Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
what i dont know is if the contemp high-end magazines are pulling in​
ads. IF/#3 was all volunteer labor with actual production funded by​
bank of david. no business model there...
  

    
Nothing better than a "labor of love," an object created for the joy​
of it, where the return on the investment of time and energy is​
intangible. I've attached to other projects like that.  It can be a​
powerful way to create great stuff.

In Formation is a high quality creation, but it reminds me of the​
variable-quality DIY zine culture that evidently still persists to​
this day. 
  

    
If there is an appetite for posters or reprints of things like the​
movie posters or fake ads, we'd be more than happy to sell them. 
  

    
right. but people have to know they exist for purchase...ecommerce​
on the website?
  

    
Here's a note I wrote myself while reading the magazine: "Does the​
whole world need an IT Department?"
  

    
At Plutopia News Network, we interviewed Paulina and Brian for our​
podcast - here's the YouTube version:​
<https://youtu.be/NFF4xgAlZ8A?si=2ctb6VTf8KtBq-vH> The audio podcast​
is available on common platforms, or you can stream it at​
<https://plutopia.io/paulina-borsook-and-brian-maggi-in-formation-magazine/>.
  

    
of course the whole world needs an IT department
  

    
worth mentioning that a friend i introduced to david as a possible​
contributor --- bowed out because he felt tech is everywhere no so​
why bother to write about it? which i sort of agree with and sort of​
dont. i made the objection of 'but hasnt this all been already​
written about?" yes, but no....
  

    
I hear this kind of thing all the time, and yes there are some​
topics that have no surface area left to cover. However, when it​
comes to everything else, someone may just be hearing about it for​
the first time, or our version is just what they needed to hear. 

I'm not impartial, but I think we accomplished having a fresh take​
on most stuff in this issue. 
  

    
yeah some themes are perennial. ppl have been writing about war and​
heartbreak for centuries --- but there are still always legit​
contemp ways to write about those themes.
  

    
The ads are all parody, save one. Brian, were you responsible for​
those? Or were there other culprits? Who decided ad placement?
  

    
I confess it took a few readings to realize that the inside back​
cover for IN Formation Press took a few minutes before I realized​
that it, too, was entirely satire.
  

    
a call went out to contributors to come up with titles...not all​
that were sent in were used.
  

    
What are your favorite parts of issue #3?
  

    
ooh potentially fraught question...i tend to be an admirer of what i​
cant do, so loved the graphic novel and the photoessay w/ the​
missing iphones. and partic loved the fake ad for the thread movie​
poster and alex's ad for the brown program in tech bro studies.

(ducking)
  

    
That's the reason Yes, Minister seems to have barely dated (replace a few
men's suits...). Antony Jay, the co-writer, told me they deliberately picked
perennial topics and in any case the issues that exercise people and
institutions don't chnage much over time.

wg
  

    
the mag was two years in the making, so there was a strong unstated​
mindset that everything that was going to appear in it had to be​
somewhat evergreen. issues #1 and #2 (1998; 2000) can be little​
startling in terms of 'yup, it's still like that".

def bias against newsiness and that which is covered in nyt/wired,​
etc etc. they do their job/we do ours...
  

    
Today's the last day formally scheduled for this discussion - thanks​
to Paulina and Brian for joining us! The discussion doesn't have to​
end now - on the WELL we just keep rockin'. 

One last question from me: What’s your plan for post-launch:​
events, educator toolkits, excerpt partnerships, archives, and​
feedback loops to shape Issue #4?
  

    
gotta laugh at the notion of educator toolkits! trying to imagine...

brian and i are busy working on a weekly 1/2-hr In Formation​
podcast, where each week we'll interview an editor/art person/what​
ev. involved with the magazine.

1st one we hope will go live by 7 oct, when the barnes + noble natl​
distribution is set to begin. that episode will be one hour:​
interview with editor=-in-chief david; introduce the mag; introduce​
me + brian.

we are planning to add a short topical 'you cant make this stuff'​
segment at the end of each episode.

and will try to tie the interview with ME alex lash to the event he​
will be doing with brian, david, and i at manny's in sf in early​
dec.

that's all i know of as of now!  and if we sell enough copies, will​
go into a second printing.
  

    

>he felt tech is everywhere no[w] so why bother to write about it?

Well, that is ridiculous. Air and water are everywhere, but they​
still need writing about!


I got my issue last week, but was too sick with some​
upper-respiratory glop to start reading right away. 

My initial reaction is to congratulate you on creating a​
bee-yooo-ti-ful print publication. It is so lovely that I'm​
conscious of how good it feels to riffle through it to get familiar​
with the contents, the way I cannot with a digital publication. 

I appreciate the witty way you worked the bar code into the cover​
design.
  

    
yeah david likes to half-joke that if the magazine had no writing​
but just the art it would still be a good publication. and i agree.

there's a story behind the barcode: somehow as originally printed it​
wasnt quite right. so led by the everything-person brian (humor​
editor/webmaster/shipping manager/social chairman) he and a friend​
and that friend's son hand-stickered  the correct bar code on all​
3k+ copies left in the warehouse.
  

    
Clever pricing.

I don't have a turntable, so I can't play the inserted record. Is it​
online somewhere?
  

    
the unofficial editorial policy was that if there were a chance to​
be clever, we took it.

there is this website for the layoffs:

https://www.thelayoffsmusic.com/

dont know if the partic tunes on the flexidiscs are available there.​


jon, surely some austin hipster analog-loving pal of yours has a​
turntable? though i know some people want to leave them intact +​
inserted in the art object that is the magazine itself...
  

    
My Plutopia partner Scoop has a turntable! I bet he can make it​
listenable for me!
  

    
great!