Half Letter Press Newsletter April 2010





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Dear NativeSoul
Half Letter Press News
April 2010

"Stay or go, we are only as legitimate and autonomous as we perceive ourselves to be. This is a fundamental of anarchy, and in Can Masdeu exists anarchy so pure, so fluid and so strong, that some cannot even see it."

- Luke Cordingley, "Can Masdeu: Rise of the Rurbano Revolution," from Making Their Own Plans

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"But by far the vast majority of artists forswear (relatively) healthy capitalism for the putrid wallowing in essences; they desire to turn life itself 'authenticity' into a bludgeon with which to beat their rivals. The Aztecs tore out hearts to offer to the Sun God; artists pour out heart and soul and offer it to Pitchfork reviewers."

- Noah Bertlatsky, "The Last Shall Be First," in Proximity, issue 6: (An) Other Art Worlds

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Hello from Half Letter Press!

Back here at the HLP HQ, we're feeling the tug of spring: planting, cleaning, and getting some sunshine are all on the agenda in the coming weeks. In celebration of new growth and optimistic planning, we have a deal for you!

The first five customers who make a $20 purchase (pre-tax and shipping costs) are eligible for $1 off your order, plus a free copy of Belltown Paradise/Making Their Own Plans, edited by Ava Bromberg and HLP's own Brett Bloom!

Belltown Paradise/Making Their Own Plans is a 172-page collection of essays, photographs, and interviews examining the variety of ways in which artists, ecologists, and citizens work for change in their public environments. It is two books in one. Belltown Paradise is a concentrated investigation into Seattle's Belltown neighborhood, and explores past and recent work by community activists to rehabilitate community gardens, create a residency program from a collection of historic workers' cottages, and become a force for good in a highly contested piece of real estate. Belltown Paradise also features the first in-depth survey of the Belltown work of artist Buster Simpson. Making Their Own Plans examines squatting, radical ecology, and urban interventions through essays and interviews with such people and groups as artist Dan Peterman, activist and farmer Ken Dunn of Chicago's Resource Center, and Can Masdeu, a former Barcelona squat and group.

To get the free book, please enter the coupon code freebookinapril at the checkout after picking out your $20 worth of purchases. We only have five of these coupons available, and this offer is only good until April 15, 2010, so act fast!



Hey, are you missing our daily input? Want to see some fantastic images from the HLP store, but writ large? Check out our newest experiment in the web, http://halfletterpress.tumblr.com/

In Store: New & Notable




Discographisme Récréatif [Homemade Record Sleeves]
By Patrice Caillet. Softcover, perfect bound book. $35.

Discographisme Récréatif [Homemade Record Sleeves] is both a documentary and archival work begun in 1996. It's composed of different iconographic montages made from record sleeves and CD jackets. The distinctive feature: these covers, be they 45s, 33s, or CDs, mostly found at flea markets, have all been redone or modified by anonymous individuals using the original covers as a guideline and as a source of inspiration. 



New Rites: Drawings by Terence Hannum
Softcover, staple bound book with dark, dark, dark metal drawings! $10.

Chicago-based artist Terence Hannum has been working with the imagery and rituals of underground music subcultures for some time - both as a performer in the bands Locrian and Unlucky Atlas, and as a visual artist using drawing, painting, video and publications. In this self-published book, Hannum reproduces a number of his drawings on glossy paper. The themes here are the trappings of metal at its blackest so look out for sensitive renderings of amplifier stacks, candles, skulls, and possibly the guys in the band SunnO))). The black on black printing on the front and inside cover and first pages is extra sharp. Only 75 copies of this were produced so don't delay!



Animal Spirits: A Bestiary of the Commons, by Matteo Pasquinelli.
Softcover, perfect bound book, $31.

This book was selected by Brian Holmes as a part of our READING ROOM initiative which focuses on important critical thinkers and the books they are excited about. In this book, Matteo Pasquinelli identifies the key social conflicts and business models at work behind the rhetoric of Free Culture. The corporate parasite infiltrating file-sharing networks, the hydra of gentrification in "creative cities" such as Berlin, and the bicephalous nature of the Internet with its pornographic underworld are three untold dimensions of contemporary "politics of the common". In a world system shaped by a turbulent stock market, Pasquinelli unleashes a politically incorrect grammar for the coming generation of the new commons.

Matteo Pasquinelli is an Amsterdam-based writer and researcher at the Queen Mary University of London with an activist background in Italy. He edited the collection Media Activism: Strategies and Practices of Independent Communication (2002) and co-edited C'Lick Me: A Netporn Studies Reader (2007). Since 2000, he has been editor of the mailing list Rekombinant.

Temporary Services Announcements & HLP Events

Our Art Work publication and website are now up, available, and on view at a variety of venues in the United States! Visit http://www.artandwork.us for details or to download a free PDF version.

For a limited time, you can purchase multiple copies of Art Work for $0.40 each plus the cost of shipping and handling. We're happy to report that the paper is available for free from many venues and distributors nationwide, however, we have a limited amount of printed newspapers available at this point.

We announce current and future Art Work events and exhibitions at http://www.artandwork.us/category/events/. In addition, check out http://www.artandwork.us/2009/12/distribution/ to find a contact near you that may still have free copies of the newspaper.

In May, Art Work will be included in "The Non-Profit Margin," an exhibition hosted at CentralTrak (the University of Texas, Dallas artist residency). The exhibition is organized by Carolyn Sortor and Kate Sheehin, and is open from May 22 - July 24, 2010. Check out http://www.utdallas.edu/centraltrak/calendar.htm for more details.

In Philadelphia, Temporary Services Publications are on view in "The Graphic Unconscious," an exhibition at The Print Center through April 11, 2010. It's in conjunction with Philagrafika 2010. You can pick up free copies of Art Work and the Temporary Conversations: Peggy Diggs booklet at The Print Center's shop, as well as purchase several Half Letter Press titles.

Mobile Structures: Can You Help?

We're hard at work at a book that examines Mobile Structures. Check out our old resource page for some information about what these structures are and examples of some of them out in the field
We would like your input about projects, structures, or mobile services or stations that we should write about, explore, or document. Is there a group or person that you think we should interview? Email us at publishers@halfletterpress.com with your suggestions. Thanks!

More In Store That You Should Look At



Journal of Aesthetics and Protest #7. Periodical printed on newsprint, $7


Group Work. Softcover, perfect bound book, $19.50


The DIY Ethic and the Craft of Developing Self. Letterpress brochure, $3



Cinder Block wall poster. 4' x 5' poster bound with a paper band, $10



Making Stuff & Doing Things. Softcover perfect bound book, $10.

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What burning questions do you have for us? Which items should we carry? Have something great to say about a publication you received from Half Letter Press? Email us at publishers@halfletterpress.com, and we'll publish your comments in the next newsletter or on the blog!

*Don't forget to check out our FREE BOX, Half Letter Press' free collection of PDFs available to download. New additions on a regular basis!
http://halfletterpress.com/store/index.php?main_page=page&id=2

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HOW TO ORDER

With Credit Card or using Paypal, go directly to Half Letter Press online and buy with confidence. Some Alternative Payment Ideas are discussed here. To use an alternate method of payment, please contact us about it first and we can give you instructions on how to complete the transaction. Send an email to: pubishers@halfletterpress.com.

ATTENTION STORES, DISTROS, SCHOOLS, LIBRARIES!

We offer volume discounts to schools and libraries and wholesale pricing to stores and distributors on some titles. Please contact us for details.

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About this newsletter:
Half Letter Press News is a monthly message to fans, friends, and customers of Half Letter Press. To join or leave the email list for this newsletter, or to change the address where you receive it, please email publishers@halfletterpress.com.

Half Letter Press is run by Brett Bloom, Marc Fischer, and Salem Collo-Julin in the state of Illinois, USA. Under the concrete and away from the prying arms of the internet, we all live in native lands. Half Letter Press, P.O. Box 12588, Chicago, IL, 60612, USA.

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To encourage literature and the arts is a duty which every good citizen owes to his/her country.                        
                                 


My graphic recording/inspiration blog
http://visualwhat101.blogspot.com/

Diversity our Unifying Heritage
www.avantafro.blogspot.com

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