Hélio Oiticica's Unpublished 1969 Essay on 'Crebehavior' and Anti-Art Radicalization

Hélio Oiticica authored an essay titled 'The Senses Pointing Towards a New Transformation' from June 18 to June 25, 1969, in London, which he submitted to Studio International but was never printed. In this text, Oiticica addressed the need to move beyond art after objecthood, aiming to radically advance anti-art beyond the stalemate between formalist art and neo-avant-garde negations in both Brazilian and international contexts. He argued that after Neoconcretism and Minimalism, the very process of art making required rethinking. Oiticica introduced 'crebehavior,' a practice exposing the routine nature of daily life and proposing its transformation through altered behavioral patterns. This approach could lead to 'creleisure,' a state Oiticica saw as both realizing and dissolving art. The essay contextualizes his project to effect a definitive radicalization, highlighting his engagement with broader artistic impasses. The content is available via MIT Press under a subscription-only model, with the original source published on ARTMargins Online on June 5, 2018.