Free digital copy of 'The Fluxus Reader' now available

Time to say a few words about the new free digital edition of The Fluxus Reader. I think I originally learned about this book through my admiration of Craig Saper, who has an essay in it. Somehow, along the way, I began an email correspondence with Ken Friedman, editor of the book. (I know Ken as a Fluxus guy, but he is also a University Distinguished Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Design at the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia.)

I'm glad I have my own copy of The Fluxus Reader; it has been out of print for nearly a decade and a half. In the run-up to the 50th anniversary of Fluxus in 2012, Ken has been getting requests for copies, but he doesn't have any, and he doesn't know anyone who does.  A recent Amazon search for used copies shows them running from $449 up to $2,500.

Ken has long wanted to make a free digital edition available, but the small typeface has made it difficult to get a clean copy. Then Rebecca Parker, manager of the Research Bank at the Swinburne University library, went to a service to have them prepare, digitize, and proof a digital edition of The Fluxus Reader. So now, I'm pleased to report, the free digital copy is available for download at:

http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/42234

The book is an open access edition, configured for full search and accessible for copy and paste for scholars or students who wish to quote from it. All details and pages are identical with the print edition. The PDF files are set to print out on a full-page format for easy reading.

In his contract with the publisher, Ken kept the copyright of the book as editor. In making the digital edition of The Fluxus Reader available, Ken grants full permission for use in any format or medium. This, I want happily to emphasize, is a policy of Open Access in action. And why not, in our field, where significant profits are quite unlikely? Readership is far more important.