The Flux Factory

One of the most consistently interesting and eccentric arts collectives in New York City is called The Flux Factory. Headed by the polymathic Morgan Meis, Flux comprises a large gang of diversely talented artists who, in addition to regularly putting up beautifully-curated shows in their own space (a former factory), have graced the city with lovely thought-provoking performances and happenings. Some of my favorites have been: Counter Culture, The Impossible Tea Party, and Classics on Tape. Their recent curated shows have included: Absolute Zero Nowhere, Cute and Scary, What the Book?, and the edible exhibit, All You Can Art.

[Disclosure: Morgan is a 3 Quarks Daily editor, and I am on the advisory board of Flux.]

Holland Cotter writes on the front page of the Sunday New York Times Arts Section:

Maybe because Queens has no cultural center - or rather because it has several, but spread miles apart - it has become the home of many of those self-created communities known as artists' collectives. One, Flux Factory, occupies a floor in a converted factory in Long Island City, an environment that feels a little like a cross between a youth hostel and a space station.

Much of their work is conceptual and performance based, as was the case in a three-month residency they did a few years ago at the Queens Museum of Art. Wearing bright orange coveralls, they clocked in every morning and more or less made up their work as they went. They began with an empty gallery and continually modified the space with gridlike screens and temporary barriers while doing their own projects: making collages, tabulating statistics, building contraptions. The result was a single installation, an accumulation of accumulations, a combination of theater, child's play and ritual, a Rube Goldbergian version of everyday life.

This May they will present "Novel: A Living Installation Flux Factory," in which three novelists - Laurie Stone, Ranbir Sidhu and Grant Baille - will live on-site, dining together, giving weekly public readings and trying to complete their novels by June 4. The point? To present the act of writing as both the private activity and audience-conscious public performance that it is. To suggest that art is always an activity as much as a product, and that any activity can be art. And to remind us that all of art's sacred-cow concepts - creativity, inspiration, solitary genius - are fit subjects for laboratory testing.

Read the full article here. Morgan published a delightful piece in Harper's Magazine about their 3-month project at the Queens Museum of Art entitled "The Devil's Work," which you can, and should, read here. Finally, Flux is known for their amazing parties, and there is one tonight: Flux Valley High's Prom Night. If you live in NYC, come by. Oh, and for more information, here is the Flux Factory website.