Feb 04, 2014 LA Art Book Fair at MOCA
Once a year, the LA Art Book Fair takes over MOCA’s Geffen Contemporary space in Little Tokyo. Vendors pay for their spaces but admission is free to anyone who is interested in artists’ books, catalogs, periodicals, zines, and prints from an international array of publishers of all sizes, booksellers, and artists themselves.
Of course I had to say hi to Eric at the Giant Robot table, which featured an impressive array of books and goods from the likes of Takashi Murakami, Shizu Saldamando, and David Horvath. Even after a few years, I can still feel weird to be on the other side of the booth for the Asian, underground, and hybrid culture magazine that I helped start and edited for 16 years, but I appreciate being able to drop in, say hi, and then check out friends around the floor instead of being chained to the area! It was great to see one of my oldest and dearest friends, and he kindly donated signed James Jean material to raffle at the upcoming Save Music in Chinatown benefit concert. How cool is that?
In the another corner of the huge space, I found the Ooga Booga both. Like the Giant Robot store, my pal Wendy Yao’s small business is of massive importance because it provides an outlet for independent artists to show art and distribute their wares (from zines to prints to tapes to clothing) as well as creates a scene (but in Chinatown instead of Sawtelle). Less imported pop and more esoteric than GR, yet punk rock and down to earth in every way.
V. Vale is a godfather in the underground and independent publishing scene. He had a hand in the Search & Destroy zines that documented the first wave of punk, and then self-published the influential RE/Search books that promoted modern primitive culture, underground and exploitation cinema, and the marginalized works of Ballard, Burroughs, and Survival Research Labs. I look forward to touching base with him every year at the RE/Search table in the zine room, and picked up a rare pocket-size anthology of interviews with Rollins, Biafra, Ferlinghetti, and Childish. Score!
Deth P. Sun is independent artist and buddy who not only creates paintings that are priced for the people but cranks out zines, stickers, and prints on top of that. I bought a zine packed with line drawings of everything that he ate for a year (with one or two of his trademark cat people and ghosts thrown in for good measure). Supposedly he was sharing his table with Marci Washington and Hellen Jo, among others, but I missed them.
I’m a big fan of what Hamburger Eyes does. The effort was born as a stapled-and-folded photo zine, turned into a glossy magazine, and has become a publisher. While digital cameras and social media have largely domesticated the art form, the Hamburger Eyes crew keeps photography raw, vital, and fun. I love that Ray Potes brought his brother and sister along, too. (He also shot the latest Keep Company catalog, which I can’t wait to see.)
I met Clint Woodside at KCHUNG back in December, saw him again at a Chain & The Gang Show not too long ago, and there he was at the Deadbeat Club Press table. Deadbeat Club is an independent publisher dedicated to making small runs of photo zines. Of course, there was an abundance of work by partners Ed and Deanna Templeton, but I bought a zine by Jerry Hsu in which the pro skater took photos of fans pointing their camera phones at him.
Anne Ishii and Graham Kolbeins were present to share MASSIVE, their brand of gay manga-inspired goods. You might recall that Anne was a big part of Imprint. It was excellent to see her after many years but I couldn’t talk long because I was with my five-year-old daughter and that particular area of the LA Art Book Fair was NC-17. Rain check!
Mark Todd was another familiar face. He and his wife Esther Pearl Watson are old colleagues who just can’t stop being creative. They own and operate the Fun Chicken brand of books, comics, mini-comics, stickers, and all sorts of other indie art products. I purchased a $2 mini zine called “Rumor Disneyland,” which features unsubstantiated stories about the Happiest Place on Earth accompanied by guest art from the likes of the couple’s then-3-year-old daughter Lili and an uncredited Souther Salazar.
Yes, there was much, much more at the Geffen Contemporary, including antiquarian booksellers with first editions, a special section dedicated to queer zines, and a remote broadcast by KCHUNG. However, I had spent my 30 bucks and seen everyone that I was looking for.
I should mention that there was music and musicians around, as well. LSDD played a short set on the KCHUNG stage, and it was very cool to finally see my homie Lana Kim rock out with them. She did the splits not once but twice onstage! I also ran into another friend, noise musician Tim Koh (who is best known for his work with Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti) and met King Tuff, who graciously posed for a family portrait. Go to interesting places and you’ll meet interesting people. Perhaps some of it will rub off on my daughter. Or me.
See you at next year’s LA Art Book Fair! I think I’ll bring 40 bucks…