PUBLIC COLLECTORS

My Public Collectors exhibit "Publication Survey / Life Savings" at Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE), 1010 W 35th Street, Suite 697, continues today, Sun., Jan. 26, 2025 from 12-5 PM. Look for the CubeSmart sign on the side of the building and then ride the elevator on up.

PUBLIC COLLECTORS exhibition in Chicago!

Two days only: January 25-26. 12-5 PM.

On January 25-26, 2025, I will have a 2 day/10 hour Public Collectors exhibit at Chicago Arts Partnerships in Education (CAPE), 1010 W 35th Street, Suite 697. For this show, titled Publication Survey / Life Savings, I will show most of the 90 Public Collectors publications I have made since 2007, and hundreds of other papers and publications from my collections. CAPE has over 40 tables, pedestals, and wood sawhorse tables in their beautiful space. I intend to fill all of them. 

This will also be an opportunity to purchase any Public Collectors publications that remain in print. Sales will partially benefit CAPE’s important educational work in Chicago public schools. I’ve been a teaching artist with them for over 10 years and I’m thrilled for this mutually supportive opportunity. I promise you that the exhibit will be visually immersive, so carve out some time and don’t miss it. 

Public Collectors Instant Library: 2024 Edition (good through 12/31/24)

About once a year I pull together a selection of Public Collectors publications that I sell as a set for a nice discount. This year, you get these 12 publications plus some extra printed ephemera, including a few things not shown. You can see details of many of the publications here. Just $55.00 post paid in the US.

FOTOmercado this Saturday in Chicago, November 9, 2024, 11 AM to 6 pm at Chicago Art Department, 1926 S. Halsted.

Yesterday was my 54th birthday. I had a lovely afternoon gathering with friends and family at house where I tasked everyone with participating in a Public Collectors project: 54 YEARS / 56 CENTS / LIFE SAVINGS. It was a total joy to work on together. Below are the instructions I wrote out. If you would like a postcard, message me your address. - Marc Fischer / Public Collectors

November 2, 2024

54 YEARS / 56 CENTS / LIFE SAVINGS

Mailing postcards is a small but tactile way to show that you are thinking about other people.

The estate of my spouse Jen Blair’s late relatives contained many unused postcards and even more unused postage stamps. Today we will use these functional materials that they were not able to finish using in their lifetimes.

How to add postage to the postcard:

1. The total value of the stamps must equal 56 cents. It’s okay if you go over by a penny or two – this is harder than it seems, and stamps are small and tough to read.

2. You must use at least 7 stamps to reach 56 cents. This grouping of stamps will constitute a public stamp collection.

3. You may not use more than one example of the same stamp design. Be careful.

4. The stamps should be placed neatly next to each other in a tight block, starting in the upper right corner, not scattered all over the postcard

5. You should allow enough space for an address to be written on the lower right side of the postcard.

6. Please do not write messages on postcards that are not being sent to someone you know.

I’m going to take some photos of this activity that I may share to document the day. Let me know if you don’t want to be photographed.

The paper these instructions were printed on is also from the estate.

CB Radio Postcard People. New Public Collectors publication available here. $7.00

People that talked to each other over CB radio (a particularly popular form of communication in the 1970s) made printed calling cards that they exchanged with others. They are called QSL cards. In CB radio speak, “QSL” means “I confirm receipt of your transmission.” These postcard-size printed cards were traded through the mail, or through collector clubs and at CB user social gatherings. I have a modest collection of these cards—most of which came from eBay sellers—because I love the art and design. I particularly enjoy cards that feature roughly hand-drawn art and lettering, with jagged linework and forms. I appreciate the urgency of these cards, and the feeling that community participation was more important than fine craft or hiring an illustrator to make some kind of self portrait, couple, or family portrait. Some people clearly worked with what they had, and that just needed to be enough. Hand-colored black and white printed cards are common, and I have many examples of QSL cards that were filled in with markers, colored pencils or both. I imagine families sitting around a table doing this together.

Johnnie Anderson's Botany & Zoology Drawings. New Public Collectors publication available here ($13).

Johnnie Anderson was the father of a late relative of my spouse Jen Blair. I believe that he made these drawings as a student in 1931. He would have been 19 or 20 years old at the time, and was taking Botany and Zoology classes at University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire. 

I uncovered these drawings while cleaning out the home and storage units of my spouse’s late aunt and uncle, which contained the belongings of other relatives that predeceased them. A binder containing these drawings—as well as numerous writings about the specimens featured—was found in a banker box, well-preserved and likely hidden from eyes and light for decades. 

Johnnie Anderson’s drawings are so meticulous that at first glance, I assumed they might have been printed classroom materials. Upon closer inspection I realized that they were hand drawn with great care and patience. In addition to these drawings, the binder contained a carefully mounted and neatly labeled frog skeleton (reproduced on the inside front cover). I have chosen to believe that these drawings were made from direct observation and not copied from other illustrations. 

There is so much I love about these drawings: their fine detail, the hypnotic rendering of textures, the commitment to close looking and clear communication, and the simple fact that all of this was accomplished with a pen and black ink on the thinnest sheets of hole-punched paper. If I was the kind of person that wanted a tattoo, a few of these drawings would be strong contenders for ink on my arms. 

I cannot confirm the scientific accuracy of these illustrations. Many of them are marked with “O.K.” and someone’s initials in the lower right-hand corner. I’m guessing this contribution came from a teacher. Johnnie Anderson went on to serve as clerk for the small town of Preston, Wisconsin for 29 years. I believe that he was also involved in farming. He died in Blair, Wisconsin in 1971 at the age of 60.

A graphic from Mad magazine #182 from April 1976. The larger piece this comes from is "A Mad Portfolio of Some Idealists' Dreams" by Arnoldo Franchioni.

[Apologies to On Kawara] 

Sometime yesterday, March 17, 2024, someone hacked my Facebook account, connected it to their Instagram account, and was promptly caught by Mark Zuckerberg himself probably (such a hero) and my account was disabled. Thus far I have not been able to re-able my account and it is locked. There is nothing to see here (there). Facebook’s instructions don’t work and they haven’t invited me to rejoin the party. I’m trying not to feel hurt. 

So many thoughts have crossed my mind. I could create a new account but—and this is such a weird thing to think about—I would never be able to reconnect with my Facebook friends that are dead to see how their old posts are doing. 

About 14 years of posts are just gone, I guess? I could start a new account (maybe, if I’m allowed) and feel like Rock Hudson in the creepy movie Seconds, starting a whole new life (except with probably a lot of the same friends all over again and the same job and stuff, so maybe that's not a good comparison). 

I made entire publications of my Facebook posts, and the posts of others that I collaborated with. It could be a very productive space for me, and a lot of new friendships sprouted from being on that platform. A lot of old friendships became deeper too. I wrote and posted a lot. It was mostly a very positive place in my experience. Being on Facebook generated a lot of creative opportunities. It has also destroyed a lot of people and countries and attention spans. I'm sure I read fewer books because of it. It has come with a price.

When Facebook started and all of my friends were signing up and talking about it, I waited. I hesitated to join because I was afraid that I would like it too much, and I would lose a lot of time using it. I eventually joined and quickly found out that I was correct. There are many people on that platform that I have not met in person but interact with online all the time, and have only known through email and social media for multiple decades. In many cases I don’t know any other way to get ahold of them. If I choose not to start a new account or can’t get my old one back, I will miss my interactions with those friends. 

Multiple times over the years people have told me that they enjoyed my posts so much that I was the only reason they stayed on Facebook. That’s a lovely compliment (that I mostly don’t believe). Now that my account is gone, I assume they will all leave the platform en masse. 

Horror Decor New Public Collectors publication! Available for $9.00 here. Public Collectors publication #82 is a photo booklet surveying five years of Halloween decoration documentation in Chicago's Avondale neighborhood area. From the back cover:

Every year I watch as my neighbors in Chicago’s Avondale neighborhood add gruesome details to their homes for Halloween. Some people are ambitious and assemble constructions that look like they took months to acquire or create, but it’s the smaller and cheaper decorations that I’m particularly drawn to: a severed finger here, a scattering of bones there, with maybe some Caution! tape, or a rubber rat chewing on a foot tossed in for good measure. Simple, strange gestures like these can heighten our attention to other overlooked additions to our built and natural environment, revealing not just someone’s Halloween play, but other details that we mighthave ignored. What else are you seeing and what are you missing?

I shot these photos over the last five years. I have lived in Avondale since 2012, but it has taken me time to feel firmly situated and committed to making creative work about my neighborhood. I like having the time to observe slowly. Being mindful of privacy, I tend to zoom in rather than photograph someone’s entire house. It was hard to choose what to include, as I have enough material for four booklets, but ultimately this is what made the cut.

I invited David Canario to write this booklet’s introduction. David also lives in Avondale. We met a little over two years ago when we found ourselves working to address the same concerns about affordable housing and aggressive development in our ward. David spends a lot of time canvassing for progressive candidates and concerns, and he’s an avid cyclist so he sees a lot when he travels through Avondale. He’s also a horror buff, making him a perfect collaborator for a project like this.