Underground Station – Column

Underground Station

by Bruce Sweeney

I know that I shouldn’t give these two any edge. They never send me anything, even though I’ve alluded to them in print before. These are the publications that you wish the guys downstairs in your apartment building put out every month with the trash, along with their subscription copies of Rolling Stone.

The two: one is Juxtapoz. This is a West Coast product produced by Robert Williams, one of the earliest of the Zap contributors. It features such notables as John Pound, formerly of the Cabbage Patch cards, the late Rick Griffin, Robert Crumb, and another Zap contributor, Victor Moscoso. (Juxtapose, 1303 Underwood Ave., S.F., CA 94124)

Believe me, subscribing is the only way to go. Anything to reduce the cost per copy. I have Spring of 1996 around the house and it’s lavish to behold and see. To a certain mentality, this will be a collectible. The refined, quality reproduction of, for example, unpublished Spain or Joe Coleman is a visual feast extraordinaire. (I recently spotted the crazed Joe Coleman ranting away and biting the head off a mouse in a bizarre independent movie called Mondo New York.)

Art? Alternatives is the clear East Coast competitor. #8 is the most recent issue that I own. They want $30 for a year’s subscription… but guess what? They’re every bit as provocative and cool as Juxtapose. Same number of pages, same format, same fascination with alternative art, high quality reproduction and a broader interest in alternatives than Juxtapose. The two titles are very immediate and very high-end, covering such odd-art topics as undergrounds, tattoos, car customizing, and urban spray-can art. Get them both and bill it to your roommate. He’ll be deep in your debt.

Speaking of Robert Crumb, there is a new title out called The Captain is Out to Lunch by Black Sparrow Press of Santa Rosa, CA, but don’t call them. This book, limited to 175, is already gone. I got the last copy for (can u believe?) $660!!! It’s all unpublished prose and poetry by the late post-beat poet Charles Bukowski. For another thing, the book is adorned with 5-6 colored, signed seriographs by Robert Crumb done exclusively for this project. It’s of course supposed to be a magnificent item, and I got the last available copy for the $660. I had to sell mega-inventory to get close to the money to scoff up a copy. Skyline Books in San Francisco may have copies left, as may Water Row Press in Sudbury, MA, though Bud Plant is already trying to get $850 each for the few that he has. It may indeed be a lovely book, but this borders on the obscene.