Rethinking Periodical Indices to Expand Art Historical Research: A Case Study of Avalanche Magazine Index

Abstract

Avalanche Magazine, an artist magazine published in the 1970s, is a unique primary source document of the conceptual art scene. Replete with photographs, advertisements, artist interviews, and gossipy personal notices, it is a trove of insight into artistic practice in a highly experimental period. Nevertheless, it was never included in any visual art or humanities database index, leaving its content largely undiscoverable by traditional means. In an effort to remedy this situation, the authors built an open access website, Avalanche Magazine Index (http://avalancheindex.org), which indexes the entire contents of Avalanche. Like a traditional periodical index, Avalanche Magazine Index describes the content of the magazine rather than reproducing it in full text. However, unlike traditional indices, the website encompasses every component of the magazine—from interviews to advertisements—and attempts to identify each named artist, venue, exhibition, curator, and photographer. The exhaustive indexing works in concert with the relational database that underlies the site to reveal a network of relationships between and within the artistic communities of the era. This case study presents the rationale for indexing Avalanche Magazine, provides an overview of workflow, outlines the ways the project diverges from traditional indexes, reflects on the impact of open access on the project’s success, and proposes that the website is capable of generating new knowledge in and of itself.