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'Fluxus Buck' is an artistic project from Julie Jefferies aka. ex posto facto (U.S.A.) which she started in 1994. A 'Fluxus Buck' is an artists' banknote which she distributed into the Mail-Art network. The project started as an 'add and return to' project, the receiver of a 'Fluxus Buck' was asked to alter the artists' banknote and return it to her. 

"The instructions on FB [Fluxus Buck] read: "It's currency for you to alter/create (depending on its state when you receive it). Carry it with you a while, or pass it along, but once you're done with it please mail it to ex posto facto, . . . Documentation and bucks in return"." (Ex Posto Facto, personal interview, May 2003)

After a while, artists altered the artists' banknotes and started to send it on to other Mail-artists. Later on some Mail-artists designed their own 'Fluxus Bucks' and spread them into the network, linked to the 'add to' concept or as single piece of artwork. A.1 Waste Paper (England) for example has carved a replica of a 'Fluxus Buck' and can stamp his own 'Fluxus Bucks'. And a text about artists' banknotes from Vittore Baroni (Italy) inspired Joel Cohen (U.S.A.) from 'Ragged Edge Press' and Tom Kerr (U.S.A.) to produce their own 'Flux Bucks 50'.

The idea of an artists' banknote came when ex posto facto was working as cashier and handled lots of money. At that time she was looking for something to go in the Mail-Art she was sending out. She decided to make her own banknotes and send it out as an 'add to' piece into the Mail-Art network. If her correspondents returned the modified artists' banknotes, they did get a documentation in return. Generally the documentation was send out once or twice a month after about 15 artists has returned her the altered 'Fluxus Bucks'. What she did not know was that the project turned into a networking tool. As Ray Johnson (U.S.A.) created with his 'add to' artworks spontaneously the Mail-Art network, the 'Fluxus Bucks' documentation was the start of a network of Mail-artists who swapped 'Fluxus Bucks'.

"I thought that it would be a little collaboration - or even just one artist decorating a buck. When I started documenting and mailing sheets containing the mailing information of artists who had most recently sent me bucks, those artists on the list began mailing to each other. That way they expanded their own network of mail artists to exchange art with." (Ex Posto Facto, personal interview, May 2003)

At the time she did get the idea of the artists' banknotes, she just getting to know about the art movement Fluxus, which attracted her attention for the freedom and the concepts it offered. To honour it she named her artists' banknotes after the movement which have a connection with Mail-Art. Not knowing that Robert Watts (U.S.A.) a Fluxus member has produced 22 years earlier a series of 1 Dollar bills in offset to be included in Fluxkits. Much later Ex posto facto found out about Watts' artists' banknotes, which made her conclude that good ideas can occur independently over and over.

In making 'Fluxus Bucks', ex posto facto stamped each buck at least 5 times in several colours and all bear a heading "United Eternal Network". Besides the big "United Eternal Network", the instructions are stamped along with a series letters, a number (each different), and the date. In a few 'Fluxus Bucks' from several Mail-artists the relationship between the value of art (Mail-Art) and money was questioned. Which can be related with the words "Art and money do not mix" from Lon Spiegelman (U.S.A.). For a Mail-artist a 'Fluxus Buck' will be more valuable the more Mail-artists has altered their artwork on it.

References:
[01] (Ex Posto Facto, personal interview, May 2003) 
[02] Baroni, V. (2003). A concise chronology of artists' money. In P. Ciani, & V. Baroni P. (Eds.) Bank of fun, Banknote delle nazioni unite fantastiche (pp. 8-9). Bertiolo, Italy.

Date last update: 3 July 2003