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 Ann Fessler, Deborah Freedman, Howard Goldstein, Mick Kidd and Chris Garratt, Lucy the Lip, David Morice, Louise Neaderland, Lowery Sims and Gerard Jackson, The Struggle Collective, and Chaz Welz. Book reviews by Jill Medvedow, Clive Phillpot, and Shelley Rice of publications by Mark Berghash, Masao Gozu, Paula Hocks, Kevin Osborn, Barbara Rosenthal, Greg Sholette, Telfer Stokes, Jim Snitzer, and Janet Zweig are also included. Other contributions include Rimma Gerlovina and Valery Gerlovin’s “Russian Samizdat Books” and Reine Hauser’s “Duplicating Efforts,” Franklin Furnace Archive news, and a calendar of events.

34 pages
8 x 10 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