zingmagazine came out of the idea that within certain disciplines, artistic and otherwise, various cross-references occur, both with individuals and the material of their particular interest. Rather than remaining isolated and apart, either through an unaware and uninformed (or aware and informed) malaise, there is a need to commingle arenas. By establishing a forum of collaborative exchange, zingmagazine examines points of both similar and dissimilar articulations. Like sets and subsets in a mathematical diagram, having similar and opposite properties, parts of the exchange will share epiphanies while others will securely diverge. But in the examination of these current issues, born out of the curatorial collaborative spirit, zingmagazine reaches for the crossing point, and it is from this “crossing”—where fiction meets poetry for lunch, theorists mingle with artists over which they are, and while we all assume new boundaries with an excess of technology in the modern world—that we find our inspiration. Likewise, it is from this crossing that the title is honed.

The format of zingmagazine is comprised of rotating curatorial projects. Each curator was invited to create a context of their choosing for each issue. Among the disciplines that will be explored in zingmagazine are a curated section which touches on the occult and its presence both past and present, another brings us the first ever published poetics of three prominent French poets, a photographic essay based on the work of Fragonard along with an interview—the second in the serial appearance of a new Victorian novel, a photographic documentary, an examination of the heritage of Toño Mirando—the hero of Saturday Night Fever, an import from Britain’s writers in the form of recent prose, and a revealing collaborative piece entitled Historic Kiosk. Lack of parameters or limits is the impetus, with the idea that the creative impulse, within each of the curators/disciplines, will produce individual projects—both of the curators and the participants. Finally, a critical The Reflections, The Reviews, The Reactions supplement accompanies each issue, reporting on happenings, shows, readings, publications, renegades, etc.—from Los Angeles, New York, London, Berlin, Knoxville, and elsewhere.

Devon Dikeou
New York, New York
1998

Michael Corris is an artist, art critic, and independent art curator, living in Europe.

Donald Fergusson is a writer living in Los Angeles and New York. His forthcoming work In the Land of Milk and Honey is excerpted here.

Susan Robinson resides in Los Angeles and is currently working as a writer and video filmmaker. She has completed coursework at U.S.C. in the Film, Literature, and Culture Doctoral Program.

Kenny Schachter independently curates art exhibitions, and is an artist who lives in New York.

Amy Sillman is an artist living in Brooklyn.

Gordon Tapper is a writer living in New York and working on a dissertation at Columbia University on the poetry of Hart Crane.

Gregory Volk is a writer art critic living in New York.

Eddy Webb’s design firm FORMAT practices in Los Angeles.