1935- Swiss Installation artist associated with the Fluxus and Nouveau Realism movements.
He was incredibly prolific, producing hundreds of items. Some of which were Readymades; publishing small books, posters, brochures and postcards. Part of his esthetic is a deep sense of irony.
In 1949, he moved to Nice, where he has lived ever since.
Famous for his Living Sculpture series where he lived in a London storefront window for 15 days in 1962. This was part of the Festival of the Misfits. Perhaps his most famous piece was the Total Art Matchbox which was an old fashioned wooden matchbox which says "...use these matches to derstroy all art- museums, art libraries, Readymades, Pop-Art...keep last match for this matchbox"
Quote: Fluxus" influences are: John Cage, Dada Movement and Marcel Duchamp. Without (them), Fluxus would not exist..."
Wrote a document: What is Fluxus?.
Artists who worked with Ben:
Ben's work is in the permanent collections of:
Sources:
Friedman, Ken, Editor, "The Fluxus Reader", John Wiley and Sons, West Sussex, 1998.
Bonito Oliva, Achille - Gabriella De Mila - Claudio Cerritelli (eds.): "Ubi fluxus ibi motus 1990-1962", Mazzotta, Milano, 1990
Hendricks, Jon, "Fluxus Codex", Harry N. Abrams, NY, 1995.
Last Updated 04.16.04