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 a front cover by Louise Lawler and artist projects by Agnes Denes, Beverly Feldmann, Dieter Froese, David Hammons and Dawoud Bey, Kay Hines, Stephanie Brody Lederman, Jack McCaslin, Ana Mendieta, and Richard Parker. Other contributions include Jill Medvedow’s essay “(Con) Text: Update on the Collection/International Mail Art,” Valery Oisteanu’s “Love, Death and Freedom in Roumanian Dadaism and Surrealism,” Gail Harrison Roman’s “Russian Avant-Garde Book Design,” Anne Pitrone’s review of Nan Becker’s artist book Sterilization/Elimination, and interviews with Linda Burnham, Bill Gordh, and John Howell. Franklin Furnace Archive news and a calendar of events are also included.

32 pages
8 x 11 inches
Paperback
1982
Editor: Deborah Drier
Designer: John Copoulos
Publisher: Franklin Furnace

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