PLAZM #29: NEW MAGAZINE + RELEASE PARTY SEPT. 26

When not doing 2GQ, my secret alter-identity is now a co-editor at Plazm magazine, a veritable institution of Portland art, culture, and design since 1991. Our new issue features Yoko Ono, Todd Haynes, JD Samson (Le Tigre), Storm Tharp, Domenick Ammirati, Lidia Yuknavitch, Marvin Bell, and a pull-out poster of Portland music from The Wipers to Nequaquam Vacuum.

Oh, and The End of War. And Marilyn Monroe, and Elvis, and Bill Walton, and psychedelic posters, and all kinds of stuff. Keep reading for the press release.

PARTY: Sept 26, Ace Hotel on SW Stark & 10th in downtown Portland, bands and DJ's (Glass Candy, Hooliganship, Evolutionary Jass Band, more), cheap, all ages, plus art benefiting Veterans for Peace. Please do come.

For Immediate Release

September 14th, 2007

Plazm Magazine excavates collective memory with a massive new issue and September 26 release party.

PORTLAND, ORE. -- "To hell with the new."

So begins the newest issue of Plazm, the Pacific Northwest's premier art, culture, and design magazine. Plazm's largest issue ever clocks in at 160 pages of photography, art, and interviews featuring Yoko Ono, Art Chantry, Sue Coe, Storm Tharp, Todd Haynes, and JD Samson (formerly of Le Tigre), among many others. A release party is set for September 26 at Portland's Ace Hotel, with bands, DJ's, and an "End of War" art exhibit and sale benefiting Veterans For Peace.

Plazm #29 delves into our culture's collective memory, from a collectible poster of Portland's DIY music history to previously unpublished photographs of Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe, unearthed by image archivist Thomas Robinson. Paintings of Bob Dylan by Todd Haynes, director of Far from Heaven, Velvet Goldmine, and the Dylan biopic I'm Not There, are published here for the first time. Yoko Ono says the flag-waving days of the '60s should be behind us, while Andrew Hultkrans traces ominous similarities between the Nixon administration and current politics.

"This isn't about nostalgia," says Tiffany Lee Brown, a co-editor with Jon Raymond and art director Joshua Berger. "This issue of Plazm is about what's happening now. We're taking stock of the past to make sense of the present."

Current life in Iraq, in the States, and in Portland are represented in photography by Robbie McLaren, Daniel Peterson, and by unembedded photojournalists in Iraq. Seripop's mind-blowing psychedelic poster designs make a splash along with new fiction from Domenick Ammirati. Curator Stephanie Snyder engages artist Jessica Jackson Hutchins in conversation, and Sarah Gottesdiener talks art, music, and queer culture with JD Samson. One section asks designers, writers, and performance artists to address the idea of "The End of War," with pieces by Alex Lilly, Marvin Bell, Rebeca Méndez and Adam Eeuwens, Lidia Yuknavitch, and Jamie McMurry, among others.

"Plazm is an independent magazine filled with the voices of designers and artists speaking their minds within the vast media monopoly that surrounds us," says Berger, a co-founder of the publication at its inception in 1991. "By doing this, I believe we have the power to change the world."

The Plazm #29 Release Party
The new Plazm will be unveiled on September 26th at the Ace Hotel (1022 SW Stark St., Portland). It is expected to be a blast, with performances from Evolutionary Jass Band, Hooliganship, and Glass Candy, and a Vanessa Renwick film screening. The End of War art exhibit and sale features works on paper by artists such as David Eckard, Art Chantry, Storm Tharp, Kristan Kennedy, Philip Iosca, Horatio Law, and more, benefiting Veterans for Peace.

DJ BJ, DJ Linoleum, and DJ Girlfriends will keep the dance floor moving, and Saint Cupcakes will bring on the treats. The cost is $3, and all ages are welcome. Doors open at 8:00 PM, and bands start at 9:00 PM. The party is sponsored by New Deal Vodka, New Belgium Brewing, Guayaki Yerba Maté, and Phoenix Media.

About Plazm
Founded in 1991 by Portland artists as a creative resource, today Plazm is an award-winning design firm. The annual Plazm magazine publishes challenging and innovative art, design, cultural, and literary works and is distributed worldwide. The design studio tells compelling stories, works toward social and environmental change, and builds solid brands by creating magazines, web sites, event spaces, books, advertising, and retail experiences. Clients include Nike, LucasFilms, ESPN, Skylab Architecture, Cooley Gallery, and Portland Center Stage.

Plazm was listed in 1997 in ID magazine as one of the world's 40 most influential design firms and has been featured in numerous publications and award shows including the 100 show, AIGA national show, the Art Director's Club, Eye, Communication Arts, Graphis, and IDEA. The studio's depth of experience in editorial design is showcased in the Plazm-authored XXX: The Power of Sex in Contemporary Design (Rockport, 2004, with writer Sarah Dougher), which won a gold medal at the Portland Design Festival. Plazm received the Creative Resistance award from Adbusters in 2001.

The magazine's complete catalog is included in the permanent collection of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.

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