Have you submitted any work for our upcoming premiere issue? You’ve got until November 30, 2010! We accept new work, old work, unfinished work, digital work, analog work, illustration, painting, design, photography, sculpture, film, video, writing, poetry, short stories, essays, doodles, music, anything.
-Tuan
Sometimes circumstances open up a path for an old idea, a project that has been brewing in the mind for an amount of time untold, and demand that it is brought tangibly into the world. So it was with 9hr38, originally an idea for a small-scale publication of collaborated artworks taken from a submissions process. Life, as it sometimes does, made it impossible to bring the project to its potential a few years back, but gave Tuan and Cali (that is, the project’s progenitors) the green light in their first year in art school.
But all of that history, while fun to write off as destiny and highlight in awkwardly pretentious prose, is, as they say, history. If you saw our posters, stumbled upon this blog, or picked up our thread through the ineffable word-of-mouth upon which start-ups rely, you want to know what we are; in that case, thanks for sitting through that first paragraph (and this one, come to think of it).
9hr38 wants to showcase not just art, nor artists, but ideas; we choose subjects (which each issue will showcase) that are invariably neutral. That is not to say that our topics are “boring,” but that many people will feel strongly in one direction or another, and yes, many may have a distinct apathy. That’s the point; it’s also the beauty. In this way, we ensure a wide range of emotion, detail, and perspective in every issue we produce.
So, then, what are we? Honestly, we’re an Evolving Thing, not content to be a zine but not at the level of a magazine, and even then not confining ourselves to that (hence this blog). We encourage the submissions of composers, sculptors, performers, and the multi-media installation bracket as well as those of the more “traditional visual” artists—not all of these things can be summed up in photo in a magazine, and the sense of community we want is often better found through active and timely communication over the internet. Thus, we are a “Project,” always adding onto ourselves and maintaining a fluidity that allows us to be business- as well as community-minded.
Ultimately, what matters is that you, as a submitter, reader, fan, curious passerby, or any and all of the above, will always have a place to go with 9hr38. If you want some inspiration, look through our current issue, or glance at our next topic. If you aren’t inspired by a topic, keep watching; we’ll have a new one, and you might just be surprised by the submissions we do publish. And if you want to read about a group of young art students who are working to show our piece of the world some really fantastic and meaningful art, you can watch this space (which will include photographic evidence of your friendly execs goofing off at our “meetings”).
Whatever strikes your fancy, wherever you are, ask yourself: “What are you doing at 9:38?
-Kristi
