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 artist projects by Barbara Kruger, Louise Lawler, and Sherrie Levine; as well as an interview with Charles Henri Ford by Clive Phillpot and Lynne Tillman; and the essay “The Page as Alternative Space 1950-1969” by Jon Hendricks and Barbara Moore. Franklin Furnace Archive news is also included.

8 pages
11 x 17 inches
Tabloid
1980
Editor: Martha Wilson
Artist / Designer: Barbara Kruger
Publisher: Franklin Furnace

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