#joecardella

Joe Cardella published the limited-edition periodicals titled “Art/Life” from 1981 through 2006. As you can see in this video, these limited-edition periodicals contain many strange objects you don’t normally expect to find in books or periodicals. Of course, we don’t recommend that you do this to our library books! But you can view these unique periodicals in our Special Collections Study Room.

Art/life Published: [Santa Barbara, Calif. : Joe Cardella, -c2006. -v. 11, no. 6 25 v. : chiefly ill. ; 28 cm. Frequency note: Monthly (except. Jan.) English Began with 1981. Editor, <1983>-2006: Joe Cardella. Published in limited edition. HOLLIS number: 990087654310203941

Is it artwork? Is it an artist’s book? Is it conceptual art?

It’s all of the above and it’s a magazine!

Art/Life magazine was one of the longest running artists’ periodicals created entirely by hand. It was published from 1981 to 2006. Each page is an original piece of art, signed and numbered, and includes objects as diverse as chopsticks, spools of thread, clothespins, potpourri, nails, paint brush, CD, seashell, bottle cap, crushed paper cup, film slides, and a fake thermometer. Art/Life founder Joe Cardella started the magazine as a conceptual exchange among artists, asking them to mail him original artworks from around the world to create limited edition magazines.

Art/Life magazines present challenges to conservators and librarians alike. The magazine is bound in a black binder, which is not sturdy or thick enough to stand upright on its own. Because of protruding objects stuck between the pages, the magazines also resist lying flat. Both physically and conceptually, Art/Life magazines defy being put inneat categories.

Image: Video of flipping through pages.

Nails, paint brush, CD, seashell, bottle cap, crushed paper cup, clothes pin, paper clip, staples, needle, chopsticks, thread, and one dollar bill…. These are just some items that we found inside issues of Art/Life magazine. Art/Life was a 20th century conceptual and experimental artists’ periodical founded by Joe Cardella, who asked artists to submit and mail original artworks to be included in limited edition magazines. These artists were courageous. They sent just about anything they thought could be inserted into magazines. The results can be a preservation nightmare for librarians and conservators, but we have enjoyed peeling back each page to find objects that we would never think of putting inside a book.