Abstract

The desire to blur the boundaries between art and life was expressed by the Fluxus artists of the 1960s. Ken Friedman suggested that art and life art comprise a unified field of reference and a single context. The Fluxus artists’ concept of the unity of life and art started with John Cage. One of Cage’s questions was whether the life-art boundary must disappear, while his Zen influence focused on the sounds and noises of everyday life. Many Fluxus artists were influenced by Cage. This paper explores the Fluxus works which examined everyday activities as art, such as cutting hair, brushing teeth, and eating lunch. This is where Zen ideas suggest that there is no boundary. This paper also considers the philosophy of Fluxus and of Zen based on the unity of art and life.