Plazm

Letter from the editors, originally published in Plazm 29, 2008. By Jon Raymond, Joshua Berger, and Tiffany Lee Brown We already have more music, writing, art, and experience piled up than we can possibly deal with, and so much of the fresh news we receive is at best a distraction. Every week, the next movies arrive,the next celebrity temper tantrum, the next batch of lies from the podium, and meanwhile Jack Abramoff’s gaming of the political system already seems like ancient history.

— Henk Pander That was one of the two things that I wrote down during a visit to Henk Pander’s home and studio with Jon Raymond a couple years ago. The other? “Mine is an immigrant story.” It is with deep sadness that I read news of Henk’s passing this week. Henk was a treasure in our city, our state, and the art world. Jon and I visited Henk’s unassuming house on Division street while working on a feature for a forthcoming issue of Plazm magazine. I am sharing the unfinished spreads here.

On the making of Plazm №11 Plazm №11 was the second issue in editor Yariv Rabinovitch’s tenure. Like issue №10, this edition of Plazm is loosely built around a theme. Yariv consistently brought his contemporary art sensibilities to the magazine, often referring to the pages as a printed gallery. Yariv wrote the following statement: “The artists and activists in this issue of Plazm present work that confronts the law.

Learning from my mistakes When Sean Schumacher invited me to join his excellent podcast at dididothat.design, he asked me to bring in three mistakes to talk about. There have been so many, I have to say it was difficult to choose just three! We talk about a lot of early Plazm days predating the publication of the first issue of the magazine in 1991. Inevitably mistakes will happen when you don’t really know what you are doing. Like, not knowing anything about publishing a magazine.

Portland memory in a new poster to Celebrate People’s History I am a longtime fan of Josh MacPhee’s poster project Celebrate People’s History. Last year, after inviting him to participate in @benddesigncon and corresponding exhibit at the Scalehouse, I stood in the gallery surrounded by walls of these posters, soaking in the energy and the stories. We write history. I was thinking about what poster I might make related to the region where I’ve lived for so long.

A few memories from 9/11 and the AIGA Voice Conference I remember arriving at the office on the morning of September 11, 2001. I typically rode my bike to work and didn’t listen to the news in the mornings. Ryan, our office manager was wearing his I❤️NY t-shirt and had the TV on. The rest of the day, and for many days after, people were in shock. I called friends & relatives living in NYC.

Remembering 1995, the 50th anniversary of the atomic age. Plazm 10 was the first issue of editor Yariv Rabinovitch’s tenure at Plazm. It was also the fiftieth anniversary of the atomic age. We had recently met sculptor James Acord after a talk he gave at the Hoffman Gallery at the Oregon College of Arts and Crafts (R.I.P.) and decided to do a feature on James. Mr. Acord invited us to visit him at his “24-hour studio” on the Hanford Nuclear Reservation.

Well, it has finally arrived. A new age of the women’s movement. Fuck pastels, this story is about rock and roll. Hailing from L.A., city of junk, the four women that make up L7 are a virtual juggernaut of sociopolitical energy. The fact that they are women is not the point. The point is in the power that they possess to change not only the face of rock and roll, but the way a generation views and treats itself. Originally published in Plazm magazine, issue 5, circa 1995.

Photocopied & hand folded at the beginning of the digital era. In 1993 we published our first font catalog. There was a confluence of elements that led us to releasing digital typefaces into the world. First and foremost it came out of the design experimentation that was happening in the pages of Plazm magazine. Secondly, Pete McCracken, who became involved with the magazine after issue no. 2 was creating his own typefaces.

Plazm magazine, issue №4, circa 1993 The cover art is by Panacea Theriac. Plazm editor Neva Knott brought in the image. Appreciating his help calling issue no. 3 the “glamor issue” I invited Jerome Schiller to collaborate on concepts for the cover of issue no. 4. It’s fun to revisit some of the lines of copy we didn’t select for the cover. “Swimsuit issue” might have been good. Regular or decap” is sort of funny. “Drown your sorrows” on the other hand is a bit of a downer.