LONDON.- The ICA welcomes back the Artist Self-Publishers Fair (ASP) for its second London run. ASP2: The Sequel will host over 70 UK and international independent artist self-publishers for a one-day fair, including; Hate : Issue 3, The Nervemeter and work by David Osbaldeston and Laura Yuile among others.
Following on from the success of the 2015 ASP this years edition continues, featuring only artist self-publishers. At the fair, the publications are the art works; affordable and available, with the ideas, images and text produced and published by artists who understand the restrictions and freedoms of the printed page. Artists included in this years fair include; Stephen Willats, Jean-Michel Wicker, Coelacanth Journal, Hate, Good Press, X Marks the bokship, Da Thirst and Fritz Welch.
Hate will be exclusively launching their third issue at ASP2, focusing on the profound and often isolating world of mental health. This will include an interview with Carl Cattermole, who brought his HMS Prison Survival Guide, about mental health and the prison system, to ASP 2015. Dani Miller, will be focusing on medication in the US and how creativity can be a source of comfort to mental health sufferers.
Speaking about the Hate publications, founders Luisa Le Voguer Couyet and Scarlett Carlos Clarke explain: Hate was founded for many reasons; frustration, apathy, anger, and a desire to make something tangible. We also wanted to create a safe space for people from different backgrounds to feel included and to join us collectively in working on every issue. It is so important that marginalised voices do not remain silent any longer. Taking inspiration from the political and social climate around us, we know that creativity is vital in buoying the morale and spirit of a society when things are hard. Creativity can be a lifeline for some people.
Other contributors to Hates third issue will include; Robert Rubbish, Joe Sweeney, Lotte Andersen, Josh Whettingsteel, Sophie Wedgwood, Robert Greer, Alexander Sebley, Tom Beard, Danny Fox, Laura Hemming-Lowe amongst others. Subjects will include scientific links between mental health and creativity, the fetishisation of mental health by arts, media, music, popular culture, and artists discussing mental health within their works.
Also returning to ASP2 will be The Nervemeter, a non-profit organisation that publishes a counter-culture magazine sold on the streets by homeless people, hostel dwellers and those who are precariously-housed. The printing of the magazine is paid for by donations and the vendors keep all the money they make.
David Osbaldeston, senior Fine Art Lecturer at Manchester School of Art, will be presenting his work which engages with language in relation to its visual representation and takes the form of installation, posters, drawing, print media, and self-publishing. The work explores humour and absurdism through 'word signs in a bid to produce observations which escape language as utility.
Osbaldeston describes ASP as an event which affords artists the opportunity to work under their own terms of procedure and exchange. He will be producing a series of woodcut prints which will allude to aspects of technology together with the information it transmits under the pluralised and systemised conditions of contemporary life.
Artist Laura Yuile works predominantly in sculpture, video and performance; but will be presenting new works for the fair taking the form of images published on items such as leggings, bags, travel mugs and notepads. She has been working on the series for the past year, hijacking an online platform that allows any user to have their artwork printed and sold to the public on a range of standardised products. Yuile will be bringing to the fair a range titled 'Rise Above' featuring images of buildings being demolished.
Commenting on ASP, Laura Yuile said; I'm excited about taking part in ASP2 for the chance to share my work with the public in the company of so many interesting artists working with publishing in such diverse ways. It's a chance to promote my work to a new audience but also make contacts and learn more about what others are producing and thinking about.