That vibrant blue could only mean one thing: SING STATISTICS. The venture between my favorite UK lit-art duo Jez Burrows and Lizzy Stewart revealed yesterday that there were a mere 30 copies left of their fantastic book We Are The Friction. Today, I see there are now less than 20. That’s after being whittled down from 1000. Once they are gone, they are gone. (If you missed my brief write-up on the book, wherein I urge you to get a copy of your very own, you may visit it here.)
Congratulations! That’s a super accomplishment for these guys. But it ain’t all. Some new and, uh, er, um, spectacular releases are coming in the next few months. I’m not saying I’m involved BUT I’M NOT SAYING I’M NOT INVOLVED EITHER. I’m just saying: Perhaps you want to sign up for their mailing list? I mean, that way you’d be the first to know when their next project, which I may or may not be involved with (AHEM!), is up for grabs. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.
A copy of RRR.001, a new zine by artist/designer Scott Massey (and a host of like-minded friends), landed on my doorstep last night. Never heard of it? I hadn’t either until my pal Bobby at Kitsune Noir got his paws on one and wrote about it. I bought mine based on his recommendation. Now let’s pay it forward!
Here’s what you should know:
1. RRR.001 is a brightly packaged, well-made little book filled with outstanding artwork from a variety of creative geniuses. | 2. It is inspired by Earth, the environment, sustainability, recycling and eco-friendly attitudes. (Oh, hey, me too!) | 3. There are only 1000 hand-numbered books in existence. | 4. Having one on your desk or bookshelf or coffee table will get you laid*.
It’s a pretty clever creation, and not just because it happens to feature a drawing of a mallard in business attire. Ahem! Get one of your very own today.
*Speculative
I’ve been drooling over Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life for a few years. As coffee table books go, it’s the must-have of must-haves. And a must-have that I didn’t have—the 420-page tome weighs in at hefty 12.2 pounds and carries a steep $200 price tag. Oof, it was always too tough to rationalize taking that purchase plunge.
Now, we don’t have to: In a solid move, AMMO very recently re-released the complete collection in a slightly smaller form—for just $50.
There is a dash of cartoonish whimsy (Charley called his style “minimal realism”) that gives each of his subjects a personality. I’m so fond of animals in art, and Charley’s illustrations really bring them to life in an inspiring way.
Just purchased. WE ARE THE FRICTION, a collection of illustrated short fiction. Half of the stories are inspired by the illustrations. Half of the illustrations are inspired by the stories.
This is very much along the lines of the project I’ve been working on with Ian Dingman, and I’m so excited to see it done here so beautifully. My oh my, it looks so good I could to take a bite out of it. Well-the-fuck-done, Sing Statistics.
Jump on this, friends. There are only 1000 of them in the world. (I now retain #462.) Inside, writers like Ben Greenman, Tao Lin, and Dan Kennedy go head-to-head with the artistic forces of Ray Fenwick, Frank Chimero, and Lizzy Stewart. The result is a collection of 24 stories and 24 illustrations worthy of bookshelves (and walls!) everywhere.
See some of the artwork below the fold, and be sure to pick up your copy soon!
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If there was ever a collection that I have wanted so passionately to be both a staggering bestseller and a quiet, hushed secret all at once, it is this one by Chicago writer Joe Meno. It feels so special that I’d love to keep it all to myself, tucked down with me under the covers. That’s not how this works though.
Demons In The Spring, Meno’s second batch of published shorts, is the kind of book found in trunks, pulled out from beneath a lacy doily of cobwebs in some grandparental attic. That is to say it consists of stories that will easily last for years. It’s one you’ll want to save in a safe place and treat kindly, treat well, even as you read and re-read its contents.
I haven’t been more creatively inspired by a writer in the past two years than I have been by Demons in the Spring. The often surreal stories include everything from a wife who becomes a cloud every time her husband touches her (“People Are Becoming Clouds”) to the painful process a couple faces after suffering a miscarriage (“I Want the Quiet Moments of a Party Girl”) and the story of a famous miniature elephant (“Miniature Elephants Are Popular”). Each tale exists in a world I have always, somewhere, imagined as real. I connect to Meno’s style, and certainly count him as a great influence in my own writing.
In short: Demons is brilliant. It also features “twenty original pieces of art by twenty different groundbreaking visual artists.” The limited first-edition of the book is bound in a red wine fabric and reminds me of an old library book. It is beautiful, guys. “An Apple Could Make You Laugh” is my most favorite story in the collection, followed by “The Unabomber and My Brother,” which made me cry.
Go below the fold to see my most favorite piece of art from the book. It’s by Geoff Mcfetridge.
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