lightness-and-darkness-blog
17 posts
"The writer has two creative streams...one of lightness, the other of darkness." Eudora Welty
Don't wanna be here? Send us removal request.
Text
A Much Belated Thank You to our Kickstarter Backers!


0 notes
Video
vimeo
Taleen Kalenderian reading at the Lightness & Darkness release party. Check out the rest of the videos here.
3 notes
·
View notes
Video
vimeo
Our first video from our Lightness & Darkness release party at Happy Dog. Nicki Yowell reading her piece "The New Fetishists." Special thanks to our videographer, Jenna Caravello.
http://www.jennacaravello.com/
1 note
·
View note
Photo










Here are some photos from our release party at Happy Dog. Our performers were amazing. John Bellows, AJ Cesena, She Speaks in Tongues and The Speers accompanied our myriad readings and performances. Thanks for coming out!
BTW, we also made our Kickstarter goal so thanks a bundle to everyone who helped. It meant a lot to us and we got to see L & D through in the way we envisioned it. Check back for video footage of our performances filmed by Jenna Carvello. Our book will soon be available in Chicago at Quimby's for those of you who still wish to partake!
#lightness & darkness#she speaks in tongues#aj cesena#happy dog#the speers#caroline picard#abra aducci#self-publishing#zines#chicago#art#music#john bellows#books#independent publishing
1 note
·
View note
Photo






Fun times were had at our fundraiser over at Uncharted Books yesterday. It was the first christening of our book which arrived straight from the printer. There was also food. Besides the mainstay L & D fundraiser lentil dip, we had drawings, hang-outs and even alluring advertising dancing girls in the window. (We hired them for the occasion.)
Did ya miss out? Well fear not, because tomorrow is our official launch at Happy Dog. Bands, performances, readings, the works. It's all come down to this, guys. Woohoo.
6 notes
·
View notes
Text
Last "Big Push" Book "Baby Shower" at Uncharted Books

Come out on Thursday, (that's tomorrow, guys,) from 3-7 p.m. to our "BIG PUSH" event at Uncharted Books, a brand new book store in Logan Square.
We'll have our own Grant Reynolds doing commissioned drawings for donations as well as snacks and refreshments. You can get a sneak peek at L & D in all its glory as we'll have just made a printer run. There will also be esteemed L& D MANAGEMENT REPRESENTATIVES on hand to match you with the donation package that's right for you.
RSVP "HELL YES" on the old Facebook.
4 notes
·
View notes
Photo

The lineup for our January 28 release party at Happy Dog is live, guys! We have some rad bands and performances lined up for yall. Hope to see you there.
If you're into convenience, you can buy a package for $25 on our Kickstarter page that includes admittance to the superfantasticfuntime release party. Which brings me to my next point... We're still very much in need of donations to make it to our goal. Please, we beseech you, throw us some green. Our book costs a mere $15 and includes our bitching experimental album and a sweet print by the lovely Hannah K. Lee whose work also appears on our cover. So, you can see what a value that is.
Oh, and were you wondering whose awesome work that is on our flyer? Why, none other than Grant Reynolds. No, not talk celebrity Jillian Reynolds' husband, we're talking the mondo-talented Chicago comic artist who contributed so much to L & D. Thanks, Grant. You're the best.
0 notes
Photo

Hey guys! We got selected as one of Gapers Block's curated Kickstarter pages, what what. Check it out. Special thanks to Kelly Reaves for doing us a solid. For those of you who don't know, Gapers Block is a sweet reference for art and culture goings-on in the city of Chicago. It's a huge honor to be included. We're psyched!
5 notes
·
View notes
Photo
Introducing one of the pieces featured in our book, by Taleen Kalenderian.

“CAN I JUST BE YOU(RS)?" typographic/photographic poem
6 notes
·
View notes
Photo
Skylight Books is a literary fixture of L.A. that supports zines + independent publishing. Thanks for the mention, guys!
skylightbooks:
Help kickstart an exciting project from the brilliant beauties behind dum dum zine!



7 notes
·
View notes
Video
It's official: our Kickstarter campaign launched today!
Check out our sweet video, starring the incomparable Dave Rader as the comic relief guy. Tell all your friends. Purge your charitable holiday impulse by supporting L&D. You get cool stuff when you do.
8 notes
·
View notes
Quote
I can make my own light shine, and darkness too is equally fine. You can get strung up for my brother honey, but for me--I draw the line. You died for somebody's sins, baby. But not mine.
Patti Smith, "Oath"
0 notes
Text
From whence it came...
Out of all places to be born from, L & D rose from quite the unlikely one, the back of a receipt from Chicago’s supermarket giant, Dominick’s. While attending graduate school together in the City of Big Shoulders, we formed a solid friendship and began collaborating on books and zines. The School of the Art Institute of Chicago was the background but not necessarily the catalyst.
Our first major collaboration was for a publishing seminar taught by Sara Ranchouse Publishing’s Sally Alatalo. Holla ‘atcha Book-Binding Ninja! In the spring of 2010, we released Dining with Words, a book containing the transcription of a dinner party conversation along with recipes and photos taken by Taleen. It was a fun entre into publishing but, of course, there were problems. We were short on time, publicity and money, to boot. And we were taking other classes in the New Arts Journalism program.
It just so happened that during one of these spells of production, our student IDs managed to cuddle up next to each other. Anyone who knows about the culture of SAIC is aware that to gain entry into the buildings one must bleebarcode beneath a picture of their face. Not the most intimate experience in higher education. Those security guards--man, they are tough.

These identification cards weren’t just our all-access pass into school; they were the perfect encapsulation of our dynamic, and we often remarked about this fact. In Nicki’s picture, she appears bouncy, bubbly and eager--all smiles. Taleen looks as if she’s about to punch the photographer, very stoic and intimidating. Thinking it was little more than a joke, we slapped the crumpled receipt on the desk in front of us and penned out “lightness and darkness.”
Taleen snapped our seminal photograph with her cell phone and an idea was immortalized. If it weren’t for this, who knows, maybe our project wouldn’t have happened. Lightness and darkness alludes to many things. Our hair, yes. Our preference for clothing hues, somewhat. However, it’s become an idea more than a simple inside joke. But, something about the goofiness remains. And thus, we are lightness and darkness.
#lightness & darkness#New Arts Journalism#Sally Alatalo#self-publishing#art#writing#Chicago#LA#zines
0 notes
Quote
Emotion is the chief source of all becoming-conscious. There can be no transforming of darkness into light and of apathy into movement without emotion.
Carl Jung
0 notes
Text
Introducing a transmedia print experiment:
Lightness & Darkness is a multidisciplinary print project. The crux of L & D is dualities and the relationship between them: light and dark, black and white, word and image, the tangible and the abstract. This concept is explored through poetry, prose, essays, photography, illustration, music and film. Did we leave anything out?

L & D is a platform for authors to explore what it means to be a writer in the foreground. But it’s also an outlet for our many artistic and talented collaborators including writer and Green Lantern Press publisher Caroline Picard, comic artist Grant Reynolds, illustrator Hannah K. Lee, vocal-electronic duo Thee Source ov Fawnation, DUM DUM Editrix and writer Liska Jacobs, and many others. Without them, this project would not be happening!
You’ll be hearing more deets from us in the upcoming weeks before our late January release in Chicago. Stay tuned for looks at our rad collaborators, juicy previews of our content and updates about our slow but steady progress! We’re also in the process of getting a Kickstarter fundraiser set up, so get ready to toss some coinage our way.
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Yours,
Nicki Yowell & Taleen Kalenderian Lightness & Darkness, respectively
0 notes
Link
This fall, Taleen Kalenderian (DUM DUM) and Nicki Yowell (‘Za The Pizza Zine) teamed up to write prose poetry, which culminated in the first incarnation of the project. The two collaborated with Olympia’s vocal-electronic duo Thee Source ov Fawnation, who played improvised music while recording Taleen & Nicki’s words being read aloud for the first time.
The result is a sonic-literary experiment fusing both written and musical art forms, reshaping the way both mediums are experienced. Lightness & Darkness invites the reader-listener to experience the work via album recording, activating the text with voice and musical elements.
Illustrated graphic hand-glued on black linen envelope. Binding available in thick tan rubber band, thin yellow rubber band, white or black braided leather, tan suede leather, hemp, or yarn. Each CD has hand-drawn marks in gold pen and contains 7 sonic-literary tracks.
Click through to purchase a copy of the album.
0 notes