admin
22 December 2023
Brett Beighley has been making zines since 1992. And now, more than ten years later, he has stopped.
What Brett is producing now, although it could probably be herded into the category of “zine”, is far more intimate and way more beautiful than any zine out there. I’m talking about House Interlocutor; the zine that became a work of art.
Brett’s zines from his early days were nothing more than a few Xeroxed pages stapled together. Its contents? Interviews with friends, some drawings, and a lot of “ads” and pictures of skaters doing tricks. Pretty typical kid fodder, but still a hell of a feat for someone who started all this madness up in eighth grade. And this isn’t to say that House Interlocutor doesn’t still have some of those same elements. Well, okay. There aren’t any pictures of skaters in there. But everything else still holds true.
What’s different, however, is how mature the work has become. His newest copy (Issue three, Volume two), is by far his most impressive yet. The new book features the work of five artists: Ben Mistak (who is featured this month as our Untapped Talent), Daichi Hayden, Marci Russell, Milan Zori, and Beighley himself. Weighing in at over 140 pages and printed in full color, this book is a masterpiece.
Beighley does everything himself: interviewing, writing, typesetting, photographing-- even layout and design. And it all goes together extremely well. It’s cohesiveness is what gives it such a professional look.
For those of you who don’t know, the word “interlocutor” means: “Someone who takes part in a conversation, often formally or officially.” And that’s exactly what Brett does here. He opens up conversations with fellow artists, and gets a dialogue going that makes you feel like you’re honestly learning from that person. There is nothing cold or sterile about House Interlocutor. You know from the start that the people featured within its pages are very dear to Brett. And that intimacy is what makes it more than just another zine.
The popularity of zines has grown a lot over the last few years. With the printing of Despite Everything by Aaron Cometbus, and Answer Me! by Jim Goad, it seems that the publishing industry has finally realized that these wonderful pieces of culture can be collected and distributed to a much larger audience for a more manageable price. If someone is wise and you are lucky, they will approach Beighley and publish a collected works. He deserves it.
CONTACT BRETT HERE.
What Brett is producing now, although it could probably be herded into the category of “zine”, is far more intimate and way more beautiful than any zine out there. I’m talking about House Interlocutor; the zine that became a work of art.
Brett’s zines from his early days were nothing more than a few Xeroxed pages stapled together. Its contents? Interviews with friends, some drawings, and a lot of “ads” and pictures of skaters doing tricks. Pretty typical kid fodder, but still a hell of a feat for someone who started all this madness up in eighth grade. And this isn’t to say that House Interlocutor doesn’t still have some of those same elements. Well, okay. There aren’t any pictures of skaters in there. But everything else still holds true.
What’s different, however, is how mature the work has become. His newest copy (Issue three, Volume two), is by far his most impressive yet. The new book features the work of five artists: Ben Mistak (who is featured this month as our Untapped Talent), Daichi Hayden, Marci Russell, Milan Zori, and Beighley himself. Weighing in at over 140 pages and printed in full color, this book is a masterpiece.
Beighley does everything himself: interviewing, writing, typesetting, photographing-- even layout and design. And it all goes together extremely well. It’s cohesiveness is what gives it such a professional look.
For those of you who don’t know, the word “interlocutor” means: “Someone who takes part in a conversation, often formally or officially.” And that’s exactly what Brett does here. He opens up conversations with fellow artists, and gets a dialogue going that makes you feel like you’re honestly learning from that person. There is nothing cold or sterile about House Interlocutor. You know from the start that the people featured within its pages are very dear to Brett. And that intimacy is what makes it more than just another zine.
The popularity of zines has grown a lot over the last few years. With the printing of Despite Everything by Aaron Cometbus, and Answer Me! by Jim Goad, it seems that the publishing industry has finally realized that these wonderful pieces of culture can be collected and distributed to a much larger audience for a more manageable price. If someone is wise and you are lucky, they will approach Beighley and publish a collected works. He deserves it.
CONTACT BRETT HERE.
artid
1147
Old Image
5_6_interlocutor.jpg
issue
vol 5 - issue 06 (feb 2003)
section
entertainmental