{"title":"Artist Publishers: Half Letter Press \/ Temporary Services","description":"\u003cp\u003eHalf Letter Press is a publishing imprint and online store initiated by Temporary Services, based in Ft. Wayne, IN, and Chicago, and run by Brett Bloom and Marc Fischer. Temporary Services began as an experimental exhibition space in a working-class neighborhood of Chicago before transitioning its focus to publishing as a way of opening art and ideas to new possibilities. Half Letter Press publishes works by Temporary Services and distributes publications by other imprints, including Marc’s project Public Collectors, which is focused on making marginal cultural artifacts more widely accessible. This constellation of independent publishing endeavors is unified by its dedication to supporting people and projects that have had difficulty finding financial and promotional assistance through mainstream commercial channels.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ehalfletterpress.com\u003cbr\u003etemporaryservices.org\u003cbr\u003e publiccollectors.org\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"affordable-housing-in-avondale","title":"Affordable Housing in Avondale","description":"Public Collectors publication #80 is a small collection of Chicago neighborhood photos (half of the booklet) and a collage of writing (the other half). Some publications are best experienced in a single session, without too many teaser photos from various scattered points in the booklet, so this listing is limited to scans of the front and back cover and one extra page. Here's the back cover text:\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThis booklet is a meditation on the rapid transformation of my neighborhood in Chicago, as home prices and property taxes skyrocket and truly affordable housing becomes increasingly scarce. As I type this, a 100+ year old building next to my house that once provided subsidized housing for many low-income people, is a month from being torn down to build single family homes. I and others fought against this, which bought the current tenants time, but the building is still going to go, as are the people. The property’s new owners assured me that my wife and I will love the expensive new houses they are going to build. They’ll add great value to our home, they tell us. We bought our house to live in, however. Our neighbors, who predate our arrival here in 2012 by over a decade, can’t afford to stay in Avondale and are being evicted. My photos in this booklet­—of discarded dollhouses, toy houses, and possibly a house for feral cats—were taken in alleys in my neighborhood in 2022 and 2023. The writing inside is a collage of sales pitches and exaggerated claims from the websites of numerous real estate agents and firms that are currently operating in Avondale.","brand":"Idea House 3","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137049116967,"sku":"","price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/0189\/1367\/files\/AffordableHousing1__43803.1687400742.jpg?v=1700081055"},{"product_id":"the-nuances-of-existence-are-explored-by-artists","title":"The Nuances of Existence Are Explored by Artists","description":"By Temporary Services with Doro Boehme, Lindsay Bosch, Kevin Henry, Heatherlie Allison, Jude Vachon and texts by Guerrilla Art Action Group and Jean Toche, and Mess Hall. Half Letter Press, Fort Wayne, IN and Chicago, IL, 2023","brand":"Idea House 3","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137049870631,"sku":null,"price":9.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/0189\/1367\/files\/NuancesOfExistence1__22039.1694184622.jpg?v=1700081105"},{"product_id":"library-excavations-14-earth-wings-fire","title":"Library Excavations #14: Earth, Wings \u0026 Fire","description":"Almost two years since the last issue, Library Excavations from Public Collectors is back with a new issue tackling the US Patent and Trademark Office gazettes. Trademark themes explored here are: Birth, Life, Air, Metal, Love, Sex, Food, Fire, Earth, Water, Time, Shit, and Death. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the back cover:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn the masthead of the US Patent and Trademark Office website, we are told, “As the federal agency that grants patents and registers trademarks, we hold a treasure trove of data. Now we’re giving it to you - faster and easier than before.” I came to know this trove more slowly in the series of printed volumes that line many shelves on the fourth floor of Chicago’s Harold Washington Library Center. This booklet started in those stacks and then moved over to www.uspto.gov where I could more easily copy selections of abbreviated entries. The full listings include the names of trademark owners and other information. Looking through those volumes and the Patent and Trademark Office website, all of the goods and services of the United States of America feel present and in conversation with each other. The absurdities are abundant. In America, even the word “shit” as it relates to many forms of clothing, warrants a trademark, lest someone else apply it to their golf shirts or lounge pants first. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOn the government’s website, a search for a single word can easily register 15,000 results or more. The deformations and abstractions of language and common phrases provide hours of fascination. While the entirety of what people have trademarked is impossibly vast, I hope this booklet gives you a taste of the curiosities that exist on this online resource and in the library’s collection.","brand":"Idea House 3","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137050853671,"sku":null,"price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/0189\/1367\/files\/LibEx14_1web__32387.1685023628.jpg?v=1700081200"},{"product_id":"survival-success","title":"Survival Success","description":"Public Collectors publication #77 for those who keep track of such things.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the back cover:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis booklet features Jonathan Canady’s drawings based on illustrations from a 1957 U.S. Army-issued survival guide (reprinted in 1970). Canady’s drawings are paired with scans of some of his source material. The illustrator of the drawings created for the Army is uncredited. Some of the original drawings that inspired Canady are placed alongside his reimaginings, while others are dispersed throughout the booklet in less direct placements or not included at all. In his versions of these illustrations, Canady takes these pragmatic guides to surviving under harsh conditions and transforms them into existential scenes of discovery and recovery. His humans are no longer soldiers that have successfully followed a lesson in a book, but creatures from a less identifiable time whose circumstances have been made strange and unknowable. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJonathan Canady’s drawings were produced in 2022 and the design of this booklet was a collaboration that we worked on together over email. Previously he contributed to the Public Collectors project QUARANZINE in 2020. Well known in the experimental music underground, Jonathan Canady began to focus his creative efforts on visual art in 2007. He has been living in Portland, Oregon since 2014.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Idea House 3","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137056456999,"sku":null,"price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/0189\/1367\/files\/SurvivalSuccess1__33135.1685023626.jpg?v=1700081268"},{"product_id":"protest-grim-reapers","title":"Protest Grim Reapers","description":"Public Collectors publication #75 is another dive into the world of discarded and resold press photo archives.Protest Grim Reapers reproduces details from 27 press photos spanning from the late 1960s to the early 1990s. Where available, the stories behind each photo are included. From the back cover:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe grim reaper is an enduring figure at demonstrations. The reaper—or sometimes simply an angel of death—appears at protests for any cause where the gravity of a death figure feels appropriate. The reaper traditionally carries a scythe and wears a black hood and a skull mask or skull face paint, but sometimes the scythe is replaced with a different symbolic object. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor the past four years I have been collecting press photos of grim reapers at protests against hunger, radioactive waste, animal abuse, the death penalty, the Vietnam war, the closing of a Chrysler plant, demands for clean air and water, restrictions on abortion and more. These older press photos are routinely sold on the secondary market by dealers that acquire the archives of newspapers, or others that have purged their file copies. The dates of these photos reflect the availability of darkroom prints and wirephotos, taken before digital photography became dominant at most news outlets. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn recent years, the grim reaper has been in the news when people wearing this costume attended protests against keeping beaches and schools open during the COVID-19 pandemic. In general, the reaper tells spectators: ‘I am here because this is a matter or life or death for someone or something. I don’t want to be here, but because of you, your corporation, your politicians, or your crimes against humanity, my presence is justified. If this wasn’t deadly serious, I would have stayed at home or worn something else.’ \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e— Marc Fischer \/ Public Collectors","brand":"Idea House 3","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137062224167,"sku":null,"price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/0189\/1367\/files\/ProtestGrimReapers1_WEB__81460.1685023676.jpg?v=1700081342"},{"product_id":"car-stoppers","title":"Car-Stoppers","description":"A new booklet of Temporary Services' ongoing photographic Public Phenomena work—the first since the now out of print publication Abandoned Signs from 2017. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTemporary Services has been documenting what we call Public Phenomena since we began working together in 1998. Car-Stoppers is our latest publication collecting informal urban modifications created from the ground up—in this case, modest structures built and placed to prevent cars from damaging garages and other structures. Nearly all of these photos—almost 50 in total—were taken in Chicago over a span of sixteen years. A short essay surveying the culture of Chicago alleys and the range of things we've documented is also included. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Idea House 3","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137063371047,"sku":null,"price":8.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/0189\/1367\/files\/Car-Stoppers1web__06967.1661892531.jpg?v=1700081401"},{"product_id":"11x17-issues-1-8","title":"11x17: Issues 1-8","description":"11x17 is a periodical made from a folded sheet of 11x17 inch paper, with a different theme or focus for each issue. It is edited, designed and published by Public Collectors. Public Collectors was founded by Marc Fischer in 2007 and is based in Chicago, Illinois. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBuilding on QUARANZINE—the single sheet publication that Public Collectors produced at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, 11x17 also uses a single sheet format but this time it's the larger tabloid format. The periodical will be released in sequential sets. In addition to RISO and digital printing processes, various hand elements like stamping and stickers are also included in this run. Reprints are not planned and to preserve the surprise of opening each issue, only the front covers are shown. An indication of what's included in this set, from the insert card:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e1: SHELF LIFE Folded sheets misbehave in the stacks. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e2: CIRCUMSTANTIAL RECORD REVIEWS by Gabe Fowler. Real life, and also music. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e3: DON BECK’S DRAWINGS Fantastical found creatures.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e4: TACTICAL \/ FANATICAL White men are terrifying. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e5: STAMP COLLECTION Hand-stamping with found trash.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e6: SIGNS’ LANGUAGE Press photos of protests, dissected for language on signs held by the people. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e7: STICKER DISPERSAL Thousands of stickers from one grab bag at an Arizona Goodwill store become publications.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e8: PROTEST DRIVER: Photographs by Richard Marshall. Driving away on day one of the Gulf War.","brand":"Idea House 3","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137064648999,"sku":null,"price":14.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/0189\/1367\/files\/11x17_1WEBsmaller__91359.1661892536.jpg?v=1700081474"},{"product_id":"prisoners-inventions","title":"Prisoners' Inventions","description":"\u003cp\u003eIt has been over 15 years since this book was last in print. The original book was published by WhiteWalls.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis greatly expanded new edition includes over 80 additional pages of material including many new drawings and writings about prisoners' inventions that Angelo created after the last printing, new writing from Temporary Services, blueprint drawings by Angelo of his prison cell, and photo documentation of the cell's recreation for Temporary Services' exhibitions of the project. The book also has a completely new design by Partner \u0026amp; Partners. We could not be happier that a new generation of readers will finally get to see this book, and that longtime fans who have worn out their original copies will be able to have this fresh, expanded edition. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the back cover:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn 2001, the group Temporary Services invited their friend Angelo, a prisoner in California, to write about and draw the different things he had seen other prisoners invent. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAngelo illustrated everything from immersion heaters with electrical plugs made from razor blades, paper clips, and popsicle sticks, to cooking methods for bologna jerky on built-in cell light fixtures. These drawings and writings became the book and widely exhibited project Prisoners’ Inventions, first published in 2003. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis redesigned and expanded edition of Prisoners’ Inventions includes many pages of additional drawings and writings that Angelo produced after the last printing, as well as a new introduction by Temporary Services that details the origins and life of the project. Prisoners’ Inventions reveals an often-neglected side of prison existence: the need to create those objects and experiences that allow the most basic human desires to be satisfied.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Idea House 3","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137065828647,"sku":null,"price":20.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/0189\/1367\/files\/PI_Web1__85342.1661892552.jpg?v=1700081561"},{"product_id":"the-courtroom-artist-residency-report-residencies-9-12","title":"The Courtroom Artist Residency Report: Residencies #9-12","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe third collection of reports from Public Collectors' meal-based artist residency that brings artists to observe Criminal Court in Chicago, followed by a meal and discussion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor this residency program, artists and creative workers are invited to observe approximately three hours of court proceedings with Marc Fischer of Public Collectors at Cook County Criminal Court on 2600 S. California in Chicago. Following court, he treats the resident to a meal at Taqueria El Milagro on 3050 West 26th street in Little Village, where they talk about their observations over lunch. Each residency lasts approximately six hours including transportation within Chicago, to and from court. Each residency is also accompanied by a $20.00 donation to the Chicago Community Bond Fund (the approximate value of two meals at Taqueria El Milagro).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis Courtroom Artist Residency Report is the third booklet in the project. It collects accounts of residencies #9-12. Featured in this booklet are discussions with Dana Sperry, Bea Malsky, Eric Von Haynes and Melinda Fries. During these four residencies we observed well over a hundred defendants who saw numerous judges for all manner of issues, including one situation where a lawyer wanted to be found in contempt so that he could be given a new judge for his trial. We observed a skunk try to cross from the jail to the court by way of the parking lot, and we watched over two hours of juror questioning in a gun case—learning the hobbies of nearly three dozen Chicago citizens as well as the various crimes they've been the victims of. We also heard a lot about electronic monitoring and challenges posed by evidence that depends on technology. We also watched the watchers when Dana Sperry and I sat behind a victims advocacy group who were waiting for one defendant's hearing.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Courtroom Artist Residency extends from the Public Collectors Joong Boo Residency Program. From 2016-18, that previous residency provided Korean lunch to 38 artist residents at Joong Boo Market in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood. That project is detailed in the publication The Meal-Based Artist Residency Program, published by Public Collectors in August, 2018.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Idea House 3","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137067630887,"sku":null,"price":7.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/0189\/1367\/files\/CourtroomBooklet3_1__98878.1571968710.jpg?v=1700081628"},{"product_id":"the-courtroom-artist-residency-report-residencies-13-16","title":"The Courtroom Artist Residency Report: Residencies #13-16","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe fourth collection of reports from Public Collectors' meal-based artist residency that brings artists to observe Criminal Court in Chicago, followed by a meal and discussion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor this residency program, artists and creative workers are invited to observe approximately three hours of court proceedings with Marc Fischer of Public Collectors at Cook County Criminal Court on 2650 S. California in Chicago. Following court, he treats the resident to a meal at Taqueria El Milagro on 3050 West 26th street in Little Village, where they talk about their observations over lunch. Each residency lasts approximately six hours including transportation within Chicago, to and from court. Each residency is also accompanied by a $20.00 donation to the Chicago Community Bond Fund (the approximate value of two meals at Taqueria El Milagro).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis Courtroom Artist Residency Report collects accounts of residencies #13-16. Featured in this booklet are discussions with Imani Elizabeth Jackson, Lucas Reif, Salome Chasnoff and Tom Burtonwood. Imani Elizabeth Jackson and I observe a judge that turns out to be the same man that is hearing her brother's ongoing court case. With Lucas Reif we get to experience an evacuation drill that forces everyone to stand outside of the court building in the rain, only to have to pass through the metal detector a second time when it's over. When we return to court we walk into the beginning of a trial for a defendant that tried to hire a man named \"Big Moe\" to murder the judge and prosecutor that were hearing his previous case. \"Big Moe\" turns out to be a cop and when Lucas researches the defendant after we get home from his residency, we have a whole new discussion that prompts an additional piece of writing. Salome and I observe two important hearings: one for Gerald Reed who remains locked up after nearly three decades for confessing to a crime he didn't commit after being coerced by detectives using torture. We also observe a hearing for a CPD officer who is charged with sexually assaulting a man who was on suicide watch. Finally, Tom Burtonwood and I observe three courtrooms which Tom draws and turns into a composite of the trio. Over lunch we discuss the architecture and material qualities of these spaces.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Courtroom Artist Residency extends from the Public Collectors Joong Boo Residency Program. From 2016-18, that previous residency provided Korean lunch to 38 artist residents at Joong Boo Market in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood. That project is detailed in the publication The Meal-Based Artist Residency Program, published by Public Collectors in August, 2018.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Idea House 3","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137068319015,"sku":null,"price":7.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/0189\/1367\/files\/CourtroomResidencyBooklet4_1__63011.1580957246.jpg?v=1700081686"},{"product_id":"the-courtroom-artist-residency-report-residencies-5-8","title":"The Courtroom Artist Residency Report: Residencies #5-8","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe second collection of reports from Public Collectors' meal-based artist residency that brings artists to observe Criminal Court in Chicago, followed by a meal and discussion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFor this residency program, artists and creative workers are invited to observe approximately three hours of court proceedings with Marc Fischer of Public Collectors at Cook County Criminal Court on 2600 S. California in Chicago. Following court, he treats the resident to a meal at Taqueria El Milagro on 3050 West 26th street in Little Village, where they talk about their observations over lunch. Each residency lasts approximately six hours including transportation within Chicago, to and from court. Each residency is also accompanied by a $20.00 donation to the Chicago Community Bond Fund (the approximate value of two meals at Taqueria El Milagro).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis Courtroom Artist Residency Report is the second booklet in the project. It collects accounts of residencies #5-8. These reports provide a space for the residents and Fischer to talk about their experience and share reflections, notes, and conversations related to their residency. Featured in this booklet are discussions with Edward Marszewski, Tara Betts, Josh Rios, and Claire Pentecost. Activist Sarah Wild provides a response to the residency with Edward Marzsewski, filling in additional details on the case of police torture victim Gerald Reed. Josh Rios and I observed murderer ex-cop Jason Van Dyke's entire 9 hour sentencing hearing and Josh contributes an additional text on the victim impact statement read by the great uncle of shooting victim Laquan McDonald. Tara Betts turns in a beautiful page of thoughts about the women who stand by in support of their men who are trapped in the prison system. A conversation with artist Claire Pentecost takes some lighter turns as we discuss the art and photography in courtroom 700, as well as a judge's address to potential jurors in room 402.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Courtroom Artist Residency extends from the Public Collectors Joong Boo Residency Program. From 2016-18, that previous residency provided Korean lunch to 38 artist residents at Joong Boo Market in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood. That project is detailed in the publication The Meal-Based Artist Residency Program, published by Public Collectors in August, 2018.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Idea House 3","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137069072679,"sku":null,"price":7.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/0189\/1367\/files\/CourtroomBooklets2scans_200dpi1web__77863.1555683440.jpg?v=1700081771"},{"product_id":"mystery-guitarists","title":"Mystery Guitarists","description":"\u003cp\u003ePublic Collectors publication #41 dives into the worlds of unknown amateur guitarists and the online snapshot photography market. This booklet includes reproductions of 21 found snapshots and a short text on the back cover. From the back cover text:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis collection started with the photo of a man holding an electric guitar on page three. I found it at a flea market in Chicago back in 2011 and I felt like I could hear the raw amplified sound coming out of that image. I wondered, but could not know, who the guitarist is, if he is still alive, or if he made music professionally.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn 2019, I started thinking about companions for that photo and went down the rabbit hole of searching through photos on eBay.com. On any given day there are well over 100,000 different snapshot photos taken after 1940 listed for sale on that site. Certain sellers are responsible for the bulk of this market and many photos are offered by the same people using several different accounts. It is easy to get lost in these listings for hours, scrolling through thousands of photos that have never circulated in public before, and may never be seen again once they are purchased or the seller stops listing them. Most of the photos are described generically and dispassionately with an inventory number and no backstory. “FOUND COLOR PHOTO MAN WITH MUSTACHE SITTING IN CHAIR HOLDING GUITAR” is one of the photographs in this booklet.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThese photos—mostly undated—appear to have been taken from the early 1960s to the early 2000s. My criteria for this collection is that the photo should have an element of mystery and make me want to hear the music the subject plays. I’m more interested in intimate, domestic or outdoor settings than stages. The person in the picture should be an amateur musician, or someone not easily recognizable as a professional artist. I rejected many amateur photos taken at concerts, or where the guitar appears to be just a studio prop for a model to pose with. For me, the photos in this booklet show guitarists in tune with their instruments.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e– Marc Fischer \/ Public Collectors\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Idea House 3","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137069662503,"sku":null,"price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/0189\/1367\/files\/MysteryGuitarists1cover2_150dpi__91595.1568432833.jpg?v=1700081826"},{"product_id":"library-excavations-11-defense-drama","title":"Library Excavations #11: Defense Drama","description":"\u003cp\u003eLibrary Excavations returns during a period of pandemic misery with a new issue that feels just about right for what we are dealing with in America right now: 32 pages of photos drawn from unrestricted Department of Defense archives.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the back cover:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHazmat happenings. Terrorist cosplay. Flaming cars. Bloody dummies. Fake wounds on real people. Mannequin driving a school bus. Hostage-taker takeover. Stabbing practice. Are these people training to save us or kill us? Welcome to the frequently strange and unsettling world of U.S. Department of Defense training photographs. I collected and arranged these unrestricted images over the last few months during the anxious times of the COVID-19 pandemic. They were selected from thousands of photographs using the Digital Public Library Archive (https:\/\/ dp.la). The photos themselves are maintained by the National Archives at College Park in College Park, Maryland. The images come from a series created and compiled or maintained between 1982-2007. They are presented here without context to create a space of reflection. Full metadata can be found by searching https:\/\/catalog.archives.gov. This is the first issue of Library Excavations to depend entirely on internet archives due to public library closures or limited in-person access during the pandemic. As COVID-19 continues with no clear end in sight, publications in this series will likely continue to emerge from the safety of quarantine: my internet-connected basement bunker in Chicago. I have to say, I miss the sensation of touching paper in a public building. I’m tired of worrying and scrolling. — Marc Fischer\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLibrary Excavations is a project and publication series by Public Collectors that highlights and activates physical materials found in public libraries. Library Excavations encourages intensive browsing of paper and print resources, particularly those that are under-utilized, or at risk of being withdrawn and discarded. During the COVID-19 pandemic, excavations have moved to the digital realm of public storage. More findings are shared regularly on Instagram: @libraryexcavations\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Idea House 3","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137070645543,"sku":null,"price":6.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/0189\/1367\/files\/LibEx11_1WEB__88554.1685024706.jpg?v=1700081948"},{"product_id":"hardcore-architecture-47-years-of-living-1988-playlist","title":"Hardcore Architecture: 47 Years of Living \/ 1988 Playlist","description":"\u003cp\u003eA surprise quickie Hardcore Architecture release from Marc Fischer \/ Public Collectors reflecting on the first issue of his first zine from way back in 1988. Despite being only a folded card-stock sheet, this has about 2500 words worth of new writing. From the back cover:\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI PUBLISHED MY FIRST ZINE IN APRIL 1988. I WAS 17 YEARS OLD.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI was a junior in high school, living in the suburbs of Philadelphia. My zine was called Primary Concern and the first issue was ambitious: 26 double-sided, photocopied 8 1\/2 X 11 inch pages with five band interviews, record, concert and zine reviews, opinion pieces, and a couple articles. I printed at least 150 copies. The copying was done on weekends at the downtown office where my dad worked. He let me use their machine and I went through a ton of paper and toner. I kept publishing after I moved to Pittsburgh for college in 1989 but by my junior year I was too busy with school and having a girlfriend to continue. I started publishing again as part of my art practice in 1997 and I’ve been going non-stop since.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eToday is November 2nd and it’s my 47th birthday. Tonight I’m going to a punk show in Chicago, where I live, and the show is having One Page Zine Day. This idea is new to me. The invitation to make a one page zine to exchange with others is excellent. It provides an opportunity to celebrate the creativity of attendees who may not be musicians, but don’t just want to be spectators either. One double-sided page is an unusual format for a zine but in the 1980s, Mike Bromberg, who published the chaotic handwritten punk zine Bullshit Monthly from New York City, made at least one issue that was nothing more than a single 11 X 17 inch sheet. It was filled with energy and information and I hope this attempt feels as solid.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat this zine is about: inside this sheet, I reprinted a scan of the playlist that appeared in issue #1 of Primary Concern. This is what I was rocking out to in 1988. All of the commentary that follows was written between October 31st and November 2nd, 2017. The printing was done on a RISOGRAPH duplicator. I’d like to thank Grace Ambrose and Ralph Rivera Jr. for telling me about their bands’ show, which led to this publication. It was energizing and fun to do this and hopefully it won’t be my last one page zine. — Marc Fischer\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHardcore Architecture explores the relationship between the architecture of living spaces and the history of underground American hardcore bands in the 1980s. This booklet is intended as a supplement to the website: hardcorearchitecture.tumblr.com. It is one of a series of printed publications addressing the themes of the project through writings, interviews, photos, and printed ephemera. Hardcore Architecture is a project of Marc Fischer and Public Collectors.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Idea House 3","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137075429671,"sku":null,"price":3.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/0189\/1367\/files\/HC_Arch_1988Playlist1__54099.jpg?v=1700082108"},{"product_id":"protester-portraits","title":"Protester Portraits","description":"\u003cp\u003ePublic Collectors publication #76 is a quick rough photo booklet collecting 13 images that was conceived, designed and printed in a little over a day. Produced in a small quantity, this publication isn't available in other stores or wholesale. \u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eFrom the back cover:\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003ePROTESTER PORTRAITS is the latest in a series of publications I have created using details from discarded press photos in my own collection. In Fall 2021 I purchased 1,000 press photos contained in two auction lots in a quest to find more material for the exhibition and book Protest Grim Reapers. This trove yielded exactly two photos for that project, leaving me with the task of finding interesting uses for the rest. For this short booklet, I’ve selected photos of a number of costumed or performative protesters, framed in the manner of portraits—though most were part of larger multi-person compositions originally. I have retained the events or causes associated with each protester, as well as the year each photo was taken. I left out the photographer and newspaper credits, however, as these photos—and the way they are used in this booklet—deviate quite heavily from their original function.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Idea House 3","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137076347175,"sku":null,"price":4.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/0189\/1367\/files\/ProtestorPortraits_cover2WEB__10009.1685023666.jpg?v=1700082170"},{"product_id":"artist-publishers-reflect-on-book-waste","title":"Artist Publishers Reflect on Book Waste","description":"\u003cp\u003eBuilding on our previous publications like Book Waste Book, Self-Reliance Library and What Problems Can Artist Publishers Solve? we invited 7 artist publishers to reflect on their experiences of waste in the making of their books. They describe problems they faced in the past and are working to avoid in the future, lessons learned, changes they are making or have made to make their work less wasteful, interesting things they do with waste materials, and tips or tricks to have a less ecologically damaging publishing practice.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eWe are thrilled by the texts written by each contributor. They are honest, informative, thoughtful, and demystify a hidden aspect of publishing that is always present and rarely discussed in an open way.\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eEach booklet includes two sheets of bound-in overprinted book waste provided by Paul John of Endless Editions and Temporary Services, making each copy slightly different and unique. \u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Idea House 3","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137077920039,"sku":null,"price":10.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/0189\/1367\/files\/ArtistPubBookWaste1_WEB_2__37498.1685023670.jpg?v=1700082224"},{"product_id":"fish-ins-black-native-solidarity-in-the-1960s","title":"Fish-Ins \u0026 Black\/Native Solidarity in the 1960s","description":"\u003cp\u003eMariame Kaba is one of our favorite activists, historians, thinkers, and humans and it was a pleasure to collaborate with her on this, our third booklet together. Here she has teamed up with the illustrator Jon Bailiff, and combed her own archives and the materials of others to tell a fascinating story of Black and Native solidarity. In the introduction she writes: \u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\"A few years ago, I came across a brief description of Dick and Lillian Gregory’s fish-in protests in solidarity with Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest. I was intrigued, so I started researching and also collecting specific items related to their involvement in these protests. \u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003e\u003cbr data-mce-fragment=\"1\"\u003eThis publication offers a brief description of the fish-ins as a way to highlight a chapter in history that may be less well-known to modern audiences. The Gregorys’ involvement in the fish-ins is a concrete example of Black-Native solidarity. Perhaps you, like me, had never heard about the protests. I believe that knowing this history reminds us that we can in fact work for justice across differences. It’s been done and we can\/should do so today.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Idea House 3","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47137079132455,"sku":null,"price":7.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0837\/0189\/1367\/files\/FISH_INS_Cover__99757.1685023646.jpg?v=1700082290"}],"url":"https:\/\/shop.walkerart.org\/collections\/artist-publishers-half-letter-press-temporary-services.oembed","provider":"Walker Art Center","version":"1.0","type":"link"}