Imagine a square that is never busy, never noisy, never littered. No dogs, no kids. No benches. Can't you? Well, there's a square like that in Kaunas, Lithuania. It's because nobody can (legally) enter the square as it's surrounded by three busy streets.
George Maciunas, the father of FLUXUS movement, was born in Kaunas, Lithuania. There's a small memorial plaque on his childhood house and a FLUXUS room in the Kaunas picture gallery nearby, but that's definitely not enough to commemorate the legacy of one of the most famous Lithuanians ever and one of the most important artists of the 20th century in his hometown.
Naglis Rytis Baltušnikas, a Lithuanian artist, thought just that and pitched the idea of a George Maciunas square to the city municipality. To cut the long story short, everybody supported the pitch and the square was finally opened on July 20th, 2017.
The square does meet the principles of FLUXUS stated in the manifesto George Maciunas composed in 1963. It's a square you can't enter and you can't even see when standing on the pavement of one of the streets bordering it. The streets are really busy and the iconic FLUXUS aztec symbol is drawn on the traffic island that's never occupied.
Of course you can already see pictures on Instagram of people posing in the square. Kids, don't try this at home. But George Maciunas would be proud.
All pics by Kaunas municipality
Drones can see it...
If you lay down on the pavement you can see it...
It's a bilingual square, of course, as George Maciunas officially changed his name from Jurgis Mačiūnas.
This picture might be taken from the window of George's childhood bedroom!
Aztec in full glory
