0—> Front
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Ben Pimlott building,
Goldsmiths University of London
.
.
In 1996, after twenty years of presenting live art and installations at 112
Franklin Street in Manhattan, non-profit arts organization Franklin Furnace
announced that it was selling its premises and moving to the virtual world
of the Internet following the launch of its initial web page consisting
almost entirely of a hand-drawn impression of a fantastic artists¹ space by
William Wegman. This came as a great shock to many who treasured the
alternative space that Franklin Furnace had provided for avant-garde art
since 1976. Others saw this as a natural progression towards catching the
next wave of emerging art. The desire for a truly alternative space has been
a significant driving force for Franklin Furnace since its inception. Just
months after the official opening of Franklin Furnace, founding director
Martha Wilson was impressed by an article in The Print Collector¹s
Newsletter entitled Artists¹ Periodicals as Alternative Spaces (1977).
Written by Howardena Pindell, this article covers artists¹ periodicals from
1900 to 1977, matching them to a selection of historical events. Wilson
realized two important things for Franklin Furnace from Pindell¹s writing:
the printed page as an alternative space for presenting art had a long
history and significantly it offered many great possibilities for artists.
This also led to a long engagement into exploring the relationship live art
has with artists’ books. Initial considerations start with Martine Aballea’s
Title Deed Midnight Ave. presented at the Franklin Furnace space in 1976 and
Ida Applebroog’s book art series subtitled “A Performance” from the same
period, to early forays into digital art with Nancy Buchanan (1992) and the
move to regular programs of live art on the internet since 1997.
Programmed and Organised by Goldsmiths Digital Studios. Supported by Goldsmiths Graduate School & Department of Computing.
