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 an exhibition checklist and statement by Clive Phillpot for Part I of The Page as Alternative Space, an exhibition that he curated at Franklin Furnace Archive. Promotional material for De Appel in the Big Apple, a collaborative performance art festival sponsored by Franklin Furnace Archive and De Appel and curated by Wies Smals, and Franklin Furnace Archive news are also included.