The zine fair will be in the foyer of the Kunstverein Hamburg: Stefan Marx, installation view. Foto: Fred Dott

Don’t miss the big GuteSeiten-Festival in Hamburg: From tuesday, 2nd March to sunday, 14th march 2010 we will exhibit the very best of our archive. For the opening (tuesday, 2nd march, 17 o’clock) we will organize a zine fair with dozens of magazine and zine makers from Germany and Switzerland! Sell, trade, talk and connect with: Balkon & Garten (Berlin), Haushoch (Berlin), der:die:das: (Zürich), Die Nacht (Trier), Gudberg (Hamburg), Hoffnung (Hamburg), Klebstoff & Mandy (Dresden), Nicht Jetzt! (Hamburg), Magazin über Orte (Berlin), Nude Paper (Hamburg), Screenshots (Berlin), Spring (Hamburg), SpaceMag (Hamburg), Shake Your Tree (Stuttgart / Berlin), Supra (Hamburg), Laser Magazine (Hamburg) und Low (Dresden)!

And after the fair we will continue with the award show and Germany’s first Live-Magazine: “7live”, on friday, the 5th 2010, 20 o’clock. “GuteSeiten präsentiert Deutschlands erstes Live-Magazin! Kein Papier, kein Online-Content, kein Abo – dieses Magazin existiert nur für eine Nacht, nur an diesem Ort! Unterschiedliche Autoren aus den Bereichen Mode, Musik, Kultur, Kochen, Sex präsentieren eine Reportage, eine Kolumne oder ein Thema in jeweils 7 Minuten. Alles in einer 75-minütigen Live-Show. Mit dabei: Felix Kubin, Chris Köver, Till “Pornorazzi” Kraemer, Schroeter & Berger, Hans Dampf, Spring, Peter Lau, Nicolette Scharpenberg, Zorro, Matthias Weber, Sara Maria Manzo, DJ Penthouse, Gebrauchsgrafikundso, Jana Deters und Alain Bieber.” More soon!

“The Reading Room” in Berlin is a new curated archive of artist’s printed projects and now they are looking “for artist’s printed projects, zines, publications, books and handouts that are actively interrogating or reconsidering the published format, and that are independent objects of artistic production, rather than functioning solely to document the artistic practice of their authors. On an initial basis, the chosen books will be shown at “The Reading Room”-study desk and advertised as publicly viewable by appointment. Secondarily “The Reading Room” will seek to temporarily locate itself in project spaces, galleries and bookshops in and around Berlin. “The Reading Room” is a project based in Berlin with the aim to maintain, archive and represent products of contemporary art practices evolving within printed and published formats. Through archival methodology, critical reflection and strategic methods of presentation, “The Reading Room” will focus on these representations of contemporary practice that both utilise and interrogate the published form as their primary medium. The archive is influenced by former institutional “Reading Rooms” (such as the one of the British Museum in London), and functions as such: it will be open for public viewing, with those wanting to use it being required to make an appointment and also register beforehand their particular interested in the publications or project. “The Reading Room” takes its initial presentation location from the idea of the “Salon”, gathering its printed matters under the roof of an inspiring hostess or host. The visitors and readers of the Reading Room will ring the bell of a private apartment, climb up the stairs to it, and then be able to sit in a study room. Refreshments will be served.” Via: Mail, thanks Regine!

Open call for zines: “D21 Kunstraum in Leipzig announces an open call for artists who have produced one or more zines in 2009. They will be shown as part of an exhibition in Leipzig in May 2010 that aims to present the diversity of contemporary ArtZine culture. We are looking for periodicals with a minimum of two issues per year, circulating in print or online. Because this exhibition is limited to zines produced by artists – art books, editorial art magazines, or other publications of this kind will not be considered. We welcome submissions and interest from all international applicants. The deadline is 31/01/2010. Please send one issue of your publication to the following address: D21 Kunstraum / Demmeringstraße 21 / 04177 Leipzig.” The exhibition will be from 7th to 30th may 2010 - and GuteSeiten will also be present at the opening and give a lecture about art zines.

Great concept: “Frei nach Konfuzius und John Wayne werden unter unserer Betreuung drei Magazine in vier Tagen aus der Hüfte geschossen. Der Weg ist das Ziel. Dieser geht täglich in eine andere Richtung (minimum drei) und die besteigen wir wahlweise mit Badelatschen, Stöckelschuhen oder Pantoffeln.” - “Hello. I am Christine Corell. I work with Rebecca Stephany. We are Sisi Aress. We hold workshops for students in art and design. It is not really easy to teach in that field because we don’t want to dictate rules or standards. We intend to challenge everyone to do it his own way. Our concept is elementary. ideas methods and views are mixed up a little. We believe one can find fascinating solutions when one fails.” Via

“Plenty of ammo for the next “End of Print” conversation” Via

Great summary from It’s Nice That: “A magazine is a very personal item – like ice cream you’re never going to like all the flavours, and there’s always one or two that you always find yourself leaning back towards. Those that we seem to have more affinity for either hold a certain shot of nostalgia (The Face / Nova), a good dose of quality writing and original features (Wired / 032C) and of course a mention should be made to the independents (Little White Lies). It seems as though popular opinion would suggest that in the age of mass consumption through the internet, we look to our printed friends more for niche information and as company, rather than a quick fix of small snippets. When we pick up a magazine we want something a little more special than the process of consuming a web article, it should be a (pleasurable) physical experience, not just a literary one. It seems as though the editors with that in mind will continue to survive, and perhaps even thrive.” Via

We live in a publishing society: Mercedes Bunz about the Social Media Count. “When the internet became a mainstream medium, we described it as a “pull” medium opposed to TV, which was a “push” medium. But since social media has got popular there is more to it: after push and pull comes publish.”

Ed Ruscha: Artist’s books, 1963-1978

Dieter Roth: Zeitschrift Für Alles, Nr. 9, 1986

Peter H. Barnett: Can You Tell Me How What You Are Doing Now Is To Do Something Philosophical?, 1980

Erin Cosgrove: The Baader-Meinhof Affair, 2002; Martin Kippenberger (mit Werner Büttner, Albert Oehlen und Markus Oehlen): Wer diesen Katalog nicht gut findet muß sofort zum Arzt, 1983

artnet just published some great articles about artist books: “Für eine Handvoll Dollar - Vom illustrierten Text zum demokratischen Medium” (I.), “Kunst, Liebe und Freundschaft - Die Herausgeber und Händler” (II.), “Vom Eindruck zum Ausdruck - Sammeln für Fortgeschrittene” (III.)

Is this the future of print media? “In the latest example of finding media innovation where you’d least expect it, CBS is embedding a video player in a print ad in Entertainment Weekly that will serve up a buffet of its fall TV lineup”, reports Wired. The CBS foray into a print-digital alliance plays full-motion video at a crisp resolution. The ad, dubbed by CBS and partner Pepsi Max “the first-ever VIP (video-in-print) promotion”, works like one of those audio greeting cards. Opening the page activates the player, which is a quarter-inch–thick screen seen through a cutaway between two pages concealing the larger circuit board underneath.” Via

I am a huge fan of all kind of kiosks - i am just fascinated by this urban structures and i simply would love to have my own GuteSeiten-Kiosk in Hamburg. And then i found this great article about kiosks at popupcity - but first some models as an appetizer:

Designer Thomas Heatherwick of Heatherwick Studio has completed a series of brass newspaper kiosks in London. Via

Salakauppa-Kiosk from the design agency Company in Helsinki

KiosKiosk in London is a project which offers small kiosk space to creative start-ups, like artists and fashion designers for free - supported by the London Sustainable Development Commission

“Kioskisierung” research project from Berlin-based urbanism agency Raumlabor - they also did a manual on how to start a kiosk

“Kiosks were common in Persia, India, Pakistan, and in the Ottoman Empire from the 13th century onward. Its name is derived from the Ottoman word ‘köşk’, which refers to “an old Ottoman style building, made of wood and clad with metal stones, (…) mainly used as a (…) recreational residence for the wealthy.” The Turkish brought the kiosk to Europe during the 18th century, and it developed itself into the typical booths like we know them these days. On one hand kiosks service the metropolitan lifestyle and contribute to social security and the quality of the city itself by providing goods on the street. On the other hand, kiosks are being rediscovered by new groups and are considered useful for contemporary urban design as it’s very easy to ‘plug’ into a city. It’s very flexible and pops up instantly.” (*)