Swinburne Research Bank featured in journal
Swinburne Research Bank has featured in the latest issue of the journal Postmodern Culture.
In this issue, Swinburne Professor of Media and Communications Darren Tofts interviews Ken Friedman, one of the last surviving members of the 20th century Fluxus movement. Ken Friedman is currently University Distinguished Professor and Dean at Swinburne's Faculty of Design.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the Fluxus movement, a legendary group of artists, designers, composers and architects, as well as a crucial launching ground for new media. The interview looks at the legacy of Fluxus, including The Fluxus Reader (1998), a comprehensive overview of Fluxus written by leading scholars and experts from Europe and the United States and edited by Ken Friedman.
Part of the Fluxus philosophy was that that its artists produced affordable, open editions of their work. So when Professor Friedman heard that copies of his now out-of-print book were selling for up to $2500 on Amazon, he approached Swinburne Library for assistance in making a free high-quality digital copy available for download. The new digital edition of The Fluxus Reader was released through Swinburne Research Bank on 13 May 2011. Professor Friedman notes that: 'The response was astonishing. The Swinburne Research Bank web site received over 6,000 visits in the first weeks of release.' He believes 'The new edition of The Fluxus Reader meets all scholarly requirements and it serves the artistic and philosophical goals we set for it'.
You can read more about the Library's involvement in publishing the ebook version of The Fluxus Reader in an earlier edition of Swinburne Library News.