Comments on: ASPEN MAGAZINE adapted for the web

ASPEN MAGAZINE adapted for the web

xian — Fri, 15 Nov 2002 16:56:55 -0800

Before there was McSweeney's... Phyllis Johnson published 10 issues of Aspen, a multimedia magazine in a box to which the USPS denied second-class mail rates. After a few issues that stayed close to the ski resort in terms of theme, the magazine began bringing in guest editors and addressing cutting edge art and media, in New York, Britain, Asia, and the minds of cultural critics and psychedlic drug users. Andy Warhol participated in Issue 3 and the Fluxus movement dominated Issue 8. There were 10 issues in all, the first 9 of which are featured in this new web adaptation at Ubuweb. At the risk of only posting whenever Andrew Stafford unveils another cool web-native multimedia art project, I thought a lot of Metafiltrates would appreciate this interpretation of Aspen Magazine

By: four panels

four panels — Fri, 15 Nov 2002 17:02:52 -0800

Excellent post.

By: MiguelCardoso

MiguelCardoso — Fri, 15 Nov 2002 17:24:03 -0800

Very much appreciated indeed, xian - thank you. I specially enjoyed the last link and, although I'm a McSweeney's lifetimer (and they do keep delivering the goods) I had never heard of Aspen, so it doubled my pleasure.

By: amberglow

amberglow — Fri, 15 Nov 2002 18:27:22 -0800

i've been going through this stuff for hours--excellent!...and sort of a better (more art and thought than fashion and photography) precursor to today's Visionaire It's so interesting to see the change from a crisp and pop and highstyle asthetic to an more handmade and eclectic and hippie-ish vibe as the years went on...

By: fuzz

fuzz — Fri, 15 Nov 2002 19:05:35 -0800

Post of the month. I was about to give up on MeFi for good, gems like this pull me back. I don't want to derail the thread, but can someone explain to me the appeal of McSweeney's? It's got a lot of clever jokes, but clever is not the same as funny, and it seems to me like it's always the same joke. Don't get me wrong, I think Eggers is a pretty good writer, but McSweeney's makes me wonder if I'm just too old. Hard for me to compare it to the stuff I see in Aspen. Can someone enlighten me?

By: Pretty_Generic

Pretty_Generic — Fri, 15 Nov 2002 19:37:39 -0800

What a post! Also from Ubuweb - the glorious Found + Insane.

By: abez

abez — Fri, 15 Nov 2002 20:02:22 -0800

Wow they have tracks from Burroughs and Cage!

By: iconomy

iconomy — Fri, 15 Nov 2002 20:37:45 -0800

Here's the correct link to the Duchamp site. I love the fact that the Aspen issues included flexi-discs. I'm listening to the Preludes by Alexander Scriabin right now. Great stuff, thanks.

By: mad

mad — Sat, 16 Nov 2002 04:57:52 -0800

Awesome post. Thank you Xian.

By: xian

xian — Sat, 16 Nov 2002 07:54:05 -0800

sorry about the bad link to Making Sense of Marcel Duchamp though!

By: jonp72

jonp72 — Sat, 16 Nov 2002 17:10:12 -0800

The third issue of Aspen contained a flexidisk by the Velvet Underground that is one of the rarest recordings issued by that group. The song was called, "Loop," and it could be made to play ad infinitum, because the record had a locked groove.

By: ubueditor

ubueditor — Sat, 16 Nov 2002 19:03:29 -0800

Here's the Velvet's "Loop" on MP3.