The Flue was a periodical published between 1980 and 1989 by the venerable institution Franklin Furnace Archive, which was founded in 1976 by the artist Martha Wilson to present, preserve, interpret, proselytize, and advocate on behalf of avant-garde art, especially forms that may be vulnerable due to institutional neglect, cultural bias, their ephemeral nature, or politically unpopular content. The periodical took on a multitude of media forms and functions, from organizational newsletters to exhibition supplements and catalogs, to scholarly surveys of contemporary and historical artists’ book movements. This shapeshifting approach was supplemented by artists’ projects and a changing cast of editors and designers, most of whom were artists. In total, there were sixteen issues of The Flue across six volumes, and all have been digitized and made available online for the first time here.

This issue features contributions from Clive Phillpot and Martha Wilson as well as reviews of artists’ books by Dietrich Albrecht, Ida Applebroog, Walter Askin, Lutz Bacher, Eugenia Balcells, Peter H. Barnett, Lisa Baumgardner, Stig Brøgger and Hein Heinsen, Paul Buck, Salvadore Coppola, Steven Durland, Bolon Dzacan & Fred Truck, Nicole Ferentz, Judy Gittelsohn & George Westcott, Davi Det Hompson, Taka Iimura, Peter Klein, Paul McMahon, Plinio Mesciulam, Richard Olson, Lucio Pozzi & David Shapiro, Richard Raxlen, D. Sarver and Athena Tacha. This issue also contains supplemental material related to the exhibition Chicago: Although Marco Polo Never Heard of Chicago, Its Story Really Begins With Him, which took place at Franklin Furnace Archive and was curated by Sara Core, Conrad Gleber, Robert Peters, Gail Rubini, Bob Roesler, Larry Smolucha, and Francine Ziemba. A flexidisc by Conrad Gleber, Gail Rubini, and Jim Snitzer, was also included.

12 pages
11 x 17 inches
Tabloid + 45 rpm flexidisc
1980
Editor: Martha Wilson
Artist / Designer: Conrad Gleber, Gail Rubini, and Jim Snitzer
Publisher: Franklin Furnace

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Managing Editor (2021): James Hoff
Managing Designer (2021): Dan Bourke