ASPEN MAGAZINE adapted for the web

November 15, 2002 4:56 PM

Before there was McSweeney's... Phyllis Johnson published 10 issues of Aspen, a multimedia magazine in a box to which the USPS denied second-class mail rates. After a few issues that stayed close to the ski resort in terms of theme, the magazine began bringing in guest editors and addressing cutting edge art and media, in New York, Britain, Asia, and the minds of cultural critics and psychedlic drug users. Andy Warhol participated in Issue 3 and the Fluxus movement dominated Issue 8. There were 10 issues in all, the first 9 of which are featured in this new web adaptation at Ubuweb. At the risk of only posting whenever Andrew Stafford unveils another cool web-native multimedia art project, I thought a lot of Metafiltrates would appreciate this interpretation of Aspen Magazine
posted by xian (11 comments total)

Excellent post.
posted by four panels at 5:02 PM on November 15, 2002

Very much appreciated indeed, xian - thank you. I specially enjoyed the last link and, although I'm a McSweeney's lifetimer (and they do keep delivering the goods) I had never heard of Aspen, so it doubled my pleasure.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 5:24 PM on November 15, 2002

i've been going through this stuff for hours--excellent!...and sort of a better (more art and thought than fashion and photography) precursor to today's Visionaire

It's so interesting to see the change from a crisp and pop and highstyle asthetic to an more handmade and eclectic and hippie-ish vibe as the years went on...
posted by amberglow at 6:27 PM on November 15, 2002

Post of the month. I was about to give up on MeFi for good, gems like this pull me back.

I don't want to derail the thread, but can someone explain to me the appeal of McSweeney's? It's got a lot of clever jokes, but clever is not the same as funny, and it seems to me like it's always the same joke. Don't get me wrong, I think Eggers is a pretty good writer, but McSweeney's makes me wonder if I'm just too old. Hard for me to compare it to the stuff I see in Aspen. Can someone enlighten me?
posted by fuzz at 7:05 PM on November 15, 2002

What a post!

Also from Ubuweb - the glorious Found + Insane.
posted by Pretty_Generic at 7:37 PM on November 15, 2002

Wow they have tracks from Burroughs and Cage!
posted by abez at 8:02 PM on November 15, 2002

Here's the correct link to the Duchamp site.

I love the fact that the Aspen issues included flexi-discs. I'm listening to the Preludes by Alexander Scriabin right now. Great stuff, thanks.
posted by iconomy at 8:37 PM on November 15, 2002

Awesome post. Thank you Xian.
posted by mad at 4:57 AM on November 16, 2002

sorry about the bad link to Making Sense of Marcel Duchamp though!
posted by xian at 7:54 AM on November 16, 2002

The third issue of Aspen contained a flexidisk by the Velvet Underground that is one of the rarest recordings issued by that group. The song was called, "Loop," and it could be made to play ad infinitum, because the record had a locked groove.
posted by jonp72 at 5:10 PM on November 16, 2002

Here's the Velvet's "Loop" on MP3.
posted by ubueditor at 7:03 PM on November 16, 2002