Abe's Penny: a new "micro-publication"

Above: from Vol. 1.1 featuring  Tod Seelie and Brandon Johnson. [Link]

I just received my first installment of Abe's Penny, a new "micro-publication" that comes in the mail (yes, print on paper, not electronic), in the form of single postcards with an image and a text. They are in line with one of my favorite projects of all time (which is entirely email-driven): Carol Szymanski's inimitable Cockshut Dummy. The May volume of AP consists of photographs by Peter Bernard Killeen and a story by Eric Ledgin.

via Artnet news, 4-14-09:

ART & LITERATURE, ALL ON A SINGLE POSTCARD
Downtown Manhattan art-scene veteran Anna Knoebel, who labored in the fertile fields of artist Devon Dikeou’s Zingmagazine for several years, has launched a publishing empire of her own. Dubbed Abe’s Penny: A Micro-Magazine, the publication -- helmed by Anna with her sister, Tess Knoebel -- consists of four postcards that subscribers receive one by one, once per week, for one month. Each postcard features an image and a few lines of text. The full set of four postcards is a full story. Volume 1.1 featured photos by Tod Seelie with a poem by Brandon Johnson, and Volume 1:2 had photos by Melanie Flood and a poem by Sam Witt. Subscriptions are $48. For details, see www.abespenny.com

More info, and an interview; via Pacific Standard, 4-21-09:

Print Is Dead / Long Live Print

The decline of print publishing has been chronicled just about everywhere over the past several years, and while it's always a bummer when good magazines or newspapers shut down or the New York Times seems to shrink a little more every week, I'm certain that no matter what there will always be creative-minded people who are interested in producing and searching out beautifully tactile, self-contained printed objects. I for one look forward to seeing all the innovative new works that are sure to develop in the void – projects that explore classic printing methods, innovations with new techniques, and radical ideas about what even constitutes a publication.[...]

What's behind the name?
The name, Abe's Penny, came from the penny press, which we were enamored of because making newspapers inexpensive made the spread of information affordable. Using the word penny worked because of what we were saying before about paring down a magazine to its essence, or smallest form. We decided to call it Abe's Penny because it's self-contained and referential, like the postcards.

[...]

And a cute Q&A with the editors from Evil Monito Magazine, 4-14-09:

 Q&A: Anna & Tess Knoebel

 

 

EM: Occupation and Position
Anna: Anna Knoebel, Co-Founder, Editor, Abe’s Penny

Tess:  Tess Knoebel, Co-Founder, Editor, Abe’s Penny