"Avalanche" magazine was founded by Willoughby Sharp and Liza Béar shortly after they met in 1968. At the time, Sharp was a New York-based art historian and independent curator, and Béar an underground magazine editor who had recently moved to New York from London. They published the first issue in 1970 and collaborated on 13 issues from 1970 to 1976. "Avalanche" focused on art from the perspective of artists rather than critics, and investigated new forms of art that were developing in the U.S. and Europe with a radical new media format—probing interviews, extensive use of photography, and dynamic layouts. For many artists, publication in "Avalanche" preceded a one-person gallery or museum show. Aside from an eight-page news section, the editorial content included only interviews by Sharp and / or Béar, artists' texts, and documents of art and art making, also functioning as an exhibition space in print. Fresh, incisive and unpretentious, the "Avalanche" interviews -- now landmarks -- illuminate the creative process and give a clear voice to the specific issues that permeated the era. Among the featured artists were Vito Acconci, Joseph Beuys, Hanne Darboven, Walter De Maria, Jan Dibbets, Philip Glass, Barry Le Va, Sol LeWitt, Richard Long, Gordon Matta-Clark, Bruce Nauman, Dennis Oppenheim, Yvonne Rainer, Keith Sonnier, Richard Serra, Robert Smithson, William Wegman, Lawrence Weiner and Jackie Winsor. This boxed facsimile edition of Avalanche's complete run reproduces the first eight issues individually, and the final five in a single-bound paperback.

This limited edition copy is accompanied by a certificate signed by both Liza Béar and Willoughby Sharp shortly before Sharp's death in December 2008. The publication is 1,016 pages and illustrated throughout; is housed in a heavy-duty, laminated, archival box measuring 10.5 x 19.5 x 2.5 inches. The first eight issues measure 9.25 x 9.25 inches and are exact facsimiles of the originals; the subsequent five tabloid-sized issues, now bound as a single volume measuring 9.25 x 13.5 inches, have been reduced slightly in scale from the original format. This edition weighs approximately 12 lbs (packed weight). The edition will be shipped in a made-to-fit outer box of heavy-duty cardboard to ensure safety and protection.