One of our very favourite series here at Broken Frontier is getting its own night in the spotlight next month. Colossive Press’s Colossive Cartographies are five years old and Colossive are celebrating with a very special evening in London’s Gosh! Comics. For more on this wonderfully inventive, inspirational, form-pushing, tactile and eclectic series check out our extensive coverage of them here at BF. We’ll see you in June in central London to mark this momentous occasion.
JOIN US AT GOSH! FOR THE COLOSSIVE CARTOGRAPHIES BIG 5TH BIRTHDAY BASH
Colossive Press are proud to be celebrating five years – and 66 issues (and counting) – of their Colossive Cartographies series with a birthday bash at the amazing Gosh! Comics in London’s Soho. Come and join us on Friday 20th June, from 7pm to 9pm.
Featuring work from comics creators, writers, illustrators, photographers and designers, Colossive Cartographies is a collaborative book arts project that uses a format called the Turkish map fold. This creates a neat little hand-folded A6 zine that pops open into a tactile, interactive A4 treat.
“I came up with the idea for the series after finding the format in a book-binding guide,” says Colossive’s Tom Murphy (who’s recently developed a habit of quoting himself in press releases). “Inspired by seven-inch single subscriptions and comics series like mini kuš!, I thought it would be a nice collectable way to present one-page stories. So, I got in touch with a few creative friends and acquaintances to see if anyone wanted to take part.” It didn’t take long before the first two titles – Stoic Soup by Olivia Sullivan and Fire Purges by Sean Azzopardi – were launched in June 2020.
The series quickly flourished as a diverse range of creators got to grips with the format and used the various folds and planes to create incredibly original work. The zines have subsequently featured twice in Broken Frontier’s list of ‘Ten UK Small Press Comics You Need to Own!’ and have been nominated for ‘Best Periodical Series’ in the site’s annual awards. They’ve also been collected by institutions including the National Art Library at the V&A, the Wellcome Collection, Columbia University (US), the Feminist Library and the London College of Communication.
“It’s always a thrill to see what people have done with the format – and we’re never disappointed,” says Colossive’s Jane Gibbens Murphy, who’s finally got to grips with the Turkish map fold after watching Tom do all the folding and sticking by himself for the best part of four years. “Each issue is one of a series of six, and people can subscribe to get all six for just a tenner. That way, you get to discover new artists and ideas, as well as enjoy the work of your favourite creators.”
Tom continues: “Earlier this year, I realised we were coming up to the fifth anniversary of those first titles. I’m so proud of the series and the community of creatives that it brought together, and I really wanted to mark the occasion somehow. I sent the most speculative of emails to Gosh!, who have been great supporters of the series, and got an enthusiastic response straight back. I’ve been shopping at Gosh! since I first moved to London in the 1980s, so it’s an incredible buzz to be holding an event there and become even a little part of the story.
“Added to that, the series took off in the dark days of lockdown, when everyone was stuck indoors. It would have been nice to have known then that we’d eventually all be getting together for a Friday night in Gosh!”
The poster for the event has been created by Canadian artist/Colossive Cartographer Blaise Moritz. “We knew Blaise probably wouldn’t be able to make it over, but we really wanted him to be involved and were thrilled when he agreed to do the poster for us,” Tom says. “He’s woven some lovely personal details into the design, and we can’t wait to see it up in the shop.”
So come and join us on a lovely* midsummer evening to have a drink, get your zines signed, chew the fat with some of your favourite small pressers and discover your next obsessions! The guest list includes Olivia, Sean, Tim Bird, Peony Gent, Lucy Sullivan, Joe Stone, Ed Pinsent, Miranda Smart, Gareth A Hopkins and many, many more!
*Weather TBC. Obviously.
