Friedman, Ken

The Aesthetics

Devon, England: Beau Geste Press, 1973. Limited First Edition. Softcover. "It is perfectly possible to go to bed one night, of [sic] wake up one morning and discover, between inhaling and exhaling, that the self one has sewn together with such effort is all dirty rags, is unusable, is gone; and out of what raw material will we build a self again?" (James Baldwin, pg. 65). The Aesthetics is the early aesthetic manifesto of American artist & designer Ken Friedman (b. 1949), who joined Fluxus in 1966 as the youngest member of the classic group and went on to become one of its principal historians and theorists. The texts gathered here were written in the late 1960s and early 1970s, with many first circulated as photocopies through the Fluxus and mail art networks, notably Notes on Concept Art from Friedman’s self-published Some Investigations, before being collected in this volume. A pre-publication version was produced in March 1972, while Friedman was artist in residence at the University of Saskatchewan’s Regina Campus. The present edition was printed and bound at Beau Geste Press in March 1973. Beau Geste was the artist-run press founded in Devon, England by Felipe Ehrenberg and Martha Hellion, later joined by David Mayor. It was a central node of the Fluxus and visual poetry underground in Britain, and published the FLUXshoe catalogue (see Item No. 8824) and the Schmuck serial in the same period. The endpage colophon notes that a planned introduction by Jorge Glusberg of the Centro de Arte y Comunicación, Buenos Aires, Argentina and a symposium with contributors including Alison Knowles, Richard Kostelanetz, Lucy Lippard, and Klaus Staeck did not materialize before publication. That candor about an unfinished project is characteristic of the Fluxus ethos. "The Aesthetics" is at once a work of theory and an artist’s book. Its humble mimeo production and small, network-bound distribution are themselves part of its argument for art made outside the gallery system. The ideas sketched here prefigure the framework Friedman later formalized as the “twelve Fluxus ideas,” among them the unity of art and life, intermedia, experimentalism, and simplicity. From the collection of Richard Cupidi (b. 1945), our esteemed mate in the UK who managed the fabled Unicorn Bookshop in Brighton, England for founder Bill Butler (1934-1977, the famed American-expatriate bookseller & publisher). From the late 1960s through the early 1970s, Unicorn proffered & published many outstanding productions by William S. Burroughs (1914-1997), J.G. Ballard (1930-2009) et al., some of which have become the scarcest, all-but-unobtainable Beat-&-Beyond collectibles (see for example our Item No.s 8217 & 8366). After prevailing against censorious harassment efforts, Unicorn closed & Butler died in short order. Cupidi went on to found the Public House Bookshop in Brighton, which had a long & successful run but is also now closed, & he still resides there. We have been honored to obtain what Cupidi has termed "The Last Hurrah," all the remaining gems of Unicorn & Public House, including this uniquity. Large-Format Softcover Original: Limited First Edition per endpage colophon: "The first edition of 300 copies follows the pre-publication version produced in Canada..." with "#167" printed beneath. A most collectible, uncommon, foundational Fluxus document of thought in its penultimately rarest form with relevant association & very distinguished provenance. In relatively fine condition with mild-verging-on moderate age-toning & rubbing to front, back covers & spine; mild scratching, smudging & bumping to corners of same; moderate age-toning & spot-staining to text block. Interior fine with mild age-toning mostly to blank margins & fine edges of page leaves; former selling price "2.40 | BP3" handwritten in pencil at top corner of title page, a quaint relic of its Unicorn heritage. Fine. [Item #9541]

Price: $125.00 save 10% $112.50