The second issue of Plastic in Utero: a journal of anti-civ anarchy reborn from the compost of wasteland modernity (PIU) has been finished for about a week. Now that every author has been sent their copy, I'm happy to get it into the hands of more folks. As last time, $3 a copy or we can trade for stickers, zines, etc. Bulk orders are cool, too. Just reach out.
ToC:
1. "Dandelion Dreams" by anarchist prisoner, Sean Swain (poem) [hand-written!]
2. "Sodomy and Sigils in the Circle Pit" by Jason Rodgers, [book review of "Queercore: how to punk a revolution, by Warfield, Crasshole, and Leyser)
3. "Yes, Collapse" by John Zerzan (essay)
4. "Does Anarcho-Primitivism Still Matter?" by Artxmis Graham Thoreau (essay)
5. Excerpt from Joadanus Olivas' 'Prison Ponzi Profiteer Psychology Plot'. Animated and submitted by Cien (except and advertisement)
6. Untitled poem by Jason Rodgers (poem)
7. "We Live: A Late Night Conversation" by Nazel Pickens (short-story)
8/9. Artwork by Minona and Illustrious_Monarch
10. "The City is Everywhere" by Steve Kirk (essay)
11. Sascha Engel's anti-alphabet rendition of "Plastic in Utero- a journal of anti civ anarchy" (what the fuck do you call that?)
12. Updated version of "Locating a Green and Pink Anarchy" by Artxmis Graham Thoreau (essay)
13. "Defining the queer: existential deviance." by Minona (essay)
14. Short list of anarchist prisoners and how to contact them
15. Letter section
16. "The Sixth Sun Rises" by Walks With Knives (creative non-fiction essay)
17. "Paths, or: how the vines consumed my identity" by Abrum Ahul (creative non-fiction essay)
From the preface:
The Medium is the Message: Preface to Plastic in Utero #2.
Plastic in Utero: a journal of anti-civ anarchy reborn from the compost of wasteland modernity (from now on, PIU) has already grown beyond my expectations. The first PIU went international, all the way to New Zealand and Ireland. It sold, at the time of writing this (10-October-2023), over 90 copies. That might not seem like a lot to some of you, but for my first zine, I was overjoyed to see the interest! The hype around PIU didn’t even allow for a public call of submissions for the second number, nearly every participant reached out to me directly or the topic came up naturally in conversation.
PIU, by its nature as a cut and paste zine that isn’t reliant on digital distribution, is a great example of McLuhan’s idea that “the medium is the message,” meaning the emphasis is on the medium of expression, and less so the content. As the world becomes more and more reliant on the Internet, social media, and information overload, zines like this (and so many others of higher importance) are needed now more than ever! I’ve had folks ask me to upload it online. My answer is and will continue to be an emphatic NO. If others wish to upload, that is fine by me, I simply don’t want to digitize my hobby and life further.
Speaking of the medium and message, readers of PIU #1 might notice there is less art in this number. I wanted to be more intentional with the background art I included, favoring more text content. Many of those close to me felt PIU #1 would have benefited from more pieces and I took this to heart. I’ve done my best to include as many different authors as possible, particularly to show the diversity of thought around Anti/Post-Left anarchy and the topic idea of “identity" which is the central idea of this issue.
I chose the topic idea of identity because the Left (in particular, the professional-academic form of it) has monopolized how radicals discuss issues of identity, and how we deal with conflicts of identity, internal and external.
More often than not, the Left pushes “if you’re not x identity, you can’t engage with y discourse” which only essentializes identity, instead of negating it. Identity is a tool we’ve been enslaved to…
…or, to put it as Max Stirner does, “Only when nothing is said about you and you are merely named, are you recognized as you. As soon as something is said about you, you are only recognized as that thing…”
As always, many thanks to the authors and others who expressed interest in this project. It literally cannot happen without you. The hope going forward is to have 2 issues a year if the interest in this project continues. Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter. To support, consider writing your own essays (no more than 2,500 words), artwork (b/w only), letters (no more than 500 words), or poetry.
Our distro currently has
Plastic in Utero issue #1
Plastic in Utero issue #2
Feel free to send copies of zines (yours or not) for us to distro! We’d love to cooperate and platform others’ work. Stay tuned for reprints and solo-author zines, too!
Orders are $3 or we can trade literature, stickers, etc. Bulk orders are an option. Reach out if you’re interested in that. Any thoughts, submissions, order requests, letters, and non-explosive packages can be sent to:
Plastic in Utero / Uncivilized Distro
PO Box 72
Seymour, IL 61875
Comments
Email
ArtxmisGrahamThoreau Sun, 11/19/2023 - 08:34
If it is easier for anyone to email me..
tmwg1995@protonmail.com
artxmisthoreau@gmail.com
post the pdf
anon (not verified) Sun, 11/19/2023 - 15:17
post the pdf
Add new comment