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International Contact List of the Arts

Author(s)/Editor(s): Friedman, Ken

Publisher: Ken Friedman

Date: 1966–

Number of participants:

Document(s): Publications, Article

Source(s) of the listed documents: Owen Smith

Available for research at Artpool:

Bibliography: Smith, Owen: A Pilgrim’s Process, in: uiowa.edu

"If (as Dick Higgins has stated) Fluxus was established in an attempt to share interesting new work, then it could be argued that this goal was first achieved through Friedman's developing network. First published in 1966 as the 'International Contact List of the Arts, ' this network would eventually expand to include well over 5000 names." Smith: op. cit.

“In 1972 [Friedman] published the International Contact List of the Arts, containing some 1400 names of artists and interested individuals. Revised many times, this list has included as many as 5000 names and addresses and was used along the [mail art] network to expand its audience and potential users. In the early to mid 1970s, most correspondence exhibitions drew from this list and complementary lists such as those of Image Bank and International Artists Cooperation. Friedman’s list was used in the early formative stages by such magazines as File, Flash Art, and Art Diary....” Crane, Michael: The Origins of Correspondence Art, in: Crane, Michael – Mary Stofflet (eds.): Correspondence Art, San Francisco, Contemporary Arts Press, 1984, p. 90.

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