25 Nov 2008, Written by Laura Pearson in literary, zines, 0 Comments
Preserving Our Independents: Mule and Proximity
Chicago is not exactly a magazine publishing hub, but it is, many have demonstrated, a hub of hard work and resourcefulness. Often in this City of the Big Shoulders, if you want to see a specific sort of magazine in circulation, you have to shoulder the task of publishing it yourself. Liz Tapp and Mairead Case are two such hard-working and resourceful (not to mention good-humored and epically creative) Chicagoans who, via various collaborations, devote much of their spare time to publishing independent arts and culture magazines.
Tapp is a freelance designer who, along with Emily Clayton, Chris Roberson, Joseph Shipp, Jennifer Brandel, and Nick Dupey, puts out Mule—a biannual magazine that’s a cross-pollination of Tennessee and Chicago talent. Mule’s mission is to “document and celebrate” creative cultural producers—people who are generating ideas often overlooked by traditional media. Tapp and co. have released five issues, the last of which was free, and they’re currently working on issue #6.
Case, a freelance writer and Assistant Director of the Neighborhood Writing Alliance, is the Managing Editor of a new art magazine called Proximity. The core staff includes Ed Marszewski, Rachael Marszewski, Case, and Michael Freimuth, all of whom work to bring readers into close Proximity with “local and global art ecologies” by thoughtfully mapping various artists and art spaces. The third issue of Proximity hits newsstands in December.
I corresponded with Tapp and Case about the origins of their respective projects and what keeps them inspired in a time when it’s not so easy to publish magazines, much less those of the independent variety. As it turns out, both are pretty sold on Chicago, where, according to Tapp, people are driven not by ego but by the desire “to just be making something,” and where, Case says, “you can bomb one project or want to change your focus, [and] you don’t have to leave town to do it.” Viva la windiest of cities!
Mule MAGAZINE: Mom-as-Springboard
Laura Pearson: So to refresh my memory, Mule began in Tennessee, right? How exactly did the project emerge?
Liz Tapp: We started as a graphic design independent study at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga. The idea was to just design a magazine, but we started generating real content and selling real ad space. We couldn’t have printed a real run though. Then one day I was bemoaning how expensive it was to print 1,000 copies, and my mom surprised me by giving me the remaining 3/4ths of the money needed to print the first issue. That was the springboard for the whole project.
LP: Did you always plan to continue Mule when you moved to Chicago?
LT: We made two issues in Tennessee and by then I was hooked. I loved trying to come up with interviews and gather content. Chris Roberson and Emily Clayton, who live here in Chicago now, got onboard with issue #2, and so did Joseph Shipp and eventually the lovely Jenn Brandel and Nick Dupey. It’s a joint Chicago/Tennessee project, which is exciting. Our Tennessee collaborators have so much going on that rarely gets shown to the world. Tennessee is a treasure chest of visual art, music, and experimentation. Here in Chicago I’ve found that really talented people are willing to collaborate and volunteer their efforts. I think that’s the beauty of Chicago: It’s a big city, but people do things so egolessly. They get involved just to be making something. I was largely inspired by all of the Terry Plumming and Lumpen efforts as well. They influenced my perspective on how relevant independent publishing can be.
LP: How have you changed and improved Mule since issue #1?
LT: Getting an amazing print rep—like Chris from Westcan—meant we could figure out the most affordable and effective ways to print… Also, we’ve streamlined the design and editing process. Naturally, all of our designers have gotten much faster, post-graduation. Jenn Brandel brought a lot of editing finesse to the table. Plus, we’re slowly growing a consistent advertising base. Our advertisers have been fiercely loyal, and that’s the one thing that’s let us keep getting it out there.
LP: How would you like to see the magazine evolve?
LT: I’d love for it to eventually pay for itself entirely. Right now out-of-pocket money is minimal, considering, but I’d love for it to be less of a struggle to pay for.
I feel really happy with the content, and I always learn from what people submit. I think the content and look of the magazine has been naturally evolving with each issue, so hopefully that will continue and not just plateau. I used to hope for fancier printing quality—perfect-bound, more color pages—but I’ve come to really love the puzzle of making content fit, as well as the varying format. Being [on] recycled paper now is just befitting.
LP: Your last issue, #5, was free. How did you make that happen?
LT: We were having a really hard time collecting money off of sales; so ultimately making it free wasn’t much of a money loss. All of us in the crew are employed and have other personal projects, so we want what little valuable magazine time we have to be used in the creative process… Making the magazine free freed it from sitting on shelves untouched and meant anyone who wants one can have it.
LP: Now, to wrap up in a totally corny way: In three words, how would you describe your independent publishing experiences in Chicago?
LT: Supported. Pushed. Surrounded.
Proximity MAGAZINE: Platforms and Microphones
LP: How did the idea for Proximity originate and who were the originators?
Mairead Case: Proximity originated several years ago at a panel on alt media at the Chicago Cultural Center. Ed Marszewski, our publisher, was on the panel and said he’d offer anyone in the room the chance to create a new publication. He promised to help fund it, but nobody took him up on the offer. Maybe they thought he was kidding! Anyway, several years later—this [past] January—Ed and his wife, Rachael, decided to start the mag themselves. Some friends thought it was a stupid idea and some, a necessary one. Others thought the newly married Marszewskis were blinded by love in the increasingly tough industry of print publishing. But in the end, Ed and Rachael’s horoscopes said they were supposed to publish media together. So they went for it. Right around then, the Marszewskis asked me to edit it and Michael Freimuth to design it. We said yes, found an amazing team of critical and cultural magicians, and went to work. Bless you, Dunkin Donuts at 31st and Halsted.
LP: The magazine is so dense and colorful and beautifully designed! Was this always the plan (density, color), and if I may ask, how do you go about funding it? Does the funding come via the Public Media Institute?
MC: Michael’s an amazing designer. And in our next issue—the third—we’re joined by a new Art Director, Chad Kouri of the Post Family. He’s amazing as well and has brought some great people on board and is really building brilliantly on Michael’s vision. So a lot of that is these rad, experienced people and their equally inspirational friends. That said, we are also fueled by hard work, advertisements, private donations, grants, and contributions from people who attend Public Media Institute events.
LP: What features of the magazine do you think do a particularly nice job of "amplifying discourse on local and global art ecologies"?
MC: It’s interesting that you’d pull that phrase out. We especially like the term "amplify," because our broadest goal is giving platforms and microphones to as many of the new, amazing, and occasionally marginalized art, networks, and techniques as we can…. The only thing we’re creating, really, is the format. So in that sense, it’s less a question of what’s succeeding overall as it is how effectively we are listening…and doing and showing and constructively criticizing.
Personally, though, I always look forward to "Together," Brett Bloom and Salem Collo-Julin’s column on collaborations. I was inspired by Ben Schaafsma’s fine, forward-thinking work. I learn from Erika Mikkalo’s smart black humor. And I admire how people like Charlie Vinz and Nicolas Lampert consistently and effectively mix art and politics in their pieces. There’s a lot more!
LP: The next issue will be distributed at Art Basel Miami Beach. Why was it important for you to be able to distribute Proximity at this event, besides, of course, there being a ton of artists and arts organizations there?
MC: Well, in part we just want to hang out. We are a printed art magazine at a time when that’s a really hard thing to be [with any] sustainability, so we are hoping to meet future collaborators and new audiences…. Also, we want to show that Chicago is a vibrant and exciting place to be, artistically and politically. Finally and personally, I’m stoked that somebody who’s already into Hamburger Eyes might pick us up because of that, and then find out about ACT UP’s protests at Cook County Hospital in the ‘90s. Or vice versa. Or read a reviews section focused on impact instead of product placement. Or how to fund Hamburger Eyes 2 using InCUBATE’s forward-thinking fundraising techniques!
LP: What three words (give or take) would you use to describe your independent publishing experiences in Chicago?
MC: First off, it has been great. Having been in, or near, the city since 2002, I’ve lived many different writing lives, and each time I’ve found a welcoming, reasonably open community. People here let you try new things or consider others. And if you bomb one project or want to change your focus, you don’t have to leave town to do it. New York will always be hot, but I’m pretty sure that Chicago’s a place where you can make work for your whole life, learn to fail better, and be a full person while you do. And can I name three people instead of three words? Dan Sinker, Studs Terkel, Gwendolyn Brooks. Amen.
Interested in Mule? View an issue online, then pick up a real live copy at Quimby’s in Chicago—or any of the others stores listed on the website.
Interested in Proximity? Subscribe here, get the latest issue at Quimby’s, or, if you’d like to contribute, email Mairead Case at mairead.case@gmail.com.
Interested in full-disclosure? Laura Pearson has contributed articles to Mule and Proximity, and Paul M. Davis has published in Proximity. You should contribute too!
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