Tomas Schmit

Tomas Schmit ( born July 13, 1943 in animals at Wipperfuerth; † October 4, 2006 in Berlin) was action and concept artist, illustrator and author. He is one of the pioneers of the Fluxus movement in the early 1960s.

Life and work

Schmit grew up in his native town Wipperfuerth and in Cologne. In 1961 he met Nam June Paik, over whom he met George Maciunas and the first Fluxus activities. In 1962 he participated in the performance of Neo -Dada in Music, hosted by the Düsseldorf Chamber of games, as well as the parallels Performances New Music in Amsterdam and partially developed his first " pieces". In the following years he took part in most European Fluxus manifestos and organized which took place on July 20, 1964 Festival of New Art in the Technische Hochschule in Aachen, under the title "Actions / agit- pop / decollage / Happening / Events / antiart / L' autrisme / type Total / Refluxus " was organized there and appeared as a performer in which artists such as Joseph Beuys, Arthur Køpcke, Vostell and Nam June Paik. On June 5, 1965 Schmit joined in 24 hours, organized by the Galerie Parnass in Wuppertal, with the " action action without an audience " on. In the same year Schmit moved to Berlin, collaborated with Louis Gosewitz and Gerhard Ruhm and joined together with these and other Fluxus artists, the music festival in the René Block Gallery on.

Since the early 60s Schmit worked on things voice, text, and began in the late 60s with drawings. In the winter semester and the summer semester of the year 1979/80, he taught at the Academy of Fine Arts in Hamburg.

Tomas Schmit Archive, Berlin

The tomas schmit archive, Berlin was founded in 2008 by Tomas Schmit's executor Barbara Wien Wilma and Lukatsch.

The archive consists of the artist's estate. Since then, it is supplemented by drawings and editions, letters, photographs and sound recordings, among others, Peter Brötzmann, Paul Lovens, Evan Parker, Stefan Ripplinger, Andrea Runaway, Emmett Williams and others. The goal of the archive is to create a complete, illustrated list of works as well as to document the variety of its connections with the international avant-garde. To this end, the Friends of Tomas Schmit Archives in Berlin was established on August 2, 2010, which funded the development and maintenance of the archive. The archive is not publicly available.

Awards and honors

Works (selection)

List of Works

  • Catalogue 1 Kölnischer Art Association, 1978.
  • Katalog 2 DAAD Gallery, Berlin and Sprengel Museum, Hannover 1987.
  • 3 In the catalog portico, Frankfurt / Main 1997, ISBN 3-928071-33-5.
  • Katalog 4 Publisher by Walther König ( Ed Barbara Wien Wilma and Lukatsch ), Cologne 2007

Primary literature

  • First design ( a central aesthetics ). Self- Verlag Berlin 1989.
  • Tomas schmit reads own text, vol. 1, Audio - CD, 74 min 50 sec. Unlimited edition, numbered and signed, Vienna Verlag, Berlin, 2005.
  • Tomas schmit reads own text, vol. 2, audio CD, 78 min 21 sec. Unlimited edition, numbered and signed, Vienna Verlag, Berlin, 2005.
  • Tomas Schmit / Wilma Lukatsch: Thirteen Monday talks. Vienna verlag, Berlin, 2008.

Secondary literature

  • SCH / WHO. Edited by Galerie Michael Werner, Cologne. Cologne 1986.
  • René Block, Gabriele Knapstein ( concept ): a long history with many nodes. Fluxus in Germany. From 1962 to 1994. Institute for Foreign Cultural Relations, Stuttgart 1995.
  • Can people think? / Are Humans Capable of Thought? Published by the Museum Ludwig, Cologne. Cologne 2007.
  • Not getting anything to say! (no need to always give all Explanations ). Edited by Michael Werner Gallery. Cologne 2007.
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