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performance, the methods for combining different media elements
and so on. Much of the visual and interactive grammar of modern
electronic media, such as television and digital multimedia of vari-
ous sorts derives from the work of those involved with performance
and other, similar areas. Those working in these areas were among
the first to explore the possibilities offered by electronic media, first
in video and then in digital technology. Many of those involved in
developing Performance as an artistic practice are currently involved
in media art practice. But, even before the widespread use of
technology these practices offered a framework for thinking about
multimedia, interactivity and other issues, as well as offering an
artistic and poetic matrix through which to think about their use.
fluxus and mail art
A good example of the poetic engagement with issues of communi-
cation was the use of the postal system as an artistic strategy. This
was developed by a number of individuals and groups, including
the Fluxus collective, whose founders were among the attendees at
Cage's sessions at the New School for Social Research. The name for
the group was coined by the Lithuanian emigré Georges Maciunas
and its members included Higgins, Mac Low, Brecht and Hansen,
as well as Robert Filliou, Emmett Williams, Ben Vautier, Daniel
Spoerri, Wolf Vostell, Yoko Ono, Nam June Paik, Joseph Beuys, Diter
Rot, and LaMonte Young, who all became well known in various
capacities. Cage himself was not a member of Fluxus, but acted
as a kind of paternal figure and influence. Fluxus's work included
performances of various kinds, either involving music or everyday
activities and the production of printed material and multiples. 10
Perhaps more than any other art movement Fluxus was about inter-
active communication and process. The work done in its name
almost always required the active participation of a receiver as well
as a sender. It also presumed on the existence of noise, interference
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