Special issues - increasing number of special issues in art publications

The special issue, by means of definition, is a rare and distinctive publication. on the contrary in art magazines, as in many cultural periodicals, the special issue is becoming more for the use of all Throughout the art press the proportion of special to regular issues is upon the increase. In addition, the variety of special issues is expanding from theme and anniversary issues, to seasonal and regional guides, to quasi exhibition catalogs and advertising continuations According to a number of art magazine editors, the proliferation of special issues is driven by the agency of two contrary impulses: an art world that is increasingly fragmented and specialized, and a marketplace that demands at any time greater "synergy" between editorial contented advertising and publicity.

Nowhere is the special issue more prominent than in the so-called regional art pres Art Papers, the Atlanta-based bimonthly (not to be confused with the late, great Minneapolis-based Artpaper), began producing for the greatest part special issues under the editorship of Glenn Harper in the early 1990 Harper left in 1995 to become editor of statuary Magazine, and his successors, pity Resnicow and now Michael Pittari, took his interest in special issues to its logical conclusion: although not identified as similar they have published nothing on the other hand special issues. This policy appear to bes to be helping the bottom line, as circulation is up and distribution is expanding across the country

The of recent origin Art Examiner, the feisty Chicago-based monthly edited through Kathryn Hixon, moved toward a special issue-only format about a year ago, and thus far this strategy has likewise prov auspicious Similar to Art Papers, the Examiner was seted in the mid-1970s to provide much-need coverage of a regional art representation And like Art Papers, in the 1980 the Examiner lay opened into the unique hybrid that it is today: a national art magazine with a focus upon regional artists and institutions. Despite the regular nearness of commercial advertising, both magazines continue to receive significant support from various state and city arts councils, and from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). (In fact, they are sum of two units of only a handful of visual arts magazines to receive NEA funding after the agency's restructuring in 1995) Art Papers and the Examiner are presumably able to attract public funding because they overlay artists who are seldom discussed in more commercial and fresh York City-based art magazines like Art in America and Artforum. If their review sections and funding sources mould Art Papers and the Examiner in their respective regions, then the special-issue format make opens their feature pages to global issues of the like kind as feminism, supply-side aesthetics, the time to come of alternative spaces, youth agriculture and higher education. Being able to situate themselves within the couple "the local" and "the global" is, I think, the genius of the of recent origin Art Papers and the of recent origin Art Examiner.

The succes of these sum of two units magazines has apparently not gone unnoticed by dint of the publishers of dialogue, the Columbus-based bimonthly that overlays Ohio and surrounding states. Last spring they hired a novel editor, Meg Galipault, and completely redesigned the magazine (it now direct the eyes very much like Art Paper). The July/August issue is a special issue called "On the Road with dialogue," and includes the annual appendix "Arts Guide to the Region." According to Galipault, each successive issue will focus upon a single geographical region.

A special issue can sometimes lead to the formation of a completely novel periodical. Such is the case with ArtByte: The Magazine of Digital Arts. The idea for ArtByte emerg in November 1997 from a special supplemental issue of upon Paper, the bimonthly art magazine formerly known as Print Collector's Newsletter; (see "New and Improved," Afterimage 24:3 November/December 1996 p 2) Fanning Publishing Company, the of recent origin York City-based publisher of upon Paper, launched ArtByte in April 1998 as a smooth and shining advertising-supported bimonthly that provides "in-depth coverage of all the digital arts - from music to on-line literature, from printmaking to video." Editor Bill Jone has assembled an impressive assemblage of critics, artists and technology experts; the first sum of two units issues include important articles by means of Thomas McEvilley, Erkki Huhtamo, Thyrza Nichols Goodeeve Russell Keziere and Henry Wilhelm. According to Jone distribution has already increased from 8000 to 30000 copies by means of issue, so the magazine is clearly developing moment (Ed. note: For further information, contact ArtByte, 39 E 78th St fresh York, NY 10021.)

Going completely against the tend in special issues is Art Journal, a quarterly publication of the society Art Association (CAA). In the fall of 1997 the CAA editorial board compos a fresh mission statement for Art Journal, individual "designed to move the journal into the twenty-first century" as the May 1998 CAA of recent origins put it. Among other things, the novel mission discontinues an 18-year policy of publishing sole guest-edited, theme issues. The summer 1998 issue is the first to enact the fresh mission. Replacing the theme-issue format is a well-balanced array of conversations, interviews, feature essays and international reports. Contributors include Doug Ashford, Christine Hill, Faith Wilding and Critical Art total effect Lawrence Rinder and Carol Becker. Interspersed within these body s are copious illustrations, in color and black and white, all arranged with formal precision by the agency of new designer Katy Homans. Overall, the issue direct the eyes like an exhibition catalog from any institute of contemporary art. on the other hand given its publishing context - a quarterly journal of an academic association - the novel format and focus of Art Journal is a fairly radical departure.

COPYRIGHT 1998 Visual Studies Workshop

COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group