Good morning, and welcome to Print Fetish. My name is Sarah Forbes Keough and I'll be one of your editors. We stayed up all night getting the site ready to go and I'm embarrassed to admit, I'm sitting here reading US Weekly and drinking a soda. It's a rare moment, but strangely soothing this early in the morning. So this blog. I'm excited to share my magazine obsession with the world at large—to wax poetic about lil mini zines found behind shelves in bookstores, to point out and giggle over the embarrassing and unfortunate choices made by glossies, to talk about the craft of making books, magazines, and works of print art. So yeah... Let's get started.

Yes... I have a problem. I spend a lot of money on magazines. I fetishize them. I don't throw them away EVER. They become furniture and decoration. I could probably afford that operation if I gave them up. I keep all my receipts and add them up for tax season - it's truly disturbing. I have an excuse, I'm a designer - so "I have to keep up to date." Yeah. Well, now I have another excuse to write off my purchases... this blog. I can now spread the word on all the hidden treasures I love, and have a soapbox to debunk the supposed quality and slickness of some of the better selling magazines. I don't care about mainstream versus underground, or any outmoded dichotomies. I do care about the glut of crass consumerism and the current obsession with celebrity gossip thats creating landfills. So I'll try to inform you about work that is simply superb, wether it's big time or DIY. Buy art!

Welcome to Gayside
The Third Leg: G Brooks Takahashi, L Macdonald, O Hogan-Finlay
5.5 x 4.25 in book with 2 posters and a condom
Photocopied inside, silkscreen cover

Hilarious! Drawings of people staring lustily at sheep, rimming each other in pastoral scenes, and waving homo sweet homo flags are interspersed with gay and/or dirty parts of famous texts, like Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass and David Bell’s Eroticizing the Rural. Also there’s a free condom and a huge poster of New Brunswick redone with place names like Bull Dyke Run, Faggot Head, Cunt Berg, and Gaytona. This whole thing seems to be made in response to a town in Canada called Gayside who is planning on changing its name to Baytona because it’s sick of getting made fun of by the other towns.

You can buy it at Printed Matter. And read more about The Third Leg and their projects here.

Christina and Charles
By Austin English
Published by Sparkplug Comic Books
6" x 9" ; 76 pages
full color

Austin English's delightfully Art Brut (though, lets face it - outsider art isn't really outsider anymore) comic is a character study of Christina and Charles, two teenagers who might be friends if they actually met. Being overly illustrative can often hinder the emotional impact of comics - and English proves the effectiveness of simplicity. The childlike cover was a bold shock on the comic rack and caught my eye immediately. His "let's just get to it" story and art is immediate and lovely. The main characters stand before us telling us of blase events in much the same fashion as a teenager in life. Christina's words particularly seem as real and as well chosen as any of Enid and Rebecca's dialogue in Ghost World. Gorgeous Stuff.

Buy it at better comic stores or at Sparkplug Comics

Capricious Magazine
New York and points beyond
7.75 x 10.5
full color, perforated pages

I’d heard about the first issue of Capricious magazine for a while before I saw it and liked what I heard. A magazine made by some photographers that printed work by emerging photographers from all over the world, including a few people I knew—photographer Melanie Bonajo was on the cover with a cucumber and some cotton pads strapped to her face. And the almost total absence of text! And the perforated pages! Those were the big hits with everyone who insisted I find this magazine. But I didn’t see it until I wandered into a party at its office to take advantage of the open bar. I grabbed some drinks and a free copy then boozily accosted its editor, Sophie Morner, telling her how cool I thought the mag was. Then I grabbed a few more beers and another free copy and ran off again. After that embarrassing encounter, I continued to buy the magazine and run into those involved at various events. The issue out now is #4, The Light Issue. Light, I guess, is the unifying theme but you could say that about all photographs. The editor’s note from guest editor Emma Reeves says the common thread is an unsettling feeling that each photographer has chosen to reflect in their own way. Stand-outs for me are: These odd bright self portraits by Jesper Uvelius, they are seething under the surface in some way. The strange distance and pretty light in Jay Hanna’s observations of others’ lives. Ric Bower’s stiff group portraits with strips of fluorescent light.

Buy Capricious at arty bookstores or Amazon. And look on their site for submission guidelines for the next issue.

We crush on a lot of magazines, but we can't afford to buy all of them all the time. The magazines we love in our side-links are the magazines we try to get as often as possible. All this week we'll be focusing on them (like the bit on Capricious below), and around the first of the month we'll give you a heads up on what's going on with their current issues.

Acne Paper focuses on the relationship between mentor and protégé, in which renowned British photographer Snowdon portrays the people of Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design - $7.99

ANP Quarterly has beautiful 80's skater kid photos and profiles graphic designer and illustrator Geoff McFetridge - free

Arthur Magazine is starting to improve with its best designed issue yet; profile on Joanna Newsom; comic book genius and mage Alan Moore muses on pornography - free

The Believer's Jan/Feb is the The 2006 Visual Issue, with essays on Ralph Eugene Meatyard, an interview with Matthew Barney and a conversation with Steven Heller - $10

Butt has a new book out as well as a new issue; interviews with John Cameron Mitchell, porn director and cheek sucker Michael Lucas and the biennial Casey Spooner Interview; hot and hilarious photos of furry chested country boy Jason Whipple by Miguel Villalobos

Fantastic Man, though beautiful, troubles us with the inclusion of a Bruce Webber (shudder) photo spread and story on Helmut Lang (that part doesn't trouble us), but we forgive them because of a rare interview with elusive The Fall front-man, Mark E. Smith. There are also very gay (in a good way) mustache and man-bag photo spreads. $19.99 (very worth it)

Nur Hauptlinge Und Keine Indianer
Linus Bill
Black and white photocopy/stapled
8.5 x 5.5 in

Ok, I have no idea what that means. And our resident German left her phone on the back of the toilet this morning. I’ll let you know when I find out. I bought this because there’s a photograph of a tough looking fellow in a homemade dress and tights on the cover. He’s staring very evenly at the camera but his pose is sweet—hands in lap, legs crossed. Following inside are what appear to be some drunk Germans with their pants half off hanging around Hamburg. The photos are pleasant enough and there are a few stand-outs. My advice: Pay attention to the odd details, they make the pictures.

You can buy this at Printed Matter or you can buy another book of his called Piss Down My Back And Tell Me It's Raining here. Good title, Linus!

AND I just came across this selection of a ton of awesome looking German zines at Telefon Til Chefen. Since my German skills are powerfully lacking, I have no idea if you can buy these from the site or not. I did find some at Hamburger Eyes' Photographic Institute of Epicness. Even without an online shop, there's plenty of cool stuff to look at on their site.

UPDATE: haha. ok, the German finally came home and was like dude, that second site is Danish! Ooops. But anyway. She said it's a gallery and they have a lot of books and zines. So enjoy.

Butt Magazine
Amsterdam
6.4 x 9.2 in, 76 pages
Black and white on pink paper

Not to sound too cool for school, but I've been into Butt since the beginning, though it's really caught on in the last two years, creating a hot-homo cultural explosion. Butt comes out of Amsterdam and is printed in black and white on pink matte paper utilizing a basic grid layout and only two fonts. This one-handed (heh) sized mag features interviews with famous, sub-famous homos and homos that aren’t particularly famous that the editors Gert and Jop find interesting, such as Dutch florist, ex-farmer Nard Weigmans (featured in Butt # 9). There are usually nude or partially nude photos of the cover star and photos and stories sent in from readers. The photo editing is impeccable – sexy, natural and sometimes playful. The photography has a documentary feel, but with contributors such as Wolfgang Tillmans and Andreas Larsson, its subjects are always presented with affection, fascination and often, humor. The interviews are warm and friendly, conveying a sense of personal familiarity and community, even and especially when they are dirty. When I open an issue of Butt - everything is right with the world. the ONLY magazine I NEVER miss buying.

The Butt boys, Gert and Jop, were in New York this past weekend for a book signing for their new book on the best from the first 5 years of Butt, and for a party at a questionable Manhattan (not in the good way) establishment. I went there for the most Butt of reasons, to check out and meet a cute boy. Each time they come to NY, the parties get more crowded as the tacky gays catch on - but it's still safe to say that Butt is an arbiter of cool.

Issue #18, with one of my current crushes on the cover, should be showing up anytime in better magazine stores as well as American Apparel stores all over the world.

Down Under? Is that dorky? I think so. I apologize, it's early. I just came across some books from a small Australian press called Serps Press. So far they only have two titles but they are both beautiful. I recommend buying them right now.

Westside is a new book from photographer Conor O'Brien and chronicles his time living near the beach in Perth in lovely landscapes and portraits.

Homemade Tattoos Rule is a book of photographs by Thomas Jeffe which explore the aesthetics and techniques of homemade tattoos. After all, homemade is where the heart is. I feel like that's a quote from something. Is it? If you're interested in giving yourself a homemade tattoo—a practice i wholeheartedly endorse btw—check this out.

Big Questions
By Anders Nilsen
Published By Drawn and Quarterly
7" X 9" 48 pages
Full color cover, black and white inside

Big Questions by Anders Nilsen undoubtedly has the most beautiful covers of any comic out right now. The design is economical, yet completely romantic. Nilsen's drawing, elegant and simple, tells the story extremely effectively, even when there is little dialogue. The story focuses on a group of birds in a forest caught up in religious conundrums when a jet plane crashes into the house of the old woman who had fed them and kills her. They mistake the plane as some sort of great bird, and a grenade from it's wreckage as an egg. Big Questions is a children's book for adults, with shades of Watership Down, Winnie the Pooh and the Little Prince.

Issue #9 is out now in which the birds defend the sacred explosion site from scavenging crows and predators philosophize. Buy it at your favorite comic shop or order it from Quimby's - who also have certain back issues.

Doing Bird is an art/fashion/music magazine. A wicked overdone combo that usually makes me yawn endlessly is covered very well here by smart Australians. Issue #11 is out now and has Cate Blanchett photographed by Terry Richardson on the cover. A Terry Richardson cover shot of an actor—how original and smart, you quip! But wait, JD Samson, Bat For Lashes, Jana Hunter, TK Webb, and Isa Genzken are also in there. Their site is under construction, so go look at their myspace.

Found Magazine is riveting. They print regular Found and Dirty Found each once a year and have also published a few books. When I get one, I can't put it down. Something about looking through other peoples' images, notes, letters, drawings, I can't get enough. A new issue hasn't come out in a while but check their website for news, touring information (they travel around and do presentations/shows), and the find of the day. $5 +S/H

Hamburger Eyes is a black and white photography magazine from San Francisco. All kinds of people from all over the place have photos in there. From cool kids like Tim Barber and Ed Templeton to various randoms and it's all mashed up together in full page borderless bleeding glory. $5

I don't really throw magazines away - except for the occasional Vogue or W (which I only ever read when found in the trash, where they are meant to be). So having the right way to display them is of the utmost importance - after all, you have to make it easy for your guests to judge you. To help our fellow Print Fetishists we will be spotlighting a cute magazine rack or table every week.

Personally I wanted a rack that was a bit warmer looking than a lot of the metal ones you can find. I got the Kiri Wood Magazine Rack at Viva Terra, a store that specializes in eco-friendly housewares. It's extremely light, attractive and easy to mount - and for $69 bucks, a good deal. I primarily use it to display my 'zines and a few classy comics. The picture on the left is at my place.

Doris Book: Anthology 1991-2001
6.5"x8" 320 Pages
B/W Paperback

I just came across the website for my old friend and penpal Cindy Ovenrack Crabb. She's been doing a brilliant zine called Doris for the last 15 years. When I worked at Epicenter, my friend and I were serious fans and had every issue of Doris as well as all the little comics she made like "67 boyfriends" and the one about the ice cream shop. She came back to town around that time and started dropping by. We became friends after she showed up to a dinner at my house that wasn't happening, invited by a person who didn't live there.

All the issues of Doris have been collected and released as an anthology. It's so exciting! Everyone should read it. It really actually will make you laugh and cry. Cindy tells the fascinating stories of her life honestly, sweetly, and smartly and manages to include helpful tips, history and information on all manner of topics ranging from feminism and politics to travelling and making art. It's very close and immediate like a friend telling you stories and secrets but you also come away knowing all about the history of political collectives in Philadelphia or something like that.

Buy it from Cindy directly or from Microcosm Publishing.

Apollo Astro #9: The Journey of George
By Jack Turnbull
8.5" x 10.5; 32 pages
Silkscreen cover, Black and white photocopy interior
$5

This is a lovely little handmade comic with a beautiful 3 color (one of them most notably being gold) cover from young Jack Turnbull, a student at RISD. The Journey of George is the whimsical tale of George Potato and his pal Veggie who are separated under dire circumstances. The story is whimsical, and perhaps not fully developed - but charming nonetheless, and Turnbull's expressive brushwork goes a long way in making this an entirely delightful read. Tremendous displayed on your favorite end-table.

you can buy Apollo Astro at the utterly convenient Catastrophe Shop.

I'm so psyched that there are so many websites where a kid can buy art affordably. Listed here are a few I've been looking at:

Umbrella Market was started by the Fecal Face guys and has limited edition screen prints, t-shirts, and books mostly.

ETSY is a site where artists put up their own store area and sell whatever they want. Tons of stuff here.

Needles and Pens is a ziney store in San Francisco that has tons of art and mags and books and pins and things to buy on their site. Support my hometown, man.

And let's not forget old stand-by Quimby's of Chicago. This place has been around forever and has everything, including but not limited to books, zines, porn, toys, art, and random cute objects.

pictured: Mars - Isotopic Simulation

How irritating that its raining today. I was actually going to go off to the Union Square Barnes & Noble to focus on reading horror stories, otherwise known as Condé Nast magazines. I don't want you to think I'm advocating either monstrosity... but this location of B&N is simply the best cruising ground in Manhattan (besides Trader Joes) and for reading magazines without paying (the only reason to read a Condé Nast Magazine). You can actually grab a stack of mags and/or books and take them to the unmentionable cafe on the 3rd floor and sit around for hours reading. I'm still debating on wether or not I should go.... I mean, I don't really look forward to reading Vanity Fair quite enough to get wet for it.

Murder Can Be Fun
5.5"x8.25"; 48 pages
Black and White photocopied

Awesome, an issue I haven't seen yet of John Marr's infamous zine of bizarre deaths, murder, and mayhem is out. Murder Can Be Fun issue #19's theme is Musical Mayhem and includes stories on convicted Western Swing star Spade Cooley, the David Cassidy fan riot, Frank Rosolino, and great rock 'n roll deaths. This zine is very educational. It's like a super creepy history class with a hilariously deadpan true crime obsessed professor. Get this issue, as well as all the back issues still in print, here.

Back in 1998 I saw the tight little package that was Purple magazine at Tower Records in New Orleans and I lusted after it immediately. It was the first magazine I had ever seen that encapsulated an art, fashion and 'zine sensibility all in one. Most spectacularly it was small (8.5" X 6.25") and fat - with a shocking (at the time) number of matte, single color pages. It satisfied all my print desires - even the ones I didn't know I had. It had excellent fiction, avant guard fashion, art photography and illustration. Purple magazine is what really began to make me think about the possibilities of what a magazine could be and do.

Let's have some history this morning. I just came across a Queer Zine Archive website that has PDF versions of some of the classic homo zines of our times. It has issues of Bruce LaBruce and G.B. Jones' great zine J.D.s, Brat Attack, Outpunk, and Holy Titclamps. I'm sad to see some of the major titles missing like Homocore (who's archives are in jpg form at this link) and Chainsaw and I would just die for a PDF of Now I Don The Mask of Melancholy—the most hilarious and amazing gay goth zine I've ever seen. Maybe we should scan our copies and send them in. Anyway, check them out, give them some support.

I guess I should give crappy mags a break... after all, you'll discover that a lot of the cooler looking magazines are made by rich kids. It's much easier to fight convention when you don't have to sell as many ads. However, there is a whole new genre of magazines that are partly conceived of as print, but with no cash, are intended for online viewing.

Check out Tiger, a " screen magazine" from Tokyo. Not terribly well planned out, yet still an intriguing selection of playful imagery. The "current" issue is from 2005. Somebody, anybody give these kids some money! Actually, give it to me.

There are many ways to bind your book/comic/zine/manifesto, from perfect binding to tying it all together with rope to stuffing the loose pages in an envelope. I think, when planning a project, it's good to explore as many weird possibilities as you can before you just grab the stapler. I've been seeing this technique lately called the coptic stitch and I like it! It's a relatively simple way to achieve a cool handmade look. This PDF explains it well. And here's another site that tells you how to do it.

Please do send us your wonderful 'zines. Also any information on you or your friends projects. I also wouldn't mind if some fabulous, upscale magazines from Europe sent us a free subscription. Free stuff goes a long way, let me tell you.

send wonderful things to:

R&S Media
200 Centre Street 3rd Floor
New York, NY 10013

We are also looking for flyers from the world over that don't suck (is the art of the flyer disappearing?), so if you see any good ones - scan them and send 'em in.

THURS, dec 14
Book launch for David Sandlin's Swamp Preacher.
Printed Matter, 5-7pm

Dirty Hands: A Group Print Show.
Cinders Gallery, 6-10pm

Filter Magazine Party
Ben Sherman Store, 96 Spring St, 8-11pm

Have fun, my friends, and take advantage of the free booze, for god's sake.

There is another useful "blog," which is sort of somewhere in our stratsophere, Slates's In Other Magazines. The boring magazines they summarize often do have interesting writing (even if they have artless editors and art directors) - so I find it an essential tool.

Ian Svenonius
The Psychic Soviet
300 pages

This book is nuts. I just picked it up yesterday and, I confess, I'm not quite finished with it but I'll talk about it anyway. I bought it because I've read some of Ian Svenonius' writing in Index before and was also a total fan of Nation of Ulysses and a mostly fan of The Make-Up, PLUS the book has a durable, all weather, pink plastic cover that smells really good.

Let me say it again, this book is nuts. In the intro, Svenonius says, "This volume should clear up much of the confusion regaring events of the last millenium—artistic, geo-political, philisophical, et. al." And a reader from Amazon says in her review, "Vampirism, vodka and dialectical materialism are stimulating topics, but this set of essays reads like a half-baked dissertation written by a precocious over-medicated narcissist. Often verbose and incomprehensible--I highly recommend it." So far I am in agreement. Anyone else have any thoughts?

Print Liberation is a printmaking and design studio in Philadelphia. You've probably seen some of their fun designs on the T-shirts they do for Urban Outfitters (don't hold that too much against them). I'm particularly into their bright typographical silk-screen posters. All the posters are 18" x 24", signed and numbered - a total steal at 25.00 bucks. Hey - anybody listening: the poster pictured would make a great x-mas present to me.

Xiu Xiu Tour Diary #4
5.5" x 8.5"; 30 pages
Color photocopy

Shirtless in front of a motel with razor in hand, stopping on the side of the road to lick a giant ice cream cone, zoning out in odd positions in back seats, playing shows in rooms with low ceilings, eating gross food, acting spazzy in other peoples' apartments, studying bathroom and bar graffiti, spending weeks with the same group of people but also meeting new ones every night, just going along with whatever happens. I love tour. And I love tour diaries. Photographer David Horvitz's diaries document the last four Xiu Xiu tours. He prints them on an Epson inkjet on double-sided matte paper. They are thick and look fantastic and bright. He also has polaroids and other cool looking projects for sale on his site.

These blogs are immensely entertaining and informative. Please do click them.

Fiveoclockbot - Jason

Team Murder - Brian

Going Somewhere - Aren

Grass Roots Modern - affordable furniture and housewares design

Graffiti Research Lab - open source tools for urban communication

The Wooster Collective - a site dedicated to showcasing and celebrating ephemeral art placed on streets in cities around the world.

Tropolism - Sort of news, opinions on architecture, love cities.

Hotel_Tricks
Matthias Herrmann
Published by Art Metropole
6.3" x 4.72", 46 pages
Full Color
$25

Those Germans. Matthias Herriman's photographs are bold, shameless, sometimes disturbing and often hilarious. He's an ex-dancer with a fabulous body who stars in his own photos. His cock is also a major subject, really as a separate character to himself. He is also the president of Secession, an institute of contemporary art in Vienna. It's awesome to see someone in that kind of position in the art world not taking himself, or "art" so seriously. According to his Butt interview he actually prefers presenting his work in books rather than exhibits - an opinion we totally share.

His book Hotel_Tricks is available at Art Meropole (as are his other books).

Whew - we're starting our second week! God. Apparently we love the gays... and the Germans. I hadn't even noticed, but I guess it's true. People are starting to notice, but what we're REALLY waiting for is hate mail and endless ranty comments. Please accommodate us.

One of my inspirations for this blog is the legendary Factsheet 5, a 'zine that had an incredible listing of 'zines, alternative mags and books, that ran through the 80's and 90's. Before the internet, Factsheet 5 informed an incredibly diverse group of creative people all around the country about each other. It wasn't about profit or networking - it was about community. Factsheet 5 disappeared in 1998 - the same year I got my first email address, started reading peoples personal websites, and started thinking bigger (making money, full color) about publishing. But now I'm thinking bigger AND smaller all at once and am thrilled by the announcement on the Factsheet 5 website that it will re-launch in 2006. But wait, the year is almost up! Let's hope we hear more soon.

There are many reasons why I always end up going to Diner. The most important of which include: proximity to my apartment, pork chops, good wine, the fact that at any given time at least one person I know works there, neighboring oyster bar / store with local organic / artisenal / hippy / homemade interesting food items for sale like someone's dad's beef jerky and ginger ice cream and pizzas, cheese plate, did I say pork chops?, the perfect burger, lovely simple soups, cute bathrooms.

Ok, I'm sorry, I got carried away. This isn't my food blog. But I did have a point. The diner people have just started putting out a journal called, oddly enough, Diner Journal. It's cute. My favorite part is the scans of waiters' notes on the specials. Caroline Fidanze, their chef, and Elizabeth Schula, the pastry chef, compiled a nice collection of seasonal recipes including pork chops and pork stew. Yum. There are also articles on hot sauce and pickle making and local farms who supply Diner with some of their ingredients. Fall 2006 is out now and Winter 2007 is at the printer. Email Diner for information or drop by the restaurant. Also check out the blog by their grocery buyer for funny food tips and notes.

Dirty Hands, A Group Print Show
Cinders Gallery
Brooklyn, NY
December 13-January 11, 2006

Ralph and I wandered around Thursday night drinking coffee and looking in bookstores. We ended the evening at Cinders Gallery on Havemeyer Street in Williamsburg. Cinders is a gallery which doubles as a store selling affordable and sometimes wearable art (from silk screen prints to handmade scarves). The Dirty Hands Show was opening that night and was full of new work by artists who make prints. From what I could tell most of the work was silkscreen stuff. Some of the show's stand-outs are: Julian Langendorff's etchings, the Bongout silkscreens, Marc Bell's etching and watercolors, and Ryan Jacob Smith's silkscreens.

Photos of the gallery after the jump...

Check out this little something something article about Sassy on Women's Wear Daily's site. It discusses the upcoming book by former Sassy editors - that we shall definitely be reading and discussing.

Link via Brassmonkey

Good morning! I went out last night to various parties and events, including the release party for the new issue of LTTR. I just woke up to post the pictures and tell you about it but I'm having camera problems and will have to figure that out first.

So in the meanwhiles, here is a large book (264 pages, black and white) full of crazy sharpee drawings by this guy Mike Giant who writes graffiti, skateboards, draws, and does a blog for fecal face. Included in the book are his zines Pagina Vilot, Shim Rot, Flood Bart, and Dairy Hicks. As well as a new one called Passive Moles. Expect to see funny wordplay, tattoo style drawings, weird little characters, religious icons, and graffiti and stuff. Buy the book at arty bookstores, or Last Gasp, or direct from the man himself.

Design is too damn expensive - but sometimes something comes along that is just as fabulous as it's high end counterparts. This Acrylic Magazine Table has often caught my eye when I walk into The Container Store. It's modern and lightweight and highly affordable at $69. It's the perfect night-stand or end-table, that not only works well as a temporary solution - but blends in well as a permeant piece in modern decor.

Last night I was making dinner at my house when I got a phone call about the LTTR issue #5 release party and show in progress around the corner. I shoved the few remaining brussel sprouts in my mouth, grabbed my camera, and ran over. Unfortch, I missed most of the entertainment, walking in during the last act: two cute kids singing a bad cover of U Got It Bad.

Positively Nasty, the 5th issue of queer feminist art journal LTTR, looks fantastic. Thick brown cardstock cover, spiral-bound, a plastic pouch of stuff inside. I'll write more about it once I actually get a copy and read it. The party was fun, but I wish I'd gotten there earlier. Was anyone else there? If you got there on time, tell us what we missed in the comments.

More photos after the jump...

Now You Know
5.25" x 7"
64 pages plus cover
Offset printed, notch bound
Packaged in their own slipcover and self seal poly bag

ALife's co-founder Tony Arcabascio and Arktip just put out this slim, amusing volume of Tony's 'Alife How To' column that he wrote in for Arktip from 2003-2006. It's like a manual for how to be a cool skate kid. In general, I'm sorta bored with stories about drunk dudes breaking shit but this is a funny read. And I like that it's small enough to carry around in case you're in a jam and need to know how to torch a car or something like that.

Buy it at an arty bookstore or from Arktip direct.

When Index magazine folded this year a big hole opened up in publishing. Index was practically the only American art / entertainment / lifestyle (I'm not sure what category you'd call it, but you get the idea) magazine that didn't suck. They took over Interview's role (which ceased to be relevant about 15 years ago - some people would say 20) as the most cool interview magazine on the stands. They eschewed excessive cover-lines and trendy celebrity styling in favor of bold typefaces and bright uncluttered photography and layouts. They featured whoever they damn well pleased - people they liked, not just actors with a new movie coming out. It was intelligent and informative, yet playful and irreverent. Index could be read cover to cover without the reader being bombarded by irritating product placements and excessive adds. Index was more about being part of a community than being a marketing tool. There is nothing right now to take it's place. Fortunately the entire 10 year run of Index is online - check it out.

I Heart Darkness
Natascha Snellman
8 x 5.5" 122 pages
Edition of 500.

I like Natascha Snellman's interview style and the overall feeling of this book. Opening the book with a few pages of Natascha's own collage work sets a casual, familiar tone which definitely continues in the interviews. She interviews 14 artists about their ways of making art. Interviewees include: Ami Tallman, Sue De Beer, Ashley Macomber, and Gus Van Sant. After the interviews is 30 pages of examples of the artists' recent work.

The publisher, 2nd Cannons Publications, says on their site: "Limited deluxe version with an additional volume of Natascha's collages coming soon!" And I'm into that. I love limited editions, more handmade versions, and books that come with prints or a package of cute items.

Buy this book from 2nd Cannons Publications directly or from the New Museum shop.

It's Christmas time, so we all should be buying stuff. I was out wandering through my favorite bookstores yesterday and came up with some gift ideas I want to share with you.

For your little brother or sister:
King Size
A project about Tags, DIY-Craft & Subcultural Globalization
By Adams
The cardboard covers were cut by hand. This thick volume shows you how to make a fat marker of your own and is full of pictures of people writing graffiti from all over the world.

For any zine-maker, or for me, because this thing rules:
The Gocco Silkscreen Kit is a mini silkscreen making kit. It takes no time to burn their little screens and it's nowhere near as messy as the real deal. The company is going out of business and these are getting harder to find. Some people started a Save Gocco campaign. Check there for updates and look on ebay for the kits. And when you find one, send it to me.

Also for me or your coolest family member:
0-9 The Complete Magazine: 1967-1969
Vito Acconci and Bernadette Mayer
Collection of the 7 issues of 0 to 9, Vito Acconci and Bernadette Mayer's mimeographed magazine. Their aim was to explore the relationship between language and the page and the contributors list is full of major artists and writers of the time, including Sol LeWitt, Adrian Piper, Dan Graham, Robert Smithson, Yvonne Rainer, and the editors themselves.

Archivision #1 and Now Let's Put On A Show #6
72 pages, 5.25 x 8.5
Photocopy, saddlestich

Last week's post about the Queer Zine Archive, and a subsequent rummage through some old boxes of zines, has got me thinking about The Confessional Zine. They were certainly popular when I was a kid--most of my friends and i wrote pages of diary-like prose and photocopied them into lil mags for the enjoyment of others. I was hoping to find some examples from some of my favorites so I could treat you with a little zine history today. I'm not really having much luck. I'm on the lookout for copies of Mr. Dog, Hessian Obsession, and anything by my disappeared friend Jason Pruitt. But I did discover that Joshua Plague of Behead The Prophet No Lord Shall Live fame and writer of Now I Don the Mask of Melancholy and Now I Devour You is now a chef, has a vegan cookbook out, and has been touring the country with a rock and roll cooking show.

He's also recently put out this thick compilation of stuff which he describes on the cover as, "A torrid tome of collected flyer art, flyers, amusing tales and dull recitations from various and sundry shows mostly from the 90s..." Maybe I'm just having a moment of nostalgia (gag), but this mag is hilarious and I'm totally enjoying it.

Buy it from Buy Olympia. His cookbooks and food related zines are also available there.

Hello, before I sign off for the long Christmas weekend (have fun everyone!), I'd like to introduce a new semi-regular feature: Make Your Own. In it I'll give you information, instructions, ideas, and links for all kinds of book and magazine making. So, let's get started. It may be too late for you to make a book as a Christmas present but maybe if you're spending the week at your parents' house, you'll have some time/be bored enough to give a new project a try.

Here's a thorough and easy to understand article on how to perfect bind a book by hand. Brian Sawyer, a writer and editor for Make and Craft magazines, writes very clearly and includes some photos to help make the project easier.

And, of course, you are welcome to make and send us books. We'd love it.

Capricious is a New York-based photography magazine that's published twice a year. I talked about how much I like it in an earlier post. I finally caught up with its editor and publisher Sophie Morner and asked her some questions. Here they are below:

Tell me a bit about the beginning of Capricious. Who did you start it with? Why the name Capricious?

I got the idea for Capricious in 2003, when I was about to finish school at NYU. Shortly after, I moved to Amsterdam to be with my girlfriend, and slowly got Capricious going there, with her support and many other great people.

I picked the name Capricious because for me it represents the community or generation I belong to. It’s this certain restlessness, or brattyness I think we all have...

What is your mission?

To create a platform for emerging artists from all over the world.

How do you choose the format: very little text, large images, perforated pages?

I think there is so many magazines/journals out there that represent either text around photography, or journalism, or fashion photography. Capricious is a magazine that gives the image full space and rest. The perforated pages play with the idea that the images in the magazine are also individual pieces of art.

Hello from my vacay in lovely San Francisco. I'm taking a break from driving around taking photographs and visiting pals to check email and look at my favorite websites. I got the new issue of Artkrush and it has a nice feature on alternative art publications. Check it out.

pictured: Spit Rainbow postcard by Melanie Schiff from North Drive Press #3.

The 2nd Cannons website has been advertising the upcoming Julie Lequin book for a while. First it was supposed to be out by summer, then fall, now they're hoping for sometime this winter. So instead of actually finishing the book, Julie made a video detailing the reasons why it isn't finished. What a great idea! I wish I'd thought of it. Usually when I'm avoiding my deadlines (sorry to all my editors past and present), I turn off my phone, have nachos delivered, and read magazines on the couch all day. Then I clean the apartment, thinking I can't work without a clean space in which to think. Then I get bored with that and go see a movie.

Prince in talks 2 develop music magazine for U. It also says the mag will feature the purple one's photography! I can't wait to see.

[wwd, via gawker]