News from Monday, August 11, 2008 @ 4:36 PM, PST![[ Macro shot of the DLa Archive ]](http://deadletterart.com/dla/images/articles/dla-23-series_01.jpg "The ever-expanding DLa issue archive..")
24 issues and counting.. Kicking off this series of micro-posts on the creation of DLa 23, we see the mechanism by weech DLa 23 first began. It had been several years since the last issue of Dead Letter Art was released. The last issue, of course, was the ultra low-key Halloween issue[1], which was produced in October of 2004. After that, circumstance continued to separate the DLa members, leaving only occasional email and random telephone conversation to keep the group together. Soon, a couple of years had passed with nary a peep from that low-riding art phenomenon otherwise known as DLa. As 2006 reared its head, Dead Letter Art seemed “dead” indeed.
Fortunately, around the middle of 2006, DLa members Osseus and Perishable began planning for the “next evolution” of DLa. Work on a new website[2] had begun, new issues were planned, and Osseus even agreed to finish up the long-awaited Texture Issue[3], also known as DLa #20[4]. As momentum continued to build, communication within the group increased and collective activity intensified (relatively speaking). In early 2007, after much work and some help from 88teeth, Perishable launched the new DLa website. This event was followed immediately by a full Dead Letter Art reunion in Moses Lake, along with a specially prepared DLa Newzletter featuring all the latest from the DLa posse.
As informative and inspiring as it was to create, the DLa Newzletter did not pretend to be a new, full-fledged issue of Dead Letter Art. Working with ThaneC to create the issue was extremely beneficial, however, as it refreshed our fading familiarity with the desktop-publication process: formatting, layout, design, imagery, text, fonts, printing — it was all there for the Newzletter, only on a much smaller scale. Once the issue was complete, it was like, “oh yeah, that’s how it’s done..”
As the next year or so passed, friendships were (re)strengthened and the inspiration of Dead Letter Art continued to flow beneath the surface, frequently manifesting itself through decidedly “non-DLa” outlets. As the beginning months of 2008 crept in, the one known as FCU summoned his creative influence to pursue a challenging goal: Dead Letter Art Volume Twenty Three. Yes it had been over three years since the last issue. Yes members of the collective were located in different cities. Yes the idea was too irresistible to refuse.
Next in the Creating DLa 23 series: “Part 2: Collecting Content”
[1] That would be DLa 22, the ghastly Halloween issue.[2] This would be the current site, or if the site has somehow managed to change since the time of this writing, the site design in question was the red, gold, and black site with the nifty drop-top full-screen JavaScript tricks.[3] The texture issue was not complete when the DLa issue archive was originally constructed. Thus, its representation fails to convey the full scope of the project.[4] Osseus first began work on the Texture issue in September of 2003. At that time, DLa had just released issue #19, so logically the next issue — “Texture” — was designated as issue #20. While waiting for its release, DLa pushed forward another issue that was numbered as 20.5, in anticipation of the 20th issue. Now that issue 20 has been released, the total number of zines in the DLa series is 24, even though the latest issue is numbered as 23.
Perishable
[ Edited on: 08/31/08 ] | [ 0 ]
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News from Sunday, March 02, 2008 @ 3:06 PM, PST
DLa Tuf in Seattle, 2008 Last weekend, core members of DLa reunited in Seattle and enjoyed a completely inspiring art session at Ladro’s Cafe. The festivities began the day before, when ThaneC and Perishable threw down tuf with several hours of high-octane collaborative creativity. The evening was spent at the downtown Seattle Travel Lodge, which delighted us with some pretty major upgrades. After grabbing a quick bite and a couple of espressos to go, we completely chilled out with a little Black Sabbath, Beatles, and Cypress Hill. Late into the evening, several choice collabz were accomplished, photographed, and chopped up real proper-like for FCU’s impending production of the next long-awaited issue of Dead Letter Art.
The next day, ThaneC and Perishable pulled up tuf in the Honza and returned once again to the lush University of Washington campus. As the clouds broke, the day manifested a plethora of deluxe photographic opportunities. Equipped to the gills with multiple cameras, an abyss of digital memory, and pocketfuls of replacement batteries, we proceeded to collect a few hundred megabytes of premeditated, well-composed digital images of everything from twisted bark macros to abstract architectural compositions. By around noon, we set up an afternoon meeting with fellow core heads, Osseus and Sui Lan, sharpened our cameras and set our sights on shooting the magnificent mechanical ruins currently rusting into oblivion at spacious GasWorks Park.
For a solid two-point-something hours, the fenced-off mountains of abandoned industrialized atrocity unfolded beneath beautiful clear blue skies and shining sun. With such prime weather conditions — extremely rare for February in Seattle — we were able to completely focus on the visual exploration and photographic expression of the ominously inspiring landscape. So absorbed in the moment, time had quickly vanished, leaving us to conclude the event with a surreal gathering of battling warriors, clashing weapons, and friendly conversation. Memory cards thusly stuffed, and batteries feeling weak, we exited the park and made our way downtown for our imminent rendezvous with the Honorable Osseus and Sui Lan sans.
After a brisk walk through the bustling streets of downtown Seattle, the four of us met at Bauhaus Cafe and quickly relocated to the ultra-laid-back and musically gifted Ladro’s Cafe. Unwinding over delicious coffee and intriguing conversation, we soon found ourselves mixing news with ideas, projects with plans — business with pleasure. As the evening unfolded, discussion gave way to drawing, as each of us advanced work on multiple collaborative efforts. Within moments, several hours had passed and we found ourselves deep into the flow — collectively focused on the present moment and grooving with some incredibly complex background music, drawing, creating, flowing..
Eventually, our collaborative festivities had run their course. We concluded the evening with casual reflections, light banter, and loose plans. Once again, DLa has demonstrated its propensity to flow with art, ideas, and creativity — a clear reminder that the best may be yet to come..
Perishable
[ Edited on: 03/18/08 ] | [ 3 ]
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News from Monday, August 13, 2007 @ 9:44 AM, PST
DLa Tuf in Portland, 2007 What a blast! Dead Letter Art rolls tough to Portland, Oregon for the 2007 PDX Zine Symposium. The trip began Friday as BHBW professionally navigated the mighty Suburban across the desert plains of the Basin and along the rolling banks of the Columbia. The journey was filled with casual conversation, fascinating philosophical discussion and heated political debate. After arriving in the early evening, BHBW and Perishable rendezvoused with ThaneC for coffee and a delightful tour of his recently acquired homestead. Later that night, we found ourselves downtown, enjoying a round (or two) of ice-cold beverages, hand-tossed pizza, and half-mad banter. An excellent opening to an otherwise incredible weekend adventure..
DLa @ PDX Zine Symposium Up early on Saturday, we enjoyed an easy breakfast and hit the PDX MAX for a straight shot into town. With our arsenal of DLa back-issues in hand, we made haste to the zine convention, which was held on the beautiful campus of Portland State University. The convention itself seemed more popular than ever, apparently attracting hundreds of zinesters from around the country. Diving into the DIY chaos, DLa hit table after table, consuming as much as possible from the endless cornucopia of independently published material. Trading issues and sharing ideas, DLa heads enjoyed several hours of zine mayhem, receiving a near-fatal dose of zines, comics, books, buttons, flyers, postcards, adverts, and other DIY propaganda. Finally, after stuffing our bags with plenty of chunky zine booty, we fled the scene and returned to the streets of downtown Portland.
Having accomplished our primary objective, the remainder of the weekend was spent wandering through art exhibits, chatting with locals, digging through bookstores, enjoying delicious cuisine and consuming vast quantities of piping-hot coffee and ice-cold beer. During our adventure, the city was buzzing with activity, festivals, and the enchanting sound of bagpipes echoing in the refreshing evening breeze..
Perishable
[ Edited on: 08/19/07 ] | [ 2 ]
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