December 09, 2006

EXPERIMENT | LAB MAG

LAB MAG is a fluid Portable Document Format publication, which collects the work of artists, designers and writers. It is a project of LAB, a think tank founded by Adam Pendleton, which practices research, documentation, art & design. Contributors are sent 'Notes for LAB MAG' and invited to contribute whatever they wish; They are free to engage with the notes or to ignore them. Through the network of contributors, LAB MAG begins to articulate itself. LAB MAG is a framework and a collection device.

But, the publication is more than a little unstable. It is always shifting, as works are added, filtered and reworked. By privileging its electronic format, and dividing each of the contributions into separate chapters, LAB MAG encourages an active participation by the reader, selecting which pieces constitute their copy of the magazine, which are printed and in what order. The publication then is a loose constellation of ideas, printed occasionally but never on a set schedule. Every copy is a new reading of the project.

Nine characteristics begin to describe its point of departure. LAB MAG is:
1. A Framework, Not a Content
2. A Collection and A Collector
3. Portable Document Format
4. Printed On-The-Fly
5. Organized by the reader
6. Scale-less
7. Un-Ending
8. Never Completely New, Never Completely Old
9. Always, Just-In-Time

LAB MAG will be available:
1. As a free PDF from welcometolab.org, which can be sorted and printed by the reader, to any scale.
2. In a variety of print formats using diverse methods of reproduction and distribution.

Contributions include development notes and images from Thomas Hirschhorn; an essay on appropriative politics from Seth Price; new work by Renée Green, Jason Dodge and Johannes Wohnseifer; projects by architect-artists Pedro Reyes and N55; posters by poet Jena Osman; a Kelley Walker spread; graphics from design innovators Experimental Jetset; and a LAB inspired play on old work from Pierre Bismuth.

The publication is co-edited by Adam Pendleton and Bartholomew Ryan, and designed by David Reinfurt and Sarah Gephart of O-R-G.

Info:
http://welcometolab.org

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