activating Fluxus team engulfed by Name June Paik’s “Sistine Chapel”, (1993, reconstructed 2023) on display at Nam June Paik: I Expose the Music, Museum Ostwall.
Members of the Activating Fluxus team engaging with artworks in “Takako Saito: Pi-Pi-po, po – Ein Portrait von Takako”, Kunstmuseum Bochum.A sign that reads, “this work of art can be play-d with!”, at An artwork from “Takako Saito: Pi-Pi-po, po – Ein Portrait von Takako”, Kunstmuseum Bochum. A member of the Activating Fluxus team in “Takako Saito: Pi-Pi-po, po – Ein Portrait von Takako”, Kunstmuseum Bochum.An artwork from “Takako Saito: Pi-Pi-po, po – Ein Portrait von Takako”, Kunstmuseum Bochum.Members of the Activating Fluxus team interacting with artworks in “Takako Saito: Pi-Pi-po, po – Ein Portrait von Takako”, Kunstmuseum Bochum.“Takako Saito: Pi-Pi-po, po – Ein Portrait von Takako”, Kunstmuseum Bochum.Young members of the public engaging with exhibits in “Takako Saito: Pi-Pi-po, po – Ein Portrait von Takako”, Kunstmuseum Bochum.Members of the Activating Fluxus team at “Takako Saito: Pi-Pi-po, po – Ein Portrait von Takako”, Kunstmuseum Bochum.
Activating Fluxus 