This letter critically responds to George Maciunas’s 1965 historical diagram and manifesto-like statement, Fluxus (Its Historical Development and Relationship to Avant-Garde Movements). It stands as Mieko Shiomi’s most explicit rebuke to Maciunas about his delimited vision and “rough and autocratic” manner in organizing Fluxus publications and events, which she warns may lead to “social suicide.” Citing the historical example of André Breton’s role in the demise of French Surrealism, she advocates a vision of Fluxus success in which “many artists have to be spontaneously co-operative having the same aim and desire”—a model that in many ways corresponds to the structure of her Spatial Poem series (1965–75).
Used by permission of Mieko Shiomi.
