New: Public Collectors publication #78:

Provisional Costumes

28 pages, full color digital printing, stapled booklet. PURCHASE ($7.00)

Public Collectors publication #78 is light-hearted, a little grimy, and a somewhat horror-drenched collection of found photos of costumed people. Like some other recent image-centered Public Collectors publications, eBay.com is the key curatorial tool here. 

From the back cover:

The Photographic Images category on eBay.com is an abyss. I can lose hours disappearing down that hole looking at snapshot photos. Sometimes I start browsing with a single seller, which may limit the offerings to merely 30,000 photos instead of half a million. That is still too large, but I embrace this dream-like mental space and see where it leads as I wander through the lives of unknown and unknowable people. 

When this publication idea started to form, the photos in sales listings began to resemble booklet pages. I thought about possible pairings and sequences—what I should buy and when I should wait until I found a neighboring photo. I did not start by looking for photos of costumed people, but as I sifted through thousands of images of people dressed for Halloween and parties, I settled on the theme, with a focus on indoor environments. The result is this small publication of photos from many sources, acquired in a few long digging sessions. This selection mainly spans the 1970s to early 1990s. I have certainly worn thrown-together costumes like these in that time frame, in my youth. I don’t know what some of these people were going for, but I like what they came up with.

 — Marc Fischer / Public Collectors

NOTE: If you tried ordering this and got an error, please try again. The link has been fixed. Thanks and sorry!

New: Public Collectors publication #77:

SURVIVAL SUCCESS by Jonathan Canady

20 pages, 3-color RISO, stapled booklet. PURCHASE ($6.00)

This booklet features Jonathan Canady’s drawings based on illustrations from a 1957 U.S. Army-issued survival guide (reprinted in 1970). Canady’s drawings are paired with scans of some of his source material. The illustrator of the drawings created for the Army is uncredited. Some of the original drawings that inspired Canady are placed alongside his reimaginings, while others are dispersed throughout the booklet in less direct placements or not included at all. In his versions of these illustrations, Canady takes these pragmatic guides to surviving under harsh conditions and transforms them into existential scenes of discovery and recovery. His humans are no longer soldiers that have successfully followed a lesson in a book, but creatures from a less identifiable time whose circumstances have been made strange and unknowable.  

Providence! I’m having an exhibit and I’m coming to your city for a quick visit this week. It would be great to meet you at Paper Nautilus on Thursday night. Jan 19, 2023, 6-8 PM!

Protest Grim Reapers
Archival Press Photos from Public Collectors

On view Jan 19 – Feb 28, 2023
Reception Jan 19, 6-8pm
Paper Nautilus Books, Wayland Square
19 South Angell Street, Providence, RI, 02906

The Public Collectors project Protest Grim Reapers is a dive into the world of discarded and resold press photo archives. This exhibit reproduces details from 27 press photos of the famed Pale Horse rider, spanning from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. Across six of New England’s coldest weeks, we’ll get cozy with the documented personification of death in a neighborhood bookshop.

From the back cover of the book that accompanies this collection:

The grim reaper is an enduring figure at demonstrations. The reaper—or sometimes simply an angel of death—appears at protests for any cause where the gravity of a death figure feels appropriate. The reaper traditionally carries a scythe and wears a black hood and a skull mask or skull face paint, but sometimes the scythe is replaced with a different symbolic object. 

For the past four years I have been collecting press photos of grim reapers at protests against hunger, radioactive waste, animal abuse, the death penalty, the Vietnam war, the closing of a Chrysler plant, demands for clean air and water, restrictions on abortion and more. These older press photos are routinely sold on the secondary market by dealers that acquire the archives of newspapers, or others that have purged their file copies. The dates of these photos reflect the availability of darkroom prints and wirephotos, taken before digital photography became dominant at most news outlets. 

In recent years, the grim reaper has been in the news when people wearing this costume attended protests against keeping beaches and schools open during the COVID-19 pandemic. In general, the reaper tells spectators: ‘I am here because this is a matter or life or death for someone or something. I don’t want to be here, but because of you, your corporation, your politicians, or your crimes against humanity, my presence is justified. If this wasn’t deadly serious, I would have stayed at home or worn something else.’ 

— Marc Fischer / Public Collectors

Marc Fischer is the administrator of Public Collectors, an initiative he formed in 2007. Public Collectors aims to encourage greater access and scholarship for marginal cultural materials, particularly those that museums ignore. Public Collectors’ work includes the Library Excavations publication series and web project, Quaranzine—which produced 100 single page publications with over 75 collaborators at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Malachi Ritscher—a project about the late Chicago music documentarian and activist, produced for the 2014 Whitney Biennial. In addition to Public Collectors, Fischer is also a member of the group Temporary Services (founded in 1998) and a partner in its publishing imprint Half Letter Press (ongoing since 2008). He is based in Chicago. www.publiccollectors.org

New Publication: Public Collectors publication #76:

PROTESTER PORTRAITS

16 pages, 2-color RISO, stapled booklet. Approximately 150-160 copies. PURCHASE ($4.00)

It has been a little while since I made a publication, start to finish, in a day. I always have paper and other materials on hand that allow this to happen; it’s just a matter of finding the time, idea and headspace to do it. It’s a pleasurable thing when it comes together and I try to make something in booklet format like this once a year or so. From the back cover:

“PROTESTER PORTRAITS is the latest in a series of publications I have created using details from discarded press photos in my own collection. In Fall 2021 I purchased 1,000 press photos contained in two auction lots in a quest to find more material for the exhibition and book Protest Grim Reapers. This trove yielded exactly two photos for that project, leaving me with the task of finding interesting uses for the rest. For this short booklet, I’ve selected photos of a number of costumed or performative protesters, framed in the manner of portraits—though most were part of larger multi-person compositions originally. I have retained the events or causes associated with each protester, as well as the year each photo was taken. I left out the photographer and newspaper credits, however, as these photos—and the way they are used in this booklet—deviate quite heavily from their original function.”

Public Collectors publications #75

Protest Grim Reapers

$10.00 [PURCHASE]

Public Collectors publication #75 is another dive into the world of discarded and resold press photo archives. Protest Grim Reapers reproduces details from 27 press photos spanning from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. Where available, the stories behind each photo are included. From the back cover:

The grim reaper is an enduring figure at demonstrations. The reaper—or sometimes simply an angel of death—appears at protests for any cause where the gravity of a death figure feels appropriate. The reaper traditionally carries a scythe and wears a black hood and a skull mask or skull face paint, but sometimes the scythe is replaced with a different symbolic object. 

For the past four years I have been collecting press photos of grim reapers at protests against hunger, radioactive waste, animal abuse, the death penalty, the Vietnam war, the closing of a Chrysler plant, demands for clean air and water, restrictions on abortion and more. These older press photos are routinely sold on the secondary market by dealers that acquire the archives of newspapers, or others that have purged their file copies. The dates of these photos reflect the availability of darkroom prints and wirephotos, taken before digital photography became dominant at most news outlets. 

In recent years, the grim reaper has been in the news when people wearing this costume attended protests against keeping beaches and schools open during the COVID-19 pandemic. In general, the reaper tells spectators: ‘I am here because this is a matter or life or death for someone or something. I don’t want to be here, but because of you, your corporation, your politicians, or your crimes against humanity, my presence is justified. If this wasn’t deadly serious, I would have stayed at home or worn something else.’ 

— Marc Fischer / Public Collectors

Public Collectors publications #68-74:

11x17: Issues #9-15

$14.00 [PURCHASE]

11x17 is a periodical made from a folded sheet of 11x17 inch paper, with a different theme or focus for each issue. It is edited, designed and published by Public Collectors. Public Collectors was founded by Marc Fischer in 2007 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. 

Building on QUARANZINE—the single sheet publication that Public Collectors produced at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, 11x17 also uses a single sheet format but this time it's the larger tabloid format. The periodical will be released in sequential sets. Reprints are not planned and to preserve the surprise of opening each issue, only the front covers are shown. An indication of what’s included in this set, from the insert card:

9: SUPERMARKET GRAFFITI by Natalia Rocafuerte: Consumer temples, defaced.

10: THE SLASHER FILM by Michael Peirson: showers you in blood, and then some.

11: MONTROSE DELI BULLETIN BOARD: So many bits of paper, so few different authors. 

12: BURNING SHIPS (AND SOME ROBOTS): Highlights from a found sketchbook

13: PAPER-MASKED PROTESTERS: A simple face-concealing strategy loved by a single-sheet periodical

14: CONTINUOUS VIOLATION ALTERED DAILY: A dangerous development documented.  

15: POKEWEEDS, PLANTAINS, CREEPERS: Drawings by Philadelphia-based Alina Josan

Angelo
First Christmas
January 10, 2011, Ballpoint pen on 8 ½" x 11" paper.

In 2023, it is my intention to finally begin making publications of Angelo’s drawings that he created in prison. One of the first collections will likely feature his many drawings of Frankenstein.

New Publication: Angelo’s Ashes -OR- To Live and Die in L.A.

$5.00 [PURCHASE]

Public Collectors booklet #67, for those who have been counting. The interior text, which is alternately irreverent, painful, funny, and angry, is probably better experienced as a surprise so this listing is deliberately short on scans. From the back cover:

ANGELO’S ASHES -OR- TO LIVE AND DIE IN L.A. tells the story of how I handled the end of life arrangements for my friend Angelo. This booklet consists of a series of Facebook posts that I made in the months following Angelo’s death. I learned of his death from his landlord who had my phone number because I was Angelo’s emergency contact. Angelo did not leave a will and had no next of kin. 

I live in Chicago and Angelo died in Los Angeles. The bureaucracy of dealing with his death was intense and social media provided a place to vent as well as collect advice from friends. I did not want Angelo to receive an anonymous burial in a mass grave so I had to file an Ex Parte Petition to claim his body, have him cremated, and obtain a death certificate.

I knew Angelo for roughly 25 years. He collaborated with the group I’m part of, Temporary Services, on the project and book Prisoners’ Inventions. I was his closest and primary friend. For most of the time I knew Angelo, he was incarcerated. Two years before his death, Angelo was released from prison, in part because of my advocacy and promise to the state that I could care for him. Our friendship, until after his release when we finally met in person, was based solely on postal correspondence and a couple phone calls.

Angelo worked for the post office and dealt with prison administrators for years. He was no stranger to tedious procedures. I think he would have enjoyed this booklet. I hope my writing makes things easier for anyone else who might find themselves in a similar situation. 

 — Marc Fischer

Public Collectors publications #58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 66:

11x17: Issues #1-8

$14.00 [PURCHASE]

11x17 is a periodical made from a folded sheet of 11x17 inch paper, with a different theme or focus for each issue. It is edited, designed and published by Public Collectors. Public Collectors was founded by Marc Fischer in 2007 and is based in Chicago, Illinois.

Building on QUARANZINE—the single sheet publication that Public Collectors produced at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, 11x17 also uses a single sheet format but this time it’s the larger tabloid format. The periodical will be released in sequential sets. In addition to RISO and digital printing processes, various hand elements like stamping and stickers are also included in this run. Reprints are not planned and to preserve the surprise of opening each issue, only the front covers are shown. An indication of what’s included in this set, from an insert card that comes with the set:

1: SHELF LIFE Folded sheets misbehave in the stacks.
2: CIRCUMSTANTIAL RECORD REVIEWS by Gabe Fowler. Real life, and also music.
3: DON BECK’S DRAWINGS Fantastical found creatures.
4: TACTICAL / FANATICAL White men are terrifying.
5: STAMP COLLECTION Hand-stamping with found trash.
6: SIGNS’ LANGUAGE Press photos of protests, dissected for language on signs held by the people.
7: STICKER DISPERSAL Thousands of stickers from one grab bag at an Arizona Goodwill store become publications.
8: PROTEST DRIVER: Photographs by Richard Marshall. Driving away on day one of the Gulf War.

Public Collectors publication #65: How to Prepare Yourself for the Collapse of the Industrial Publishing System by Eric Schierloh

$2.00 [PURCHASE]

This publication is the result of a warm exchange between Public Collectors and Eric Schierloh of the press Barba de Abejas, (Beard of Bees).

In 2020 Eric wrote this essay that he translated into English with an American friend, Paul Paul Holzman, who also lives in Buenos Aires. In December 2021, Eric reached out to me to share his enthusiasm for my text “Towards a Self Sustaining Publishing Model.” Eric proposed making a Spanish translation and publishing my writing as a cheap edition in Argentina. He felt my text had similarities to his own words; the two works share a similar spirit of encouraging publishing experimentation outside of typically limiting market constraints.

Though Eric’s text had already been published in English in World Literature Today magazine and translated into French by the cardboard press La Liebre Dorada, we agreed that it could still be worthwhile to make a US edition that stood alone. So, in a celebration of artist publishing exchanges, Public Collectors is happy to share Eric Schierloh’s inspiring writing. It provides many potential creative paths forward for people with access to any form of printing, and any materials that could be used to make a book.

— Marc Fischer / Public Collectors

Five pairs of records I own that, according to Discogs.com, are similar in monetary value to one another.

Recently I decided to make my most serious attempt to get my entire record collection up on Discogs—in part to see what I really have and to prevent myself from buying duplicates in the future. In the process of slowly touching every record I own, I keep discovering fun new details. Today I found that on the inner sleeve of one of my three used copies of Vol 4 by Black Sabbath—merely one of the greatest albums ever made—a previous owner has identified “Laguna Sunrise” (the gentle acoustic instrumental track) as the only good song on the album.

New! Public Collectors publication #56: Hacia un modelo editorial autosustentable

This single sheet publication is the Spanish translation of my recent lesson / rant / manifesto Toward a Self Sustaining Publishing Model. Huge thanks to Jose of máquina de aplausos for volunteering to translate this text. This is free if you order any other Public Collectors publications from halfletterpress.com. Just ask for it in your order notes.

New! Public Collectors publication #55: Vers un modèle rentable pour une maison d’édition autonome.

This single sheet publication is the French translation of my recent lesson / rant / manifesto Toward a Self Sustaining Publishing Model. I am so grateful to the excellent people of Editions Burn~Août for their enthusiastic translation. They were such a pleasure to work with. This is free if you order any other Public Collectors publications from halfletterpress.com. Just ask for it in your order notes. You can also download it here: editionsburnaout.fr

“Your basement is a fire trap. You should do something about that now while you have time, before you start teaching” - My Mom

Okay folks, end of summer sale! for $40.00 ppd in the US, I will send you every Public Collectors publication and piece of ephemera in this photo, which includes Police Scanner, Legal Concealers, Hardcore Architecture, Library Excavations #13, Mystery Guitarists, four issues of Quaranzine of my choosing, my recent Self Sustaining Publishing manifesto in brochure form, and my newest mystery booklet OH MANDY, which can’t be purchased anywhere. A great way to start an instant Public Collectors library. Give the duplicates of things you already have to your friends. Payment link: paypal.me/PublicCollectors