What is ARTstor?
Contemporary Art (Franklin Furnace Archives)
Overview
Franklin Furnace is working with ARTstor to digitize and distribute images and documentation of events presented and produced by Franklin Furnace, with the goal of embedding the value of ephemeral practice into art and cultural history. The collection consists of documentation of artists' books, performance art, site–specific works, and other time–based ephemeral arts. Since its founding as an "alternative space" in 1976, Franklin Furnace has presented what has come to be known as "variable media" art — works that take on new dimensions in each iteration, varying in the meanings they take on contextually, as well as in their physical deployment. As such, Franklin Furnace's institutional archives offer a rare and valuable resource that captures the moment, the concept of the artist, and the historical context in which the work was created. Artists represented in the archive include, among others: Guillaume Bijl, Willie Cole, Karen Finley, Teh–Ching Hsieh, Liza Lou, Robbie McCauley, Ana Mendieta, and Shirin Neshat. There is also documentation of particular performances and exhibitions, e.g. examples of Russian Samizdat art exhibited in 1982: In addition, Franklin Furnace has recently agreed to share more content through ARTstor, approximately 5,000 images documenting events that took place during the first decade of its existence.
Franklin Furnace has a history of actively making its collections and archives of avant-garde art available for study and research. In 2006, Franklin Furnace received a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to digitize and publish on its website records of performances, installations, exhibits, and other events produced by the organization during its first ten years. Electronic access to these ephemeral works will also be provided through the ARTstor Digital Library. According to Martha Wilson, Founding Director of Franklin Furnace Archive, Inc., "The Board of Directors made the wrenching decision to sell the loft at 112 Franklin Street and 'go virtual' during our 20th anniversary season in 1996–97. At that time, in the wake of the Culture Wars, our primary concern was to choose a venue and art medium in the Internet that would provide the same freedom of expression artists had enjoyed in the loft in the 70s. Ten years later, the decision to make our website our public face has resulted in Franklin Furnace's successful transition from physical art space to online research resource. I am truly thrilled to be embarking on Franklin Furnace's 30th year with ARTstor's collaboration agreement and a major grant from the NEH. The confluence of these events will help fulfill our mission to make the world safe for avant–garde art."
Collection information
| Total size of collection* | 5,500 |
|---|---|
| Percentage of completion | 12% |
| Search terms | franklinfurnace |
* Image totals should be regarded as an approximation until a given collection is 100% complete. Users should also bear in mind that the number of images available to them may vary from country to country, reflecting ARTstor’s approach to addressing an international copyright landscape that itself varies from country to country.
Last updated: July 2, 2008