Pitchfork   The Dissolve   Festivals: Chicago | Paris
:
Photo by: BJ Enright | NY Art Book Fair

Ask anyone how they're enjoying the New York Art Book Fair and you'll likely get a response along the lines of, "It's great, but I'm overwhelmed." That's not a knock at the fair's organization, which was excellent, but instead a reaction to the sheer size of the event, both in the number of exhibitors and attendees.

Despite the evidence that the fair is primarily a "buyer's market," as confirmed by curator Shannon Michael Cane in our preview interview last week and the collectors leaving with bags full of books, the event manages to feel not entirely driven by pure commerce. No publisher makes a hard sell to those flipping through books, and while you'd surely be missing out on some great titles, it's entirely possible to get a lot out of the fair without making a purchase.

Those who braved the crowds and impressive roster of exhibitors saw plenty of Nothing Major favorites including Edie Fake, the Packet Biweekly Team, Gottlund Verlag, Nieves, Rollo Press, Bad Day, and Kayrock Screenprinting.

Check out our photos from photographer BJ Enright.

 

 

 

Dinosaur Jr. by Dinosaur Jr., Rocket 88 Books

No one would have predicted that a scruffy post-hardcore band from Northampton, MA would be together and touring after three decades, reconvene with its original line-up, or issue a deluxe coffee table book. Dinosaur Jr. by Dinosaur Jr., due in November from Rocket 88 Books, features an oral history of the band as told by the musicians themselves J, Lou, Murph, and ex-members such as Mike Johnson, friends, family, and others. It will be backed with unseen photos, rare flyers, and Dino Jr. swag—reaching back to the Deep Wound days. The book will be available in two editions: the full-color, hardback “Classic Edition” on heavyweight paper with art by Marq Spusta and a limited signed “Signature Edition” which includes a detailed tour diary from 1987-1988 with photos and a clamshell box with three art prints.

 

The book is available for preorder on dinosaurjrbook.com.

Dinosaur Jr. official book trailer from Rocket 88 on Vimeo.

During their heyday, zines were useful for getting intel on bands bubbling up in your region, sharing outlaw skater folk tales, exposing underground artists, and as a platform for budding literary types flexing beatnik muscles. Despite the advent of blogs—or perhaps because of it—zines have surged once again in the Internet era. Architecture zines, in particular, have livened up the culture.

ARCHIZINES, a project from Elias Redstone, with art direction by Folch Studio, documents, celebrates and promotes zines, journals, magazines and periodicals from around the world as an indie and alternative publishing vehicle for architecture criticism and as a platform for new photography, illustration and design.

ARCHIZINES World Tour touches down in Chicago this fall, opening September 13 at Public Works in Wicker Park. The touring show, curated by Redstone, a collaboration with the Architectural Association, features 100 architecture magazines, fanzines, and journals from over 20 countries. Design With Company, Stewart Hicks and Allison Newmeyer, created the installation.

Archizines are creations of enthusiastic architects, artists, and students and their content can include criticism, commentary, and research into spaces and practice. In the curator's eyes, they are a radical and essential component of the discourse. And what's more, they demonstrate the love and utility of printed matter in our day and age. 

The Archizines opening reception is Friday, September 13, 7-10pm at Public Works.

Archizines LIVE: Public Discussion + Sound Installations are set for September 28 and October 19 featuring panel discussions (6-8pm) and live music (9-10pm)

Saturday, September 28
Kyle May (CLOG Magazine) 
Iker Gil (MAS Context) 
Sofia Leiby (Chicago Artist Writers) 
Brandon Biederman (Fresh Meat) 
Sound Installation by Kyle Vegter & Daniel R. Dehaan of SOUND ROOM with special guest Levy Lorenzo 

 

Saturday, October 19
James Goggin (Practise) 
Ludovico Centis (San Rocco) 
Dylan Fracareta (PIN-UP) 
Matthew Harlan (SOILED) 
Sound Installation by THE–DRUM

 

 

The latest issue of Huck Magazine has the NoMa-approved title, "The Cat Power Issue" and what's more it is guest edited by Chan Marshall herself. Marshall and the Huck editors feature stories on Tame Impala, No Age, and U-God, as well as a new piece from music critic extraordinaire Greil Marcus on "the sweet spot where Cat Power and Bob Dylan connect." The issue concludes with a section of work curated by Marshall, with contributions from William T. Vollmann and Bob Dylan.

Back in June we wrote about Curious Iconic Craft, a book project from the people behind Huck Magazine exploring the history of magazine design. 

The Cat Power Issue is for sale from the Huck Shop.

About two years ago Geoff Manaugh, the editor of BLDGBLOG and the impressive Venue project, curated an exhibit called Landscape Futures: Instruments, Devices and Architectural Inventions at the Nevada Museum of Art in Reno. 

The exhibit collected projects from architects and designers whose work in one way or another affected the way we perceive landscapes, ranging from studies about the atmospheric preservation of artifacts in NYC museums, to more aggressive topics like climate manipulation as a form of weather warfare.

The exhibit has long since closed but this month Manaugh released a new book of work (borrowing the exhibit's original title) that continues to examine the perception of landscapes, with a new collection of essays on the subject, and supplementary material like a walking tour of dams and debris basins in Los Angeles. 

Landscape Futures is available now from Amazon.






Earlier this month, the English artist's book publisher Visual Editions got a strange message from its printer. One of its more ambitious upcoming titles, a book containing 16 individual maps with extensive hand folding work required, faced production delays of nearly a month. What's worse, since receiving the news, Visual Editions discovered that a slightly larger British operation, the boy band One Direction, had plans for a book with the same title. To prevent a much different book getting lost in a sea of SEO doom, it tweaked the title to Where You Are

Outside of the unpredictable title change, these delays are nothing shocking for a publisher of visual writing. In recent months they've published Tree of Codes from Jonathan Safran Foer with intricate die-cut pages, reissued The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman with an entirely new visual layout designed by A Practice for Everyday Life, and coded an accompanying iPad app for another visual retelling of Composition 1, a 1960 work from Marc Saporta, whose physical book takes the form of a case of printed cards.

If you're still foggy on the meaning of visual writing, Visual Editions' own definition is a good starting place: "…visuals aren’t gimmicky, purely decorative or extraneous, but are key to the story they are telling. And without them, that story would be something altogether different."

Upcoming titles from Visual Editions include a visual retelling of Don Quixote and work from Tao Lin, Sheila Heti, and Adam Thirlwell.









Unfortunately the dialogue concerning unpaid internships is usually limited to either high-profile lawsuits against massive publishers and studios, or hushed private conversations about bad bosses. Interns in creative industries have it especially tough as many studios are strapped for cash. To showcase undersung intern work and help start a conversation about the uncomfortable role of unpaid creative workers, former intern Alec Dudson is launching a new publication titled simply intern.

As a way to introduce the concept, Dudson has already completed issue 0, and is looking for funding to publish a proper first issue. 

Rewards for Kickstarter backers include issues of the magazine, massive screen prints, an Intern tote, and special advertising packages.



Photo by: Charles Burns | Mark E Smith

Fans of RAW artist Charles Burns may or may not know that The Believer magazine published the artist's work on covers between 2003-2013. Burns created the images of ink on paper in a strict format of 6x6. His distinctive black lines communicate sophisticated textures and lighting in the portraits. This summer, Adam Baumgold Gallery is featuring the many portraits Burns made for the magazine as well as a before-and-after series of works from comic Black Hole.

Over 300 drawings of artists, musicians, animals, and comic and fantasy characters as well as historical figures are included in the show. But today, we're focusing on the musicians Burns drew in yearbook style.

"Cover Portraits for The Believer 2003-2013 + Before & After Portraits from Black Hole" runs through July 26 at Adam Baumgold Gallery, NYC.


Stephen Malkmus

Q-Tip
Kathleen Hannah
Nick Cave

Liz Phair
Devendra Banhart

The group show at the Gestalten space in Berlin this month is a celebration of the new infusion of energy we're seeing in print, yes, print publication. It seems, perhaps in light of the Internet content explosion, that designers and publishers have gotten more inventive and creative with print. Gestalten thinks we've entered a new era in print publishing. The "Fully Booked" show celebrates the tactile experience of print and distinctiveness of design, materials, and technique. The show is broken up into roles that print can play: The Storyteller, The Teacher, The Collector, and so on. Featured designers among the 200 include Stefan Sagmeister, David Pearson, L2M3, Made Thought, and many more. Luckily for those that can't make it to Berlin, Gestalten has published Fully Booked: Ink on Paper, 272 pages of print design thrills.

Fully Booked is available at Gestalten.com

Christian Lange's mother kept obsessive family financial records. For the first 18 years of his life, every single dollar the family spent was recorded by his mother in meticulously maintained ledgers. Now, 16 years after the last entry, Lange uses this financial history as a framework to tell his family's story in his new book Lange Liste 79 97. In addition to the extensive notes by his mother, Christian Lange conducted interviews with relevant "characters" and dug up family artifacts like photos and possessions to give a clearer picture of his adolescence. But his story isn't limited to the immediate daily celebrations and dramas of the Lange clan. The unavoidable political consequences of living in Germany between 1979 and 1997 exist alongside all of the pregnancies, new shoes, and days spent tinkering in the garage.

[via manystuff]