This was our presentation on Fluxus:

Ayo, welcome to our presentation about Japanese Fluxus artist Ay-O.

We will first tell you something about Ay-O’s life.

Biography
Ay-O was born in 1931 at the Pacific coast of Honshu island, with the name Takao Iijima. He finished his studies at the Tokyo University of Education in 1945, which is remarkable, since he was only 14 years old. Only one year later he already presented his art works at small exhibitions in Tokyo. He combined modern art with the traditional Japanese view of nature, using extreme colors.

Fluxus
Ay-O started his fluxus career in the Demokrato Artist Association in Japan. This association promoted artistic freedom and independence in making art. This organization had somewhat the same view on the definition of art as Fluxus artists Yoko Ono and George Maciunas. In 1961, he got the opportunity to meet Maciunas and inspired by his way of making art, he decided to join the Fluxus art movement in 1963.

Art
Ay-O’s art consists mainly out of rainbow colors. Therefore his nickname is “the Rainbow Man”. Because of his colorful paintings, he became known worldwide.
In 1970 he built the “Tactile Rainbow” at the Osaka World’s Fair. He also used existing pieces of art to make his own rainbow-like version.

Finger Boxes
Ay-O was especially known for his Finger Boxes. We made a finger box ourselves too. We were inspired by his use of color.

Own opinion
We think Ay-O is a great artist. He uses bright colors, making everyone happy.
He uses existing objects and transforms them into a completely new piece of art. This is a way to make art accessible for everyone.