- Robert Watts (1923 Burlington, Iowa, USA – 1988 Martins Creek, Pennsylvania, USA) was among the most enigmatic protagonists of Fluxus. With Brecht, Watts organized the Yam Festival, a legendary project that combined mail art, Fluxus, and intermedia through a unique artistic platform and an exceptional program. By promoting the transient side of events and Happenings with their unrestricted and anti-commercial nature, Yam’s first phase involved collecting and distributing event cards by mail. Watts’s interventions with Fluxus publications, events, and festivals are countless, producing works such as Flux Timekit (1967), A Flux Atlas (1973), and Light Flux Kit (1973). With the same willingness to radically enter everyday life, Watts created objects, posters, and temporary tattoos for Implosions Inc., a company Maciunas founded together with the businessman Herman Fine in 1967 to mass produce easy-to-distribute works. Watts strongly supported the Fluxhouse Cooperatives, the extensive rehabilitation program for SoHo based on collective ownership. His works are held in collections at The Museum of Modern Art and the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C., the Tate in London, and the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris.
Artworks (62)
- Robert Watts
G.M. as a Student of Dr. Hyde, 1987 - Robert Watts
Going Up, 1987, 1990 - Robert Watts
The Watts Box, 1984 - Robert Watts
Notes and Sketches 1964-1966, 1979 - Robert Watts
20th Anniversary Fluxus Edition, 1984 - Robert Watts
Alice Waiting for the Deluge, 1987, 1990 - Robert Watts
Yam Flug / 5 Post 5 - Robert Watts
Dollar Bills, 1987 - Robert Watts
New Yorker Cartoon, 1987 - Robert Watts
"X-Ray Eyes", 1987 - Robert Watts
Flux Med, 1987 - Robert Watts
Safe Post / K.U.K. Feldpost / Jockpost, 1984 - Robert Watts
Yam Flug / 5 Post 5 - Robert Watts
Cabbage, 1964, 1984 - Robert Watts
Vulcan: God of the Vapors, 1987, 1990 - Robert Watts
007 In Disguise, 1987, 1990 - Robert Watts
The Man Who Has Everything, 1987, 1990 - Robert Watts
NY Health Club 1873, 1987 - Robert Watts
Yam Flug / 5 Post 5 - Robert Watts
Safe Post / K.U.K. Feldpost / Jockpost, 1984 - Robert Watts
Dr. Bob, 1987 - Robert Watts
Flux Listening Post: Music of the Spheres, 1987 - Robert Watts
New Yorker Cartoon, 1987 - Robert Watts
Yam Flug / 5 Post 5, 1984 - Robert Watts
Tattoo 102, 1967, 1984 - Robert Watts
Flux Cure, 1987 - Robert Watts
Carving by Night, 1987, 1990 - Robert Watts
"How in the World Does She Do It?", 1987 - Robert Watts
Flux Med (complete set), 1987, 1990 - Robert Watts
Safe Post / K.U.K. Feldpost / Jockpost, 1984 - Robert Watts
Jewellery, 1984 - Robert Watts
Notes and Sketches 1964-1966, 1979 - Robert Watts
Out of the Mouths of Babes, 1987 - Robert Watts
Flux Med (complete set), 1987, 1990 - Robert Watts
Flux Med, 1987 - Robert Watts
High Tech Display, 1987 - Robert Watts
Safe Post / K.U.K. Feldpost / Jockpost, 1984 - Robert Watts
See Alice, Through the Looking Glass, 1987 - Robert Watts
Jewellery, 1984 - Robert Watts
Flux Tickle, 1987 - Robert Watts
Mephisto Is at It Again, 1987, 1990 - Robert Watts
There is a Man, 1987 - Robert Watts
Hydro Flux, 1987 - Robert Watts
Flux Med (complete set), 1987, 1990 - Robert Watts
Tit Box, 1984 - Robert Watts
"Wouldn't It Be Great if...?", 1987 - Robert Watts
Flux Med, 1987 - Robert Watts
Flux S & M, 1987 - Robert Watts
Egyptians Had a Word for It, 1987 - Robert Watts
Yam Flug / 5 Post 5, 1984 - Robert Watts
Flux Twin Game, 1987 - Robert Watts
Safe Post / K.U.K. Feldpost / Jockpost, 1984 - Robert Watts
Initiation of the Mysteries (N.O.W.), 1987, 1990 - Robert Watts
Flux Med (complete set), 1987, 1990 - Robert Watts
Flux Transplant, 1987 - Robert Watts
Dollar Bills, 1987 - Robert Watts
Yam Flug / 5 Post 5 - Robert Watts
Flux Med (complete set), 1987, 1990 - Robert Watts
Buddha at Work, 1987 - Robert Watts
Mules Need It Too, 1987, 1990 - Robert Watts
Yam Flug / 5 Post 5, 1984 - Robert Watts
Flux Courtship, 1987, 1990