zine, [zeen] noun. 1. abbr. of fanzine; 2. any amateurly-published periodical. Oxford Reference

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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Oh Snap! Mark Price talks about the ZINE OF THE MONTH project

 
 

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via PRINTERESTING by amze on 9/22/09

ReadzinesNotblogs

Maximum slices! Each month receive in your mailbox a limited edition, screen-printed artist zine. Subscribe for the year and receive 12 issues total. The ZINE OF THE MONTH 2009 line-up features zines from Philadelphia all stars: Rob Francisco, Michael Gerkovich, Jason Hsu, Annette Monnier, Hilary Price, Mark Price, Bonnie Brenda Scott, Lance Simmons, James Ulmer, as well as out-of-towner Brian Blomerth. Subscribe at any time and receive all back issues followed by a new volume each month.  Individual issues available as well.

After reading the press release you may wonder, "who could be responsible for industrious publishing endeavor?" Why it's Mark Price, an up and coming print artist, who is also a member of the venerable Philadelphia arts collective Space 1026.  All of which seems to be the question: How does he have time to organize and produce the Zine of the Month? Mark recently sat down with printeresting and talk about his myriad of projects and shed some light on his exciting Zine of the Month project.

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You are very accomplished artist, showing your work all over the country, both 'solo' and as a member of Space 1026, most recently with GlowLab in Ny. How did 'zines and bookmaking become a part of your practice and how did that lead to starting the 'zine of the month' club?

Thank you! Glowlab has been great to work with. They have some amazing artists they are working with and are doing an interesting program at their cozy little spot on 30 Grand in Soho. Producing zines and books has been a part of my jam forever. It is a concise and immediate way to physically assemble a body of work on the cheap. Its real and intimate. Keeping a studio at Space 1026 I got to constantly see everyone cranking out new things and wanted to create an outlet that was a collaborative venture between friends and artists primarily in Philly who's work I love.

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Would you consider the 'zine of the month club as a 'zine producer — meaning you select artists and invite them to make work for the project or are you primarily a 'zine distribution system — meaning you curate the selection from cool 'zine makers you already know — or some combination of the two?
Zine Producer totally, though many of the artists I have been releasing zines with self publish their work, I am inviting them to make work specifically for Zine Of The Month with little limitation besides the size. I am printing, assembling them all, and handling distribution slash sales while giving a portion of the finished edition to the artist to sell or give away on their own.
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Will the project continue on after this year? And what other collective print projects might you like to work on in the future?
Yes. I am planning out the 2010 release schedule and will be offering subscriptions before the end of this year. So far the plan is to do zines in '10 with Glowlab, William Boone, Chris Kline, and Space 1026. Yo, this is enough right now – it sometimes feels a little idiotic printing and publishing something every month. No, but I am into getting it going for another year for sure.

ZineMail

With that in mind head to Zine of the Month to order back issues or reserve your subscription.


 
 

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Zineing across the Pacific Northwest!

 
 

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via PRINTERESTING by A FRIEND OF PRINTERESTING on 9/24/09

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Guest Post by Anni Altshuler & Leah Mackin, both are artists based in Philadelphia and co-creators of the Holly Holly Hobby Hobby Zine.

On our trip to the Pacific Northwest, we had the opportunity to explore the area's rich zine and print culture. We started our trip in Seattle, where we were directed to the Zine Archive and Publishing Project (ZAPP) at the Hugo House.

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ZAPP offers writing and zine-making workshops for all ages and maintains the nation's largest zine collection (over 20,000 titles!), all run by one part-time employee and a thriving network of volunteers and interns. We spoke to Nora Mukaihata, the Library Manager, about the processing, cataloging, and preservation projects currently underway in the library and their goal for the advancement of zines as contributions to social history and folk art.

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Also, look at this great flyer we found!

From Seattle, we ventured north to Vancouver! One of our first stops was at the Vancouver Public Library, which recently added zines to their general collection.

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Don't wait to find out what else Anni & Leah saw in Vancouver and Portland, follow this story after the jump.

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One of our favorite places we visited was the Regional Assembly of Text created by Brandy Fedoruk and Rebecca Ann Dolen, both Emily Carr University of Art and Design graduates. The store sells all kinds of products including printed books, shirts, bags, and stationary. They even have a button making station!

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There is a monthly Letter Writing Club and a Small Book of the Month subscription, which is a nicely wrapped pack of handmade books by Brandy and Rebecca. Visitors can also enjoy The Lower Case Reading Room and Gallery, which is what every closet should be.

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Our last stop was Portland, where just a block away the super store of books Powell's was a great little shop, Reading Frenzy.  In addition to a vast selection of zines, magazines, art books and comics, we saw a show of the internet famous Kate Bingaman-Burt's on-going project, Obsessive Consumption. The show was a great collection of zines, print, drawings and installation.

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Right above Reading Frenzy is the Independent Publishing Resource Center, which is a lending library with over 7000 zines and comics and a working print shop. They offer workshops on letterpress printing, binding and other aspects of self-publishing. When we visited staff members were setting up for  Yudu workshop, much to our delight!

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3845007149_9ec10a234eThe afore mentioned zine library.

3845797898_0658b2a3dbSome independent publishing goodness.

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Thanks to: Nora, Brian, Owen, and everyone else at ZAPP, Kelly, Caroline at Regional Assembly of Text, and Justin and everyone at IPRC.


 
 

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Bryan Talbot’s Steampunk menagerie – welcome to Grandville

Grandville

by Bryan Talbot

Jonathan Cape

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"An anthropomorphic steampunk detective thriller" – Bryan Talbot.

Which pretty much sets the scene for Grandville quite nicely. Talbot's no stranger to steampunk, having given us the trailblazing, way ahead of it's time Luther Arkwright, but Grandville takes it a step further and mixes his beautifully rendered steampunk visions with the anthropomorphic illustrations of nineteenth century French illustrator J.J. Grandville and the retro-futuristic inventions and architecture of fellow Frenchman Albert Robida. And, like Talbot says in his frontispiece, "Not to mention Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Rupert The Bear and Quentin Tarantino".

That triumvirate may seem a little at odds with each other, but here in Grandville Talbot actually pulls it all together rather well. This isn't, as you may have worked out, something as deeply serious as Luther Arkwright, Tale Of One Bad Rat or Alice In Sunderland – this is pure fantastical rollercoaster ride stuff – manic races through London streets, vicious gunfights and a plot that fair races along the meticulously detailed cobbled streets of Grandville.

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(Detective-Inspector LeBrock getting his Tarantino on. From Bryan Talbot's Grandville.)

Grandville is a world populated almost exclusively by walking, talking animals. The only humans here are found in France; simple things that could have just walked off the pages of a Tintin album, they're disparagingly called "doughfaces" by the French: "a hairless breed of  Chimpanzee that evolved in the town of Angouleme". Yes, Angouleme; site of France's prestigious comics festival – Talbot throws these comic in jokes our way all the way through the book, never to the detriment of the tale, but if you know your comics you'll be smiling at some of the wilder ones. Except for poor, drug-adled Snowy Milou of course, having his opium dreams of crabs with golden claws and being on the moon "with the doughface". Then it's just melancholic and rather touchingly sad.

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(Oh, Snowy, poor, poor Snowy. Here in Grandville he's just another tragic drug victim dreaming of all the things he might have done in another life.)

Here in Grandville France is a major world power, having only relinquished their hold on Britain a few decades back. The new Socialist Republic Of Britain is a minor player in world affairs, hated in France for the atrocity that was committed on the Robida Tower in Paris in the name of British anarchists fighting for independence from France.

Detective Inspector LeBrock of Scotland Yard, aided by his rat assistant Detective Ratzi, finds himself involved in the investigation into the murder of Raymond Leigh-Otter, respectable diplomat. And the trail of the crime will take LeBrock to the highest levels of French society and a conspiracy in the heart of Grandville that goes all the way back to the Robida Tower atrocity.

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(LeBrock finds that the folks of Grandville are non too keen on the English.)

Along the way we get all of the influences Talbot was talking about; Rupert crops up early, as does Sherlock Holmes, when LeBrock does his best Holmes impression at the murder in Nutwood that starts the whole investigation off. It's brilliantly done, perfect establishing stuff – with LeBrock's instant genius detective credentials established. (And there's even a Rupert cameo in the background.) Once we're over in Grandville the action kicks up a gear and the Tarantino aspects kick in, just like Talbot promised, guns, knives, explosions – the works.

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(Detective-Inspector LeBrock's welcoming committee. Cue eight pages of perfectly choreographed violence from Bryan Talbot.)

As you'd expect from Talbot the art is meticulously detailed, although at first glance it's easy to be taken in by the big and bold figure work, with his characters tending to dominate the page. But take a while on a second and third reading to look beyond the characters and look at the whole page – some of the backgrounds are beautifully detailed works in their own right. And then there's the design; from the beautifully retro cover to the "art-nouveau steampunk" endpapers and very playful Grandville font and you have a very satisfying package indeed.

Grandville may not be Talbot's best work, and some may be disappointed at it's lightness, but take it as it's intended; as a bold, brash detective thriller that's over far too soon and you'll find a very fast, highly entertaining and just out and out good thriller.

Grandville will be published by Jonathan Cape on 15th October.

Richard Bruton

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Unlocking the world with Melbourne artists Gracia Haby and Louise Jennison

 
 

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via Inside Out blog by noreply@blogger.com (Inside Out) on 9/27/09

Something mighty peculiar was afoot but I was hard-pressed to say for certain what it was by Gracia Haby & Louise Jennison

The online world is a great tool in connecting us with creatives, especially when it comes to these two artists: Gracia Haby and Louise Jennison. They like to tinker late at night and use paper as their primary medium, making limited edition artists' books, lithographic offset prints and zines.

They are also responsible for Hammer & Daisy, a handmade, one-of-a-kind range that includes postcards, journals, notebooks and soft toys. You can bag Gracia and Louise's zines, artist proofs, books and notebooks at their online store, www.gracialouise.bigcartel.com.


'But for the moon nobody could see us' installation at Imp Gallery

I describe the pair as crafty, visual storytellers; Gracia and Louise's creations are soulful, childlike, soft and nurturing. Looking at their work inspires and makes me feel a little dreamy. Fuelled with my new-found awe for these artists, I wanted to discover a little more. The girls generously answered a few questions – see below for insight into these creative souls.


'But for the moon nobody could see us' installation at Imp Gallery

What are the inspirations for your up-and-coming exhibition at Craft Victoria in Melbourne?
A Key To Help Make Your Own World Visible, the title of our forthcoming exhibition in gallery two of Craft Victoria, is drawn from Hermann Hesse's novel of 1927, Der Steppenwolf: "I can throw open to you no picture-gallery but your own soul. All I can give you is the opportunity, the impulse, the key. I help you to make your own world visible. That is all."

We set to create a series of other worlds that lie hidden, other interior worlds viewed with the twin "gleam of pain and beauty that comes from things past" (also from Der Steppenwolf). It serves as an ever-flexible springboard from which we've been launching ourselves from for some time now.


'But for the moon nobody could see us' installation at Imp Gallery

We have also looked to the seductive power of nostalgia. Our keepsakes, these objects gathered, perhaps they are not all what they appear at first cursory glance.

This, in a loosely formed nutshell, is the story behind our forthcoming exhibition.


'But for the moon nobody could see us' installation at Imp Gallery

How long has it been in the making?
For some time now and it is, as you'd expect, gathering fierce momentum as the date for installation draws ever nearer. The works exhibited will be the result of roughly a year, or more, in some cases, and we are being driven slightly mad as anticipation and nerves mount.

Between the two of you, who is better at what?
Having worked collaboratively for a little over ten years now, we wear our collaboration like a second skin. As Ramona Barry and Rebecca Jobson referred to us in their recent book I Make Stuff, "perhaps it is easier to think of them as a left and right hand of the same body."

That one favours watercolour pigment to scissors is of no surprise, we're sure. Perhaps we could also add, one of us is more comfortable working within the realm with colour, the other with framing a composition. One favours the spoken word, the other the written.


'But for the moon nobody could see us' installation at Imp Gallery

What's the best thing about working together?
Sharing the combined weight of ridiculous doubtfulness and maddening frustration is one of the best things about working side by side and on the one image or page. Yes, a load shared is lighter, this much is true – it is also a reassuring path to tread. But it is challenging, too. It helps keep one motivated. It is endlessly inspiring. And it is comfortable in the best possible sense. Seems it is every little thing to us.


Something mighty peculiar was afoot but I was hard-pressed to say for certain what it was by Gracia Haby & Louise Jennison

And the worst?
As two peas in a pod, sometimes – it has to be said – we lack the voice of reason, someone to firmly place both feet on the earth, grounded once more to reality after a bout of fancy or self-doubt. Sometimes such similarity of working, and thinking, too, has its downfall.

A well-known joy of collaboration is that it yields fruit not possible without the other, that an image can be made that would have been possible by no other means; for such a reward, who wouldn't risk a little madness?


'But for the moon nobody could see us' installation at Imp Gallery

You say you tinker late at night, how late are we talking? Do you find the night particularly inspiring or is it a logistical matter?
While one of us is more of a natural night owl than the other, we rather fell into this pattern of working at night due to logistical reasons referenced. It is quiet in the house, it is quiet in the street outside our house, and the body feels ready for a little stillness after the day. It feels as though you are less aware of the time passing as you sit and either draw or cut out future collage pieces. Daytime chores don't nag for attention either.


'But for the moon nobody could see us' installation at Imp Gallery

Sometimes it can be more than logistical reasons that find us working late. It is an inspiring time to set the mind exploring or to harness the idyll dreams from the day.

Sometimes we work into the early hours of the morning, though this is not nearly as often as we'd have you believe.


'But for the moon nobody could see us' installation at Imp Gallery

In the upcoming show, what are your favourite pieces?
We are having a great deal of fun putting together the different works for this exhibition. There will be watercolours, there will be artists' books; there will be framed pieces, prints on the wall. Neither of us is yet sure what piece or pieces we will be particularly attached to. Perhaps once we see it installed in the calm white of the gallery space … Working from our home-based studio, most of our work, once dry, is quickly whisked away to be stored or under press.


'But for the moon nobody could see us' installation at Imp Gallery

Gracia Haby & Louise Jennson: A Key to Help Make Your Own World Visible is on from October 22-November 29 at Craft Victoria, 31 Flinders Lane, Melbourne. For more information on the artists, visit www.gracialouise.com.

Vanessa, style editor

 
 

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The New PostSecret Book Drops Oct. 6th

via PostSecret by postsecret on 9/27/09




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I knew more gay people in North Dakota than I've met so far here. Yale isn't as gay as it's cracked up to be.













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The new PostSecret book is being released October 6th. My publisher has posted 90 postcards and commentary for anyone who pre-orders PostSecret Confessions on Life, Death and God. Special PostSecret Archive

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