Fluxus Hareketinde mimarlık
Architecture in fluxus Movement
Yazar: ŞEYDA ASLANDOĞAN TEMEL
Danışman: DOÇ. DR. EBRU YETİŞKİN DOĞRUSÖZ
İstanbul Teknik Üniversitesi / Lisansüstü Eğitim Enstitüsü / Sanat Tarihi Ana Bilim Dalı / Sanat Tarihi Bilim Dalı
Derece: Yüksek Lisans, 2024
Konu: Mimarlık = Architecture ; Sanat Tarihi = Art History

Özet:
Fluxus Hareketi, sanatta yeni anlam ve anlatım biçimlerini arayan, burjuva sanatı ve kültürünü alt üst etmek isteyen, sanat eserinin meta olmasını reddeden ve sanat ile hayat arasındaki sınırı ortadan kaldırmayı amaçlayan bir grup sanatçının bir araya gelerek kolektif üretim sürecine girmesiyle başlamıştır. Kısa sürede Amerikalı, Avrupalı ve Uzakdoğulu sanatçıların şiir, edebiyat, müzik ve resim gibi çeşitli alanlarda üretimlerini yaptığı uluslararası bir sanatçı ağına dönüşmüştür. 1950'lerin sonlarında New York'ta John Cage'in deneysel kompozisyon derslerine katılan sanatçılar hareketi bir araya getiren ilk ağı oluşturmaktadır.  Bu kolektif üretim sürecinin ideolojisi ve her türlü organizasyonel işleri hareketin en önemli figürlerinden mimar, sanat tarihçisi, tasarımcı ve şehir planlamacısı George Maciunas (1931-1978) aracılığıyla gerçekleşmiş, 1962 yılından itibaren Fluxus ismini alan grubun amaçları Maciunas tarafından şekillendirilmiştir. 1964 yılında Thomas Schmit'e göndermiş olduğu mektupta, Fluxus'un amacının sadece estetik olmadığını aynı zamanda toplumsal olduğunu ifade etmiş ve Fluxus hareketini bu ideoloji üzerinde inşa etmeye çalışmıştır. 
1960'lı yıllarda sanat ortamını şekillendiren, piyasaya yön veren sanat akımı Soyut Dışavurumculuktur. Bu ise sanatçı için çok büyük tuvaller ve bu tuvalleri çalışabileceği yüksek ve geniş atölye sorununu anlamına gelmiştir. Bu yıllar aynu zamanda New York'ta yaşayan sanatçılar ciddi ekonomik ve barınma sorunları ile karşı karşıya kalmıştır. Bir sanatçı topluluğunun ve sanat anlayışının inşası zamanla sanatçıların yaşayacağı ve üretimlerini yapacağı atölyelerin de inşasına sebep olmuştur. 
George Maciunas, Fluxhouse Sanatçı Kooperatifleri adını verdiği projesiyle New York'un Manhattan bölgesindeki South of Houston Sokağı'nın yer aldığı ve SoHo olarak bilinen az gelişmiş sanayi mahallesinde kullanılmayan eski fabrikaları satın alıp dönüştürerek sanatçılar için ucuz ve uygun yaşam alanları oluşturmuştur. SoHo'nun Fluxhouse Sanatçı Kooperatifleri projesi ile 1966-1978 yılları arasında 16 bina sanatçı kooperatifinin bir parçası olmuş, benzer mantıkla başka sanatçılar tarafından kullanılmayan fabrikalar dönüştürülerek bölge kısa bir sürede bir sanat merkezi durumuna gelmiştir. Sanatçıların bölgedeki varlığı ve kolektif üretime dayalı kolektif mülkiyet anlayışlarıyla pek çok alternatif sergi mekânı da ortaya çıkmıştır. Bu durum ise 1970'li yıllardan itibaren tartışılmaya başlanan Alternatif Mekân (Alternative Space) ile 1980'li yıllardan itibaren tartışılmaya başlanan Soylulaşma (Gentrification) kavramlarının Fluxus'un mimari yönünün hayata geçmiş tek örneği olan Fluxhouse Sanatçı Kooperatifleri'nin kentte ve toplumda gerçekleştirdiği dönüşümün bir sonucu olarak kabul edilmektedir. Burada gerçekleşen dönüşüm sadece eski kullanılmayan fabrika binalarının sanatçılar tarafından onarılıp yaşam ve sergileme alanına dönüştürülmesi ya da sanatçıların kolektif bir mülkiyette kolektif üretim gerçekleştirmesi değil, sanatçıların kentteki varlığının neden olduğu atmosferdir. Bir başka deyişle, sanat kurumlarının ve kültürel hegemonyanın politik ekonomik koşullarına maruz kaldığı için varlığını sürdürme mücadelesi veren sanatçılar kentsel dönüşümün sorumluları olarak konumlandırılmıştır. George Maciunas ise, bu sorunları kolektif mülkiyete, sanatçıların yaşama ve barınma hakkı gibi müştereklere ve yaşam hakkının korunması için yapılan müşterekleşmeye dayanan kooperatif sistemini hayata geçirmek ve bir sanatçı komünü kurmak için bir çıkış noktasına dönüşmüştür.

Abstract:
Fluxus Movement began with a group of artists who came together in search of new forms of meaning and expression in art, who wanted to overturn bourgeois art and culture, who rejected the commodification of the artworks, and who aimed to eliminate the boundary between art and life. It soon evolved into an international network of artists from the United States, Europe and the Far East who came together to perform in various disciplines of art such as performance, poetry, literature, music and painting. In the late 1950s, artists attending John Cage's experimental composition classes in New York formed the first network that brought the movement together.  
The ideology of this collective production process and all kinds of organizational works were realized through the architect, designer and urban planner George Maciunas (1931-1978), one of the most important figures of the movement, and the aims of the group, which took the name Fluxus in 1962, were shaped by George Maciunas. He stated that the aim of Fluxus was not only aesthetic but also social and he the Fluxus movement on this ideology. 
As an artist and architecture, George Maciunas believed in the necessity to purify society and art from the bourgeoisie and thus its culture. He shaped his artistic life in this direction. He aimed to eliminate the boundaries between art and life, and saw art not only as an aesthetic phenomenon but also as a means of changing society, as a political attitude. George Maciunas argued that architecture is based on functionalism and efficiency, and efficiency is the most effective use of resources and time, without waste. He wrote that the architect should avoid the use of unnecessary materials, that an architectural element produced for decorative purposes is unnecessary, that it is a fraud. He believed that the artist, whose art product had become a commodity within the capitalist mode of production, needed to get rid of this situation. He argued that the liberation of the artist and human beings would be achieved through a new understanding of art and social order by getting rid of these institutions. His designs, productions and intellectual writings were realized in this direction. 
When the economic problems of artists are eliminated, the work of art will cease to be a commodity and the artist will no longer have to produce only to earn money. These thoughts were embraced predominantly by artists who had immigrated to the United States, and although not all of them held this ideology, they acted in conjunction with Fluxus. Since 1962, the international group of artists who entered a collective production process under the name of Fluxus have realized collective projects that will change art, society and culture through George Maciunas. 
The architectural aspect of Fluxus, which is less frequently mentioned in art history texts, came into existence through the projects developed by George Maciunas. The socio-economic conditions of the period and the situation in which the artists found themselves both caused housing problems and resulted in their helplessness in the face of the dominant art market. Artists formed some unions in this regard and were able to act in an organized manner with the establishment of artist cooperatives. During his architectural education, he admired the logic of mass housing in the Soviet Union and aimed to give it a more functional dimension by developing the design there with a new plan, which he called Fluxhouse. As an architect, the most fundamental principle of architecture for George Maciunas is efficiency and functionality. He based all his projects on these two basic principles and shaped his productions on social benefit.  These projects were never realized, but they have been the subject of exhibitions since the 2000s, as the design still has the potential to respond to current problems and its innovative techniques have responded to many structural problems.
Artists living in New York in the 1960s faced serious economic and housing problems. George Maciunas developed projects to solve the housing problem during his architectural education. In 1966, he responded to this problem with the artist cooperatives he established with a principle similar to the Soviet kolkhozes. With the project he called Fluxus Cooperatives, he bought old abandoned factories in the underdeveloped industrial area of Manhattan known as SoHo (South of Houston) and cooperated them to create cheap and convenient living spaces for artists. George Maciunas's idea of establishing artists' cooperatives soon led to transforming SoHo into an art center. The construction of an artist community and an understanding of art led to the construction of studios where artists would live and produce their work. 
George Maciunas' transformation of SoHo in lower Manhattan, known as the underdeveloped factory district of New York, with the Fluxus Cooperatives project led to the transformation of the area into an art center. As a result of this transformation, SoHo became a kind of artist colony and alternative exhibition spaces emerged. The Fluxhouse Artist Cooperatives have led artists to become subjects that change society, culture and art. After the transformation of the first cooperative building at 80 Wooster Street, Jonas Mekas used it as a film archive and cinematheque. This loft also became a space where all the artists gathered and worked together. 
George Maciunas transformed 16 buildings in this way between 1966 and 1978 untli his death. After Maciunas's works, other artists began to use this technique and the number of artists in the area grew to over a thousand. These socialist-planned, non-profit projects became the most influential project of Fluxus, and have become important tools for changing art and culture that continue to this day. Shortly before George Maciunas founded the artists' cooperatives, the artists began living independently of each other in abandoned workshops in the area because it was close to New York City and it was cheap. Due to the fire-prone nature of these buildings and the fact that they were the cause of major fires in the area, the municipality cooperated with the artists and asked them to put up signs announcing their presence in the buildings so that artists living in such abandoned buildings would not be killed in a fire. 
George Maciunas believed that this development was not enough to solve the problem and declared in his 1966 manifesto, Fluxhouse, that it was possible through cooperatives to buy buildings, repair them and give them to artists without profit so that artists could live cheaply and in good conditions. One of the most important results of the artists' cooperatives was to allow artists to use their apartments as exhibition spaces. These very high and spacious floors hosted large exhibitions and the area was transformed into an art center. The concept of Alternative Space emerged with the new way of exhibiting that artists realized here, eliminating their dependence on museums. This situation also coincides with a process in which the boundaries between the duality between art and life are blurred.The change in art and culture that took place here had an impact in other regions, and the success of the artists in transforming society and the city through art led Fluxus to be seen as the most effective tool of the architectural aspect of Fluxus.