Handcraft

Our hands are story tellers.

I refuse to believe that there will be a time that craftsmanship will no longer be relevant. We are physical creatures that live in a world where tactility can stimulate memories and emotions. What we make with our own two hands is an embodiment of who we are. The hours spent stitching and tying a quilt are hours of thoughts, breaths and conversations. That final product is not simply an object but a physical storyline, a fraction of a lifespan.

"We are as gods and might as well get good at it. So far remotely done power and glory - as via government, big business, formal education, church - has succeeded to the point where the gross defects obscure actual gain. In response to this dilemma and to these gains a realm of intimate, person power is developing - power of the individual to conduct his own education, find his own inspiration, shape his own environment, and share his adventure with whoever is interested. Tools that aid this process are sought and promoted by the WHOLE EARTH CATALOG."

...“Compact,” a new print-based project that considers questions of representation and editing. Each installment is a folded looseleaf publication of two-sided color prints, each print showing a given subject (a window, a piece of pavement) from a slightly different angle. Contained within each publication is an insert which lists the date and time the photographs were shot and names the 5 files used for the book (eg, “P1030115.jpg,” “P1030116.jpg,” etc.).

you can keep up with this new project at BrunoZhu.com

Andrew Fedynak put together a photo zine called Argyle Lane. It's 8 months of a girl living in a house with friends doing the things you do when the world feels fearless and young. The best part of the zine is how the images come together to create a picture of Beth's life. On their own they may not be that strong, but together they create a tone and voice. That's the interesting thing about books: you line up individual photos on pages and suddenly the seemingly disconnected becomes attached and vague ideas become a solid memory.

The Zone System, Bill Daniel's new book.

I hear it's about how to shoot skating. It's at Needles and Pens in SF now and tri-x-noise.com soon.

American Bison | drawings by Chris Clother, blind contour cover and binding by Ted Trager

One hand washes the other. Ted and Chris met in college. Both got married. One grew a family. One traveled the US. Together they make little hand bound art zines that begin with Chris' drawings in PA and end with Ted's copying, collating and binding in LA. Their work always speaks the language of what I imagine their friendship is like.

Plus I love holding in my hand something that I can picture being made on cluttered kitchen tables and Ted's ephemera cave.

Featuring 3 zine exhibitions, one being GSD: Skate Fate till Today with the goods from Gary Scott Davis' 80's skate zine.

Foxfire is a student produced publication that began in 1966 with a Georgia high school English class. The students wanted to document the culture of their elders in Southern Appalachia as "a proud, self-sufficient people with simple beliefs, pure joy in living, and rock-solid faith". The magazine is still going strong, driven by high school students and is compiled in a number of anthologies (available at the downtown Reno library).

Story sharing remains one of the binding threads between generations.

Up Dog Zine by Gabee Sanitago, 2009

On the horizon: photographer Mikael Kennedy's exhibition catalog of Between Dog & Wolf .

The title comes from "L'heure entre chien et loupe", the hour between dog and wolf, the golden hour. 31 Polaroids butting up the wild and the contained. What more could a girl ask for in the new year?

I want it to be tighter than the blue jeans she use to wear. I want them to put their hands on their heads and scream like we're the Beatles. I want to make them dance like no one dances anymore

Journalsong #5