Aspen Magazine

In the mid-70s a friend of mine showed me his issues of Aspen Magazine. He had seen an ad in another magazine and decided to send off the $5 required for a subscription. Given the times and our financial situations this was an admirably brazen move on his part. His guess that it might be a scam was supported when nothing showed up in the mail for awhile. But eventually things did appear--unpredictably and irregularly. Each issue was in fact a magical box of art pieces, recordings (things like Neal Cassady chattering at an SF Acid Test in the 60s), poetry, printed materials, art manifestos, and so on. It all reflected maverick approaches to art, maniacal collaborations, and other marvels that enflamed one's creative passions. He let me borrow these treasures for awhile and I photocopied various things, made copies of the tapes. I discovered ideas that affect my work to this day.

And speaking of this day, I looked up Aspen Magazine on-line this morning and found an issue for sale at Abe Books. The cost? $22,500...

http://www.abebooks.com/book-search/title/aspen-magazine/sortby/1/page-1/