#artistsperiodicals

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.

Art/life
Published: [Santa Barbara, Calif. : Joe Cardella, -c2006.
-v. 25, no. 11.
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