As sheer coincidence had it, among the first courses I took in a grad-school was a seminar on "Art of the 1970s." It was taught by a British expat who was something of a walking encyclopedia of Fluxus, and an active member of the international Neoist society. Early on, he informed us, "The period we will be covering is, thus far, incredibly under-documented and neglected in terms of scholarship and art history; so there's a chance that any research that end up doing into certain avenues might amount to primary research.
He also advised us, "One thing you have to bear in mind when you're researching anything from this general period or reading an artist's writings is that everyone was doing tons of drugs."
Which probably amounts to a sweeping generalization. Maybe, maybe not. Still, if that wasn't the case, looking back one does get the sense that those who weren't were operating by way of a pervasive cultural contact high.
More about the above shortly, in part two.
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