The Learning Machine exhibition which was inspired by the educational implications of ‘art as experience’ created by Fluxus artists in the 1960s is intended to show ‘art’ as a field of teaching and learning. These artists experimented in a new relationship between ‘an artist creating experiences’ and ‘the audience as a co-creator,’ pioneering various artistic forms of expression such as happening, event, game art, mail art, and so on. Their experiments dissolved the sharp distinction between an artist and a viewer and brought about the concept of the ‘creative citizen’ who has creativity and spontaneity. Some of their artistic forms like Fluxus kit and event that connected art to everyday life presented the educational model of learning from experiences through direct experiences, conversations, cooperation, and liberation of meaning.
Joseph Beuys who said that his becoming a teacher was his greatest work of art or John Cage who was a teacher of all Fluxus artists developed methods for participation and applied them in education process. Nam June Paik also agreed about the educational effect of art as ‘creative play’ in his statement that: “What is more educational is most aesthetic and what is most aesthetic is most educational.” Interestingly, ‘art as experience’ by Fluxus artists has also much to do with such notions as experiential education and integrated education that are commonly used in educational fields of today. The recent changes in the perception of learning gave rise to the movement from the old teaching model based on the unilateral transfer of knowledge to the new model of learning community for learning from each other. Learning through conversation, inquiring, group play and games serves as the most effective educational model for the future generation who will live in the knowledge and information society.
By introducing these Fluxus artists’ educational methodology, the exhibition aims to reestablish the relationship of teaching and learning through works of contemporary artists and show different types of learning such as learning through direct performance and interdisciplinary cooperation. This positive process of reorganizing knowledge and information will certainly pave the route for the greatest leaning, as well as to prove to be the most rewarding educational experience for ‘the audience as a creator.’
Artist: Nayoungim & Gregory Maass, Young-gle Kim,Yongik Kim, Wol-Sik Kim,
Eull Kim, Alison Knowles, designAllook, George Maciunas,Yiso Bahc, Pieter Vanderbeck,
Nam June Paik, Ben Vautier, George Brecht, Tomas Schmit, Mieko shiomi,
Kanghyun Ahn, Yoko Ono, siren eun young jung with Chae-sun Shim,
Emmanuel Moonchil Park, Joe Jones, Wolf Vostell, John Cavanaug
*image (left)
fluxus island in décollage ocean, 1964
© Nam June Paik
Courtesy of Nam June Paik Art Center
