PhotoStatic 38: October 1989

http://psrf.detritus.net/volume/7/p38.html

The Festival of Plagiarism

It is fair to say that the editor returned from August 1989’s Festival Of Plagiarism in Glasgow, Scotland, with a fair number of new ideas and fresh inspiration. The Neoist-drenched proceedings at the Transmission Gallery during that week and the many face-to-face meetings between people previously known to each other only through the mails created a sense of solidarity and newfound friendship, at least for some of us. It’s fair to say that it was a watershed moment for PhotoStatic, for the simple fact that after the Festival, the publication would never be the same.

For one thing, this is the last time that PhotoStatic and Retrofuturism both appeared between the same set of covers. The latter title had, until this point, generally been treated as a ‘section’ or a kind of ‘column’, with its own editorial logic and sometimes even layout style.

The current issued devotes substantial page-space to a report from the Festival, photos of some of the events there, as well as writings gleaned from the other Festival participants. Graphics by Mark Pawson and an unfinished text by Florian Cramer fit into this category.

At the same time, the business of PhotoStatic carries on, with the participation of its acquired roster of columnists and usual suspects. Present are Al Ackerman, Bob Grumman’s “Vizlature” column, another installment of “Popular Culture is the Walrus of the Avant-Garde” by Tape-beatle John Heck, situationist-inspired comics by Lang Thompson, along with a myriad of other diversions.