Recently, after receiving the latest issue of Z/X, designer and Walker alumni Layla Tweedie-Cullen was kind enough to answer a few of my questions regarding the publication:
What is Z/X? What is its history and mission?
Z/X is a visual arts publication established in 2004 at Manukau School of Visual Arts, a South Auckland art school in New Zealand, with the aim to serve as a vehicle for a wider engagement with art practice and writing. MSVA came into existence in the early 90s, and for a time held a collection of photocopied articles and critical texts used for teaching purposes. The ‘covert’ nature of this repository led to it being called the ‘ZX files’ (the art school was located in Z block of the institution). The adoption of Z/X as a title for the journal established a subtle relationship to the school, but also to one of the editors favorites, Roland Barthes’ S/Z.
What is your role in Z/X? How were you introduced to the project, and what are your motivations behind working on it?
The editors, Paul Cullen and Grant Thompson, invited me to design issues three and four of the publication. Having established a format and philosophy for the first two issues, they wanted to strengthen the distribution and identity of the journal by placing emphasis on its design. My brief was to develop an identity independent of the art school, one where design was exemplary alongside the content and where the design for each issue would change in response to content or themes. Obviously a big motivation for my wanting to work on the project was that I was given a lot of creative autonomy.
How does Z/X shift in content from issue to issue? And, how do you address this shift?
The editors determine the theme for each issue, and there is an open call for contributions. Issues so far have included: ‘Local’, ‘Under Construction’, ‘Landscape’, and ‘Situations’. The theme provided a broad framework for my approach, but the design is ultimately driven by content and of course budgetary constraints (a very small budget!). The two issues I designed vary considerably in terms of content; #3 contains a preponderance of footnoted essays and photographs, and #4 is a lot more eclectic with a wide variety of artist contributions (both image and textual), academic essays with and without footnotes, photographs and drawings, as well as a DVD of sound works. Issue #3 ‘Landscape’ (illustrated below) is simple in terms of design, the majority of the book is black and white on uncoated stock (essays and illustrations), and is interspersed by two colour image sections on coated stock. A gatefold cover allows a panoramic landscape image to wrap from the inside front cover to the inside back cover. I actually designed this issue while working at the Walker Art Center, so basically it all happened in the very early hours of the morning due my heavy workload at WAC!
Issue #4 (illustrated below) is 96 pages (Z/X #3 was 64) and was designed in New Zealand, which was a lot easier than working with a local New Zealand printer while I was living in Minneapolis. In response to the theme ’situations’, my initial idea was that the signatures would be rotated during the binding process, resulting in a variety of versions of the publication. I initially liked the idea that individual contributions could potentially be displaced or split, so for example, the end of an essay might appear first, and the rest later on in the book, the contents page last, or the cover in the middle (to name the most obvious). This turned out to be too difficult to achieve, I couldn’t find a printer who would do it for a reasonable price, and because the content was so diverse it resulted in too much confusion. Instead, I used a gradient which worked in a similar way. Created on press using a split fountain technique, the green to blue gradient spread across the entire press sheet — when folded into the signature form there is a subtle movement of colour from page to page. One of the artist contributions works in a similar way with a series of drawings developed to fit the press sheet size — once folded to form the publication, the drawings become fragmented and split across a number of pages. In the end however, the gradient and shift in colour works more to create an atmosphere rather than a direct relationship with the theme ’situations’. The typeface Bryant used throughout the book works in similar way. Designed by Eric Olsen of Process Type Foundry, Bryant is modeled around the Wrico lettering kits used by draftsmen and amateur sign makers in the 1960s and 1970s. I chose the type more for its temporal relationship with situationism and conceptual art, where much of the work discussed in the issue has its origins. I also liked the connection with mapmaking or signage, the relationship or connection with the theme is therefore very loose.
The logotype you developed for issues #3 and #4 is quite striking … what typeface did you use, who made it, and what are its origins?
The typeface is Ta Tiki regular, designed in 1999 by the New Zealand type designer Joseph Churchward. David Bennewith, formerly a peer at the Werkplaats Typografie in Arnhem, was working on a research project into Churchward type at the time I began working on issue #3. Ta Tiki developed out of Churchward’s Maori alphabets, and is inspired by hei tiki motifs.
Initially I had planed to use the typeface Churchward Maori, which draws on the koru motif commonly used in traditional Maori art forms. This association with place was appropriate to the landscape theme of issue #3, however owing to the typeface not being digitized and available for purchase, I used Ta Tiki instead. Ta Tiki similarly has a connection to the landscape since hei tiki are traditionally carved from New Zealand pounamu (jade). Ultimately, due to the distinctive and unusual nature of the typeface, I restricted its use to a logotype on the front cover. I tried to integrate Ta Tiki into the book, but found it extremely difficult to use and make legible (made more difficult by the fact it is only available as uppercase). In an attempt to strengthen the sense of identity and continuity between issues #3 and #4, I decided to use the logotype again in #4 on the back cover. I don’t think I would do this for a subsequent issue however, the nature of Z/X is that its form and identity should be fluid and open for discussion, so potentially the format could be completely different from issue to issue.
Where can issues of Z/X be found or purchased from?
Z/X is currently published by the Art School Press, which has limited distribution, so unfortunately it is only available for purchase from selected bookstores in New Zealand (copies can be ordered from Parsons Bookshop). It will be available during the Melbourne Art Fair as part of the South Project Reading Room, 30 July — 3 August, which will show a selection of independent art journals and artist-made publications from around the Southern Hemisphere.
And as for Z/X #5?
Recently the administrative structure at MSVA changed, so whether Z/X continues or not is currently an open question.
