George Maciunas had an extreme dislike of smoking. Being an asthmatic he could not tolerate it personally and with his complete devotion to Fluxus, professionally he felt there was no time or space for such a self-indulgent act. This disdain led fellow Fluxus artist, George Brecht to suggest a “no smoking” sign. Maciunas, who was a highly skilled typographer and designer created the innovative signage whose repeated design was used as wallpaper in a number of Fluxus events.  

“… a Lithuanian/American asthmatic, clinging to life with a large mountain of medicines. Even in the middle of crossing a street he would get out his throat spray. Sometimes he felt so bad that he would only let me talk to him through a gap in the door. Even if I was not smoking, the smell of tobacco that clung around my clothes brought him close to snuffing his candle…So he thought about pubs what we would think about no-beer-left…they made him terribly nervous. And each and every smoker was to him the devil incarnate. Anyway, he considered smoking and drinking as totally unnecessary diversions from sensible work; he was an ascetic who put all his money and as far as his job and health permitted, all his time and energy into painstakingly hard work …work for Fluxus.”__________Tomas Schmit 

George Maciunas (1931-1978) was a founding member and the central coordinator of Fluxus, a loose community of international artists, poets, architects, composers, and designers, who linked art to life. Maciunas came up with the word Fluxus to suggest “flow” and “effluent” and to describe a wide range of activities, which included scores or instructions; multiples; and concerts, performances, and “Happenings” that were often themselves in a state of flux. All with the idea of emphasizing artistic process over the finished product.