Creative Review Vol 41 #3

I’ve been thinking about magazines and time in relation to an upcoming lecture, and this latest Page 23 highlights one way print interacts with time.

The page is the right-hand of the opening spread of an overview of our friends the Lim family and their Rubbish FAMzine project, with a portrait of son Renn and daughter Aira holding copies of the first issue from 2013.

Across eight pages we hear from mum Clare about the origins of the unique publication—published (just about) annually from Singapore—and how it has developed as Renn and Aira have grown up. In the photo they are aged ten and seven respectively; now they are 18 and 15.

Regular readers will know we’ve long followed Claire, Renn, Aira and dad Pann as they share aspects of the family life via the zine (search Rubbish FAMzine above for more). It’s a really special, lovingly created piece of print. But it’s also an extraordinary record of the passing of time, a series of consecutive acts of production that mark distinct stages as the family matures.

Not all print publications can offer such specific insight into individuals, but all record the time and context in which they were produced. The texts, images, layouts and technology can’t help but offer clues to when a magazine was produced.

Congratulations to Creative Review for setting down the complete story of Rubbish FAMzine in this fashion.