The New York Phonebook as Raw Material: Two Fluxus Artists—Jean Dupuy and William Stone

The success of Fluxus as an art movement can largely be attributed to George Maciunas, a master organizer and graphic designer with a knack for branding. This Fluxus logo, based on an Aztec image, was first designed by Maciunas in 1965. It is taken here from the card for Fluxus & Co, a group exhibition at the Emily Harvey Gallery, 1989 that included both Jean Dupuy and William Stone.—Available

Gallery 98’s inventory includes two original works by the Fluxus artists Jean Dupuy and William Stone that incorporate the New York Phonebook. As an art movement, Fluxus is difficult to define, but at its core is the belief in unfettered freedom and experimentation. Although art institutions have been slow to accept Fluxus as a legitimate, cohesive art movement, it has long been recognized as the creative cauldron that spawned happenings, performance art, Nouveau Realisme, conceptual art, multi-media art, mail art and a host of other art genres.

Who can be classified as a Fluxus artist? Well, just about any artist who participated in the group’s often loosely curated events and exhibitions. Both Jean Dupuy and William Stone moved in those circles, and both frequently showed at the Emily Harvey Gallery, an important late showcase for Fluxus-related art in the 1980s and 90s.

At one time New York Phonebooks (both the White Pages which listed personal phone numbers, and the Yellow Pages which featured business listings and advertisements) could be found in almost every household. Massive in size, and disposable (new editions were published yearly), they attracted the attention of Fluxus artists. These works by Dupuy and Stone illustrate the movement’s love of recycling; of the primacy of ideas over aesthetic objects; and especially, of humor.

See more works by Fluxus Artists at Gallery 98’s special FLUXUS page.

Jean Dupuy

The work of the French-born artist Jean Dupuy (1925–2021) utilized a wide range of approaches. He worked with technology, organized performances, and was a prolific producer of simple one-offs involving words and humor. How can an artist distinguish himself from the hundreds-of-thousands of names listed in the Manhattan phone book? Dupuy simply cut out his name and moved it to the lower right.

William Stone

The always inventive artist William Stone loves salvaging, cutting and transforming to create works that involve humor and surprise. In the period before the Internet, the Yellow Pages was the go-to source for goods and services. Too many choices? Try Stone’s Reduced Option Edition, a copy of the Yellow Pages that has been carefully cut down to a single column!

See more works at Gallery 98’s special FLUXUS page.