The art fair Frieze New York opens at Randall Island today to VIP collectors and while serious shoppers will be perusing the aisles, those looking for a little fun can head to Tribute to Flux-Labyrinth 1976/2015, a 200-foot-long maze of narrow corridors and rooms where visitors must overcome obstacles and obstructions till they reach the end. The interactive project was originally conceived 40 years ago in by Fluxus artists, an experimental group. Though it was first going to be staged at Ren Block gallery in New York in 1975, the plans fell through and it went up the following year in Berlin instead. A group of international artists, including Amalia Pica, John Bock and the collective Geliti, have constructed this labyrinth as a modern day tribute.
One must sign a waiver before entering the installation. A facilitator told Art News, “”This is just saying parts of the labyrinth are very tight and claustrophobic and a little wobbly.” She added, “”Once you go in, you can’t turn around.”
So what can you expect? Here’s the lowdown fro ArtNews. “Upside down forests, balloon pits, and pianos that control portals. The maze is full of puzzles and physical challenges. Doorknobs are rarely what they seem..Tip-toeing on tilting catwalks and plunging bare feet into pools of beans, it was hard not to go through the whole delightful thing grinning. At least until the last rooms, designed by John Bock. A tangle of wires and medical tubes hung from the ceiling in the penultimate stretch. A small monitor embedded in the snarl showed a bearded man who seemed to be sleeping.” Above: Installation view of ‘Flux Labyrinth’ at the Walker Art Center in 1993. (Courtesy Walker Art Center, Minneapolis) Fluxus-Labyrinth Sketch