On modes of activity and activation : An introduction

This introductory chapter sets the stage for Activating Fluxus, Expanding Conservation by outlining the book’s central concerns: on the one hand, the material-conceptual legacy of Fluxus and its implications for rethinking conservation beyond its traditional methods, and on the other, the ways in which conservation itself can offer new modes of engaging with and sustaining Fluxus in the present. Resulting from the interdisciplinary research project Activating Fluxus (2022–26), the volume brings together voices from scholars, cultural practitioners and artists working across diverse geographic, historical, methodological and philosophical contexts. Their contributions explore how Fluxus’s creative outputs—often ephemeral, performative and participatory, yet also marked by vital materiality—persist and transform over time. At the core of this introduction lies the notion of “activation” as a form of expanded and expanding conservation. While already present in conservation discourse, activation is here re-examined through its resonances in performance theory, archival studies, philosophy and other related fields. In line with broader shifts positioning conservation as a critical and decolonial theory and practice, the authors additionally propose conceiving activation through the lens of matter’s inherent activity. This perspective challenges binary frameworks in conservation (such as life/death or activity/inactivity), opening up more nuanced understandings of how agency is distributed between subjects and objects. In this way, Fluxus is situated within cultures of conservation that extend beyond anthropocentric and Western paradigms. This chapter also introduces case studies and examples of activating Fluxus in practice, including through processes of adaptation, artistic interpretation and re-enactment.