Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book explores the affirmative, community ethos of Fluxus and its dependence upon the construction of new sites of production, distribution, and display, and the possible lessons for contemporary social practice artists. It considers the 1983 performance at the African American Parade in Harlem by artist Lorraine O’Grady and the 2009 photo-installation that recontextualized the event through documentation. The book examines anonymous street artists who use social media to promote their activist agendas. It looks at the annual festival staged in the Black Rock Desert as a blank slate allowing the creation of an ideal vision of the synthesis of art, music, and performance to be taken back to the global community. The book also explores whether or not exhibitions in museums and art institutions provide a valid platform for furthering the activist causes underlying socially and politically committed art practices.