Skank Bloc Bologna (2008-10)

Art and poetry journal

Presented at NY Art Bookfair (2009) courtesy of Silverman Gallery and (2011) White Columns; Book It!, New Langton Arts, San Francisco; Poetic Research Bureau, Los Angeles; Art Publishing Now, Southern Exposure, San Francisco; Frieze Art Fair, London, courtesy of Owl Books.

Skank Bloc Bologna is inspired by Semina a free-form journal published by Wallace Berman in California in the 50′ and 60’s. Housed in a 10 x 13 inch envelope, each issue of Skank offers a loose leaf collection of works with each piece able to stand on its own or be re-configured within the collection. Rather than offer a thematic framework the collections are open to interpretation. Works from an international cast of writers, poets and artists include Allen Ruppersberg, Ryan Gander, Anne Waldman, Urs Fisher, Annika Larsson, Colter Jacobson, Alejandro Cesarco, Bernadette Mayer and many more.

“May Skank have the life that Semina did” – Mark Beasley, Creative Time, New York.

“A smart choice of artists…” – Matthew Higgs, White Columns.

The fourth issue formed the framework for my recent programmer residency at Berkeley Art Museum’s L@TE series and became the first time-based and paper issue. Invited artists including Tosh Berman, Jennifer Locke, Allan de Souza, William Wiley and others contributed performance, spoken word, screenings, sound, and conversation loosely themed around Skank music, Bologna, Wallace Berman and Scritti Politti. Over the course of the series, remnants from these contributions— built into the paper issue.

“One of the distinctive ideas behind Skank Bloc Bologna Number Four seems to be a blurring of lines between performance and artifact, in the sense that live happenings become the basis of the physical publication - Peter Cavagnaro, Berkeley Art Museum.

“…the wonderful mis-en-scene you created which transformed and held the space” – Larry Rinder, Director Berkeley Art Museum.

Video clip of opening night

“Skankin’ with Anne Colvin” interview