#issue01

OH EM GEE ISSUE 01 OUT NOW!!! you can get a copy via the link in our bio/instagram! physical copies will be available monday!

Working Online  Chat Room on Art Magpies

Screenshots of our collective’s online conversation on July 3, 2018 prompted by the erasure (as shown in Fig.1) of a Facebook comment on Christian Tablazon’s thread criticizing the management of OICA (Office of Initiatives for Culture and the Arts) UPLB are stitched together to fit eight photos.

While there are claims that Elbi is home to many artists and that “the OICA provides space for non-Manila artists”, the current setup favors established artists with a bulky portfolio more than artists-in-progress exploring the possibilities of their practice, art collectors more than those looking to be exposed to art, traditional, commercial works rather than experimental, non-traditional, and non-commercial--disappointing given Elbi’s nature as a university and research town outside the #ganap of Manila should have been enough reason for it to prioritize discovery and cultivation of emerging artists and practices. What more if art groups, now linked by just an online call for artists, have more room to interact and be exposed to each other’s work? Our efforts have since been towards looking for ways to make this biannual show of force last more than Zine Orgy’s hours, and make it more accessible: thus our attempts to archive zines from Zine Orgy, look for consignment opportunities for Elbi artists, hold short discussions with practitioners who reside in Elbi or have experience with the Elbi scene, distribute the responsibility of making Zine Orgy possible by reducing artists’ fee, tapping local establishments for marketing, and imposing a 10-peso door fee, continuously rethinking our notion of audience, community, and collaboration by works involving more kinds of people in production and distribution, and encouraging people to discuss and critique the works produced in Elbi or by Elbi artists. Currently, with criticism practiced only in academic requirements and reviews of films and books by the several art blogs and Elbi feature platforms, plus the stream of recent events within the vicinity including the UPLB BAO’s harassment and cancellation of the MatchCut Zine Fair, the refusal of the Philippine High School for the Arts administration to comment on the Maria-IRM award issue, the argument of artists and friends on the facebook OICA criticism that there are proper channels to voice out dissatisfaction with the university gallery management, we weigh in on what is feasible given what we currently have, and look at the possibility of making room for art conversations online. Take the points here as questions--openings for new answers and new members to join the conversation, inviting all to be part of the community and join in the working towards discovering and creating more spaces to talk about art.

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MAGPIES is an independent publishing art collective based in Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines. The collective explores zine-making, visual media, performed poetry and other alternative forms that emphasize experimentation, collaborative work, and criticism through music, poetry, fiction, stickers, posters, photo prints, performances, and things in between. Magpies organizes Zine Orgy and Deep Thought and was founded in 2013.

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