I Dig "Excavations #1" - Svenja Wahl's New Zine (Heidelberg, Germany)

[De Villo Sloan]

Cover of Excavations #1 featuring a collage by IUOMA member Svenja Wahl (Heidelberg, Germany)

December 24, 2014 - Svenja Wahl’s Excavations zine produced considerable buzz in the Eternal Network even before the release of the first issue. The drama of the apparent loss of work by liketelevisionsnow (New Hampshire, USA) bound for Excavations in Heidelberg, Germany, intensified the drama and spawned an Excavations-related publication before anyone had glimpsed the zine itself. (liketelevisionsnow’s work ultimately arrived in Germany safely.)

The danger of this kind of hype is that it can raise expectations to unrealistic levels. Svenja Wahl is so respected for her art that these high expectations can be understood. As a result, she experienced some anxiety. Fortunately, I am pleased to report that Excavations #1 exceeds my expectations; I am confident it will exceed yours as well. I testify with confidence Excavations #1 is tremendous.

The list of contributors is impressive and includes different generations of networkers in the avant, vispo and collage areas. They tend to be from Germany specifically and Europe generally. A geographic focus often emerges in this type of zine and provides a valuable view of trends concentrated in a particular part of the world. I applaud Svenja Wahl for dedicating the issue to the great Belgian writer and artist Guido Vermeulen (1954-2014).

In case it is difficult to read the scan, contributors to Excavations #1 are Patrizia PC(TICTAC) (Germany); Hanna Baier (Germany); Vittore Barone (aka Baroni) (Italy); Angela Behrendt (Germany); Eduardo Cardoso (Portugal); Giancarlo Da Lio (Italy); Thorsten Fuhrmann (Germany); Lisa Iversen (USA); Susanna Lakner (Germany); liketelevisionsnow (USA); Peter Muller (Germany); Jurgen Olbrich (Germany); Cheryl Penn (South Africa); Sabine Remy (Germany); Matthew Rose (France); Sandra Simone Schmidt (Germany); De Villo Sloan (USA); Tizianna Baracchi (Italy); Guido Vermeulen (Belgium); and Svenja Wahl.

Page by Patrizia PC(TICTAC) (Starnberg, Germany) from Excavations #1

Excavations is an assembling zine. Each contributor mailed Svenja Wahl 22 pages (44 panels) of original work, and she assembled them into a zine and distributed them. Svenja Wahl placed the loose pages in handmade folios; the effect is somewhat like a Fluxus box. The pages are highly individualized, so it is very unlikely that any two zines are exactly the same.

Page by Hannah Baier (Kassel, Germany)

Page by Vittore Barone (aka Baroni) (Viareggio, Italy)

Excavations #1 contains approximately 40 pages. I am including representative pages here rather than documenting the entire issue.

Page in Excavations #1 by Eduardo Cardoso (Sines, Portugal)

Page by Lisa Iversen aka Skybridge Studios (North Manchester, Indiana, USA)

Page by Susanna Lakner (Stuttgart, Germany)

Page by liketelevisionsnow (Tamworth, New Hampshire, USA)

Page by Cheryl Penn (Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa)

Page by Cheryl Penn (Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa)

Page by Cheryl Penn (Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa)

Page by Cheryl Penn (Kwa Zulu Natal, South Africa)

Page by Sabine Remy (Dusseldorf, Germany)

Page from Excavations #1 by Guido Vermeulen (Brussels, Belgium)

Page by Svenja Wahl (Heidelberg, Germany) in Excavations #1

Page by Svenja Wahl (Heidelberg, Germany) in Excavations #1

Whether Excavations only produces one or several issues or it becomes an institution, I am sure Excavations #1 will become a classic and it will be revisited again and again by many in the years ahead. I extend congratulations and thanks to Svenja Wahl and all the contributors. Excavations has a blog, so stay tuned:

http://excavations-mag.com/

[Amy Irwen]

super! WoW....

[De Villo Sloan]

Hello Laurence, Svenja Wahl has written (somewhere) she is collecting pages for Excavations #2. She is an IUOMA member, so it is easy to contact her. Excavations has a blog, which is a great idea in terms of keeping people connected:

http://excavations-mag.com/

I hope to see a second issue and your work in it.

[laurence gillot]

Bravo ! Très beau !

I want to participe to the next project ! 

[De Villo Sloan]

Vittore Baroni (not Barone) noted the blog only has the back of his zine page. Here is the front: