Activating Fluxus, Expanding Conservation

This is the first book to address the care and preservation of Fluxus works, reimagining the afterlife of Fluxus by positioning conservation as an evolving, interpretative and generative framework.

Fluxus radically transformed artistic practice by challenging the entrenched preconception that artworks endure unchanged and confined to a singular physical manifestation. Moving beyond conventional, object-based approaches, this interdisciplinary volume brings together artists, scholars, conservators and curators from diverse cultural and theoretical perspectives to explore how the ephemeral, participatory and intermedial forms of Fluxus demand an expanded vision of conservation--one grounded in activation. By reframing conservation as a critical, decolonial and creative inquiry, Activating Fluxus, Expanding Conservation redefines Fluxus as a living force continually remade through acts of care, interpretation and participation. It ultimately calls for a fundamental shift in how we preserve, interpret and transmit the experimental art practices of the recent past.

Offering fresh ways to engage with the legacy of Fluxus through the intersecting lenses of conservation, art history, performance studies and museology, this book will appeal to academics and students across these fields, as well as to curators and practitioners invested in the futures of contemporary art.

Hanna B. Hölling is a Research Professor and Principal Investigator at the Bern University of the Arts, where she leads research in her area of expertise. She is also a Senior Fellow at Collegium Helveticum/ETH Zürich and an Honorary Fellow in the Department of History of Art at University College London (UCL).

Aga Wielocha is a researcher, collection care professional, and conservator specializing in modern and contemporary art, having earned her PhD from the University of Amsterdam in 2021. Her doctoral research, conducted as part of the project New Approaches in the Conservation of Contemporary Art (NACCA), explored the lives and futures of contemporary art within museum collections, particularly focusing on works that are variable and unfold over time

Josephine Ellis is a Ph.D. candidate in the Studies in the Arts (SINTA) program of the Faculty of Humanities of the University of Bern and the Bern Academy of the Arts. Her research interests are situated at the intersections of histories and philosophies of art, science, and conservation. She received her B.A in History from the University of Durham and her M.A in History of Art from University College London.