Documentation

A pamphlet describing the contents to be auctioned off at AREA Chicago's benefit auction that took place on Saturday, December 8, 2007.

"The Chicago Crime Commission’s Gang Book publication is an acclaimed compilation of current gang trends. The Gang Book is used as a tool to assist law enforcement, educators, and community justice partners in combating and understanding gangs. This comprehensive guide represents the culmination of the Commission’s collaboration with federal, state, and city law enforcement partners and gang investigators. The Gang Book is distributed to every law enforcement agency in the city and state, as well as to schools, and is designed to prosecute, address, and reduce gang violence. It includes detailed gang profiles and maps, an explanation of the role of social media in gang interactions, information regarding suburban gang activity, an outline of the intersection between gangs and trafficking of guns and drugs, and a compilation of resources for parents and communities." - <http://www.chicagocrimecommission.org/>

A brief history of the Chicago Race Riot of 1919, inspired by the politics surrounding the Occupy protests and its relationship with policing.

Bulletin updating members of the Chicago-based international labor union the Industrial Workers of the World on matters of internal organization and finance in 2014.

Collection of various first-hand accounts and documents from the underground abortion service known as Jane, from 1968 until the legalization of abortion in 1973.

1999 re-printing of a political text originally written by an anonymous "Uncontrollable" of the Iron Column during the Spanish Civil war, as described in the zine. The article was published in March 1937 in "Nosotros," the daily newspaper of the Iron Column in Valencia.

From https://theindustryobserver.thebrag.com/book-your-own-fucking-life-the-pre-internet-guide-that-connected-the-indie-scene/ -: " the pre-internet guide that connected the indie scene...Maximum Rock N Roll helped pull together all these threads into a 1992 guide named Book Your Fucking Life – and it changed the entire musical world. The magazine’s manifesto is laid out at the beginning of the guide, and points towards the kind of social networking that now runs rampant. Back then it seemed innocent and filled with possibilities. The burgeoning “DIY movement” is described as vibrant. This guide is filled with hope. “Over these past years the DIY movement has grown at an unprecedented rate, in some cases fueled by profit-making trends, but for the most part on a real grass-roots level. The national and international communication within the DIY movement is what has kept it strong over the years. Through the efforts of certain individual and fanzines, people have been able to make concrete connections between people of similar interests and have created an entire underground economy based on the spreading of our own living culture and ideal. Bands have been able to promote themselves, book tours, put out records without bowing down to the corporate music industry. That is the essence of DIY. People helping other people without an eye for profit, only for creating a better world and having some fun. Networking has played a major role in making all this happen. That is why we present “Book Your Own Fucking Life” for just this tool.' Listings are by city, state, and country and were crowdsourced.

Documentation of art installed at every CTA station, published by CTA

"Library Excavations #9 goes digging into the Chicago Artist Files at Harold Washington Library. A slightly more fancy edition than usual. In addition to a five page essay there are 20 full color pages representing obscure printed ephemera by as unusual and diverse an array of Chicago artists as you should expect from Public Collectors." (abstract taken from https://halfletterpress.com/library-excavations-9-chicagos-filed-artists/)

"The community of nail artists in the Northwest Side of Chicago releases a vibrant visual and cultural gesture. Sparked by distinction and thriving on its own terms, this economy shares joy equally between client and producer. By wearing its visual code, an individual becomes part of this economic base. The nail artist community even inspires celebrities to share in the pleasures of its culture. Engaging us playfully in an outburst of visual sparks, shop owners Jackie Blue, Loretta Gonzalez, Alexis, Yara Fernandez and Glynnus Alexander make up the core group of Northwest Side shop owners who practice Chicago-style nail art. The community of salons comprises mothers and daughters, connected by both birth and mentorship, who have found long-term financial stability through craftsmanship and entrepreneurship." -From Onomatopee's website https://www.onomatopee.net/exhibition/paint-polish/