Future Artefacts champions the contemporary crafters of innovative print and music formats – check out the unmissable imprints featured at the festival
Soundstage UK have provided a customised exclusive FUTURE ARTEFACTS Rega RP1 turntable to giveaway to a Dazed reader. Soundstage UK will be bringing a selection of Rega turntables to the FUTURE ARTEFACTS event
In a world swarming with digital debris, Future Artefacts is forging a sanctuary for the producers of the most beautiful physical objects in media today – from books and magazines, to records and cassettes. Founded by Ben Freeman (of Ditto Press) and Deano Jo (of Real Gold), the London-based fair champions independent record labels, art house publishers, indie press and magazines that take pride in the craftsmanship and physicality of modern-day media.
In the case of music, that not only means album artwork, but also the creation of three-dimensional sound in the form of data-driven sculptures - “physical content” that has the potential to revolutionise the way we consume music. As for books, it's about objects to treasure in a future-oriented archive - so you’d be wrong in thinking that innovation and experimentation weren’t part of the equation.
Kicking off Friday 23 October at Shoreditch Studios, the fair offers an awesome lineup of collateral events including club nights and a panel hosted by Dazed on Saturday 24 October. Ahead of Future Artefacts opening its doors, here are some of the imprints featured that you won’t want to miss.
DITTO PRESS
Given that its founder boasts a background in underground music scenes and tribal culture, Ditto Press (more or less) sticks to the subjects that it knows best: subculture. Based in east London, it was the first ever Risograph print studio in the UK, and takes pride in establishing the ways in which print and digital publishing mediums work best in tandem.
Possibly its most popular book, Skinhead: An Archive explores one of the most controversial and misunderstood subcultures through the filter of printed material, zines, posters and films. The publication features an exclusive font design developed and adapted from a skinhead article in Penthouse magazine, and available to download from the Ditto site.
ONE LITTLE INDIAN
Since its inception in 1985 by members of anarchist punk band Flux of Pink Indians, One Little Indian has infused its ethos with the DIY principles and anarchistic ideals of independent labels much like the brainchild of 80s band Crass. But that doesn’t stop it cultivating an amalgam of music from Wild Palms to Björk.
For the Future Artefact fair, One Little Indian will be bringing Björk’s “Stonemilker (pattern Rework)”, only to be released in extra-limited quantities - on single-sided etched translucent 12" vinyl in a die-cut sleeve with an MP3 download card. They’ll also be presenting Olga Bell’s new EP Incitation on clear white swirled vinyl with a limited edition holographic sleeve, together with Samaris’ Silkidranger Sessions on coloured vinyl.
BARON MAGAZINE
If you haven’t heard of Baron Magazine, stop hibernating because this paperback for ladies and gentlemen alike offers an artistic lens on the changing landscape of everyone’s furtive favourite – porn. Imagine what you could do with a camcorder, four-poster bed and a bunch of lingerie-clad, neigh, nude women, and that’s more or less what you’ll get from Baron – topped with clotted cream and maybe a pair of bespoke leather handcuffs – filtered through the postmodern lens of Baudrillard, before its pixilation by an internet-age aesthetic.
Copies of the magazine alongside Baron Apparel and an exclusive, archival photographic print by Jonathan Baron will all be featured at the fair. The c-type print, “Crystal Nipple”, comes from from a shoot in collaboration with Dazed 100 star Isamaya Ffrench, available in an edition of ten, signed and numbered on reverse.
RIDINGHOUSE
Revered for publishing superlative art writing and criticism, Ridinghouse sets its task in unearthing art history, and pays special attention to individual artists and projects. Founded in 1995, this London-based press focuses on producing high quality, beautifully designed and engaging art publications.
Featured at Future Artefacts will be Tabula Rasa, a volume that brings together silkscreens on canvas since the 80s by the British artist John Stezaker. But the modern twist lies in the artist’s hand-altered intervention to a single plate of this book, disrupting a landscape scene in a way that evokes a cinematic projection screen.
REIFY
Born and bred in NYC, REIFY is a “physical music platform” that translates sound into something we can hear, see and even hold. Employing 3D technologies and augmented reality, the art-meets-tech company encodes physical sculptures with music and visuals, which can be played on your mobile device using the REIFY Stylus app. Essentially, it walks the bridge between digital and physical realities, inviting you to join.
Expect to see details of its display at the Future Artefacts here
DIAGONAL RECORDS
Under the joint stewardship of Oscar Powell and Jaime Williams, Diagonal Records has become one of London’s most forward-thinking and respected independent labels. Seeking to do to techno what DNA did to punk, Diagonal combines raw and acidic floor music with razor-sharp art from creative director Guy Featherstone, injecting a dose of febrile punk spirit into contemporary club culture.
Future Artefacts will see rare editions from the label’s catalogue, alongside newly commissioned prints and garb exclusive to the fair. As their 25th release approaches, Diagonal Records are also producing an A2 print to represent the history of the label, featuring a downloadable code to access all 25 tracks in chronological order.
PAN
As Marshall McLuhan declared, “the medium is the massage”, and the Berlin-based record label PAN seems steadfast in supporting that stance. Set on adapting to the changing cultural and material conditions of contemporary musicians and artists, since 2008 PAN has fostered the experimental scene of sound-based art practices in its multi-national home city – from established artists like Rashad Becker and Florian Hecker to emerging talents such as M.E.S.H., Helena Hauff and Visionist.
Expect to see details of its display at the fair here
SELF PUBLISH, BE HAPPY
Self Publish, Be Happy (SPBH) collects, studies and promotes self-published photography books and zines through exhibitions, workshops, publications and on/off line projects. Most of the photographers it features have grown up on Flickr, Tumblr and/or Instagram, but through zine-making have found a way in which to not only make their work tangible but, also, translate their online network into an offline community.
Future Artefacts will include a publication from SPBH Editions – one of two divisions that make up the organisation. “Fire in Cairo” by Matthew Connors is a strikingly atmospheric document of revolutionary struggle in Egypt. Traversing reportage, poetry and surrealism, it heightens the tensions between beauty, threat and historical consequence.
LUCKYME
Born in the orbit of the Glasgow School of Art in the mid 00s, LuckyMe is the DIY record label and art collective, that since its humble beginnings has helped to define contemporary hip hop and pop culture. With growing global influence on new electronic music, LuckyMe releases have been charted by Ripperton, Ben Pearce, MANIK, Jacques Greene and more than 150 others.
Lucky Me will launch the long-awaited album by Parc en Ciel, Path Integral, exclusively at Future Artefacts. The record is released on 180g-heavyweight vinyl with cover photography by Christina Kernohan and design by Dominic Flannigan.
LANDFILL EDITIONS
Since late 2009 the indie publishing project, Landfill Editions, has released an entire spectrum of material from artists’ books and objects to comics, zines, prints, short fiction and science-fact. Born in Stockholm and based in Nottingham, the project is most known for its eye-popping series of magazine-anthologies entitled Mould Map, dedicated to new comics and narrative art. Future Artefacts will showcase the newest, and possibly maddest, edition of the series – “Mould Map 4”, edited by Hugh Frost and Leon Sadler.
For a full list of club nights and events, click here. Future Artefacts runs 23-25 October at Shorditch Studios, London