Henry Flynt, Communists Must Give Revolutionary Leadership in Culture, World View Publishers, New York, 1965. Two large folded offset sheets with text by Henry Flynt, designed by George Maciunas. 430 x 435 mm unfolded, 6pp. Printed black on tan stock. The first sheet contains an eight section directive mapping out how and why Communist ideas should lead the cultural development in the West. Throughout the text references are made to Appendices 1-7, printed on the second larger sheet. The work presents a multifaceted approach to cultural development with an emphasis on efficiency and utility. These tenets are applied to all areas of culture including applied arts, public architecture, housing, car design, electric musical instruments and film. Discussed are works by the Soviet film director Dziga Vertov (Denis Arkadyevich Kaufman) and the American architect Buckminster Fuller. Appendices 1 and 2 are dedicated to housing and provide detailed plans, photographs and comparative data on the Soviet Prefabricated Building System. On the final page a small section titled Note On The Graphics (presumably by Maciunas) contains information regarding the design and print of this publication, in relation to the efficiency of its production and dissemination: A colored stock, which is more rugged and durable that newsprint, but costs as little because it is not bleached, is used. One type is used throughout. Costs and arbitrary stylistic choices involved in using a variety of types are eliminated, Text and appendices can also be displayed as posters. Thus this publication both sets out how culture can change in tandem with Communist ideas and acts as an example of this change. Occasional copies come with a styrofoam backing card, elastic band and translucent sheet, we estimate only 10% of copies have these components and would have had to be acquired from Maciunas pre-1970. For example the MoMA New York has one via the Silverman Fluxus collection. Only 4 copies are listed on WorldCat. There are also a handful of copies in print collections in museums (Walker Art Center; National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, et al.) Broader subjects that this publication is relevant to include: Communism and culture, Design, Modular Construction and Fluxus. Condition: folded as issued, near fine
