Art Term associated with Fluxus invented by Dick Higgins
A new genre of art that combines the attributes of two othewise distinct types of art. Toward the end of the 20th Century, artist were looking for ways to work outside conventional art forms. In many cases they turned to this combination of fields. John Cage was the quintessential proponent of this.
"...media themselves have meaningful gradiations between them. Visual poetry lies between visual art and poetry, sound poetry lies between music and poetry, etc. But between almost any art and non-art media other intermedia are possible. What lies between theater and life, for instance? Between music and philosophy?" - Higgins
This is distinct from Multimedia which is merely the use of two or more media in a given work.
Higgins published several books on the subject using Something Else Press as the printer, to wit:
- "A Dialectic of Centuries: Notes Towards a Theory of the New Arts" 1978
- "Horizons: The Poets and Theory of Intermedia"
- "Modernism since Postmodernism: Essays on Intermedia"
Source:
Kostelantez, Richard, "Dictionary of the Avant-Gardes", Schirmer Books, New York, 2000
Last Updated 12.23.01