Below, part of the introduction you can read, download or request a copy in your page: below:
Last year, we collaborated with architect John Szot for our Aberration issue, and this winter we have the pleasure to team up with The Post Family for our issue on Production. The Post Family, a Chicago-based collective formed in 2007 by seven artists and designers, came together in support of each other’s passions as well as the larger design community in Chicago. Their space serves as gallery, letterpress and printing studio, experimental music venue and creative incubator. Earlier this year, they organized “Manual Labor,” an exhibition focusing on the renewed interest in skill trades in our modern marketplace. It was a celebration of the handcraft and physical labor that continues to inspire us. With their obvious love for making things, it seemed a perfect opportunity to collaborate on this issue.
We enjoyed many conversations and gatherings, during which an innumerable number of possible contributors, themes and formats were discussed and considered. The process uncovered many directions, which was both exciting and daunting, if intended to address the topic in a comprehensive and complete way.
We finally narrowed our approach to Production to two specific areas: the impact of production in our cities and built environment, and a focus on several companies we love, with a specific emphasis in those operating in Chicago. We are completely aware that this is just a tiny portion of all the possible ways in which the topic of Production could be explored. Many other areas of interest and current initiatives related to the topic brought up during our conversations had to finally be left out of the issue. I am sure in a future issue we will revisit several of the aspects uncovered during our collaboration.
The impact of Production in our built environment is explored through the words and photographs of Nina Rappaport, Deborah Richmond and Edward Burtynsky. They take us through the history and role of factories in our cities, the landscape created by the distribution of goods, and the impact that manufacturing, consumption and recycling have on our landscape.
