ISSUE #1: UTOPIA by Free Ass. Mag.

FREE ASS. MAG.

Free Association Magazine Fall Issue 1 // UTOPIA

[inside cover] Dan Harvey

FREE ASS. MAG. Free Association (Maga)Zine FALL ISSUE, V01: UTOPIA This anti-architecture architecture (maga)zine is an agitated response to the closed nature of the architecture field. It was born out of the idea that our environment, built or unbuilt, influences much of what we are and the things we make as manifestations of our existence.

Contributors Alex Beckman Alex Lovell-Smith Ali Noggle Allie Wass Amanda Wills Austin Wills Andon Naoumov Brian Farci Dan Harvey Dave Bermingham David Walczyk Dennis Khambai Eleonora Edreva Fred Fumagalli Gina Czarkowski Giulia Formica Jon Zomer Karl Ochmanek Keefer Dunn Kevin Wolf Kitty Hall Luise Brauer Lyra Jakabhazy Melanija Grozdanoska Michael Gillhouse Michal BenJakob Mohammad Kassem Samuel Wietlispach Sarah Gautraud Stephen Yoshida Timothy Nguyen Toby Penny Wahyu Eko Prasetyo

UTOPIA. Utopia has been the central focus of modernists, painters, writers and architects alike - to call it loaded is an understatement. It is the obsessive pursuit of perfection, which only seems to be fully satiated in fictional worlds. Arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t we each attempting to construct our own personal utopia? In some sense, there seems to be an expectation, a pressure to conform to a communal vision of success. Perhaps this is quite closed and one-sided, as opinions go. So, this is why these pages are shoved with work from artists, architects, thinkers, day dreamers, do-gooders, and burnouts whoâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been asked to respond to this exhausted theme. Amanda Wills Editor/Founder

Eleonora Edreva : Chicago, USA

Michal BenJakob : Jerusalem, Israel

Gina Czarkowski : Chicago, USA

Sarah Gautraud : Grand Rapids, USA

Utopia is inside us. It is where one decides it happens. The ideal isnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t difficult to achieve. It is impossible to define due to the personal nature of the concept & the ever evasive solidarity of the definition of perfection. Secure a solid, unchanging view of Utopia & it becomes an achievable goal. Our personal evolution keeps the ideal just out of reach.

Toby Penny : Frankfort, USA

Ali Noggle : Chicago, USA

Septal Myectomy Surgery Phase 6: Aorta reapproximated and stitched with a fine suture.

Allie Wass : Grand Rapids, USA

Alex Lovell-Smith : Dunedin, New Zealand

David Walczyk : Chicago, USA

Get your Ma a cocoa. It’s freezing out. Should calm her down. - - How did I get here? I want to go home. Who are these people? Freaks. Imbeciles. Cripples. What am I doing here? I want to go home. I’m warehoused. You’ve warehoused me. I want to go home. Bees are swarming. Animal skin is growing. I think I’m pregnant. Did I say that? If you say so, I don’t recall. I want to go home. Please don’t go. Don’t leave me. I can’t be alone. I want to go home. 0-0-0 Lockbox. Protect the pills. Please, no more. Why am I taking these? What if I just stopped? I don’t know what would happen. I want to go home. I can’t relate to these people. Accomplished. Interesting. They have their memories in tact.

I want to go home. Feeble-minded. I realize I shouldn’t say that. I’m not, in fact, But I have changed. I know. Where is my Mama’s ring? I never got my share from my sister. I don’t think that’s fair. No, it’s not. 48 Across. I can’t see. You fill it in. I want to go home. One bedroom. That’s all I had wanted. But your sister – she wouldn’t let me. I want to go home. Blood. Oxygen. Starvation. The brain. I want to go home. Your room is beautiful. A beautiful tomb, I say. Take me back to the hospital. I want to go home. You won’t come tomorrow. I know you won’t come tomorrow. What time will you come tomorrow? - - That’s her daughter. She visits every day. Good Girl. - - This is not how I envisioned [the end of] my life. What did you envision? I don’t know. Not this.

Lyra Jakabhazy : Chicago, USA

Andon Naomov : Chicago, USA

The

door

peephole

of on

my it.

dormroom People

has

tend

a to

forget that it exists. When people arenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t being observed by others, they act like their natural self. When people knocked on my door, I took a picture of them. The candid photos are to scale so that those can see what I see from inside my room.

Brian Farci : Portland, USA

Junkies INT. HOUSE Mother and Father announce to their children that they are going to a veggie festival. DAD Alright kids, your mother and I are going to the veggie festival. MOM If you two get hungry there is some almond milk, tofu, and wheat germ in the fridge. MOM and DAD BE SAFE! Both children give disgusted faces that neither of the parents see. The parents leave and the children go into action. BROTHER They’re gone. SISTER I’m texting my guy right now. BROTHER Are you sure this is a good idea? SISTER Ya. I do this all the time. BROTHER When’s he going to be here? SISTER Not sure, but he said we’ll know. Just be cool. BROTHER Ya, ya don’t worry I will. Nighthawk does his signature call to alert that he is present. Brother is confused about the noise, but his sister doesn’t think anything of it. NIGHTHAWK KAWKAAA!!! It’s nighthawk. Brother walks over to Nighthawk to greet him. BROTHER Whauddup man? Brother is super awkward when he tries to shake Nighthawks hand. Nighthawk looks confused. 40

NIGHTHAWK So whatcha guys want? I have some stuff that was just imported from china. SISTER I’ll take the usual. BROTHER What do you recommend? NIGHTHAWK Personally I would go for the gushers and glazed donut, but it all depends on your sweet tooth. BROTHER I’ll take that, then. They exchange money for the junk food and the brother is trying to act cool about the situation. Nighthawk feels uncomfortable about him. He pulls his hands away and the brother goes and sits down. NIGHTHAWK What’s wrong with your brother? SISTER We don’t know. Nighthawk starts to walk off, but then sister stops him to ask for a pizza. (continue) Hey, can you get us a pizza? NIGHTHAWK Ya sure, but it will be a little extra. SISTER It’s fine I got it. NIGHTHAWK Nighthawk out. KAWWKAAA!! Sister gives Nighthawk the money. As he leaves, the sister goes to sit down next to her brother. BROTHER Are you sure this is a good idea? SISTER I do this all the time. BROTHER I don’t know...

Austin Wills : Grand Rapids, USA

SISTER C’mon don’t be such a baby. Would you rather have tofu, or wheat germ, or almond milk??? BROTHER NOOO! He starts stuffing himself with food. (CONTINUE) OHHHHH THE RUUUUUUSH!! The brother shoves the food in his face. As he does this they here their parents walk through the door and the siblings scurry to hide the evidence. MOM Hi Kids we’re home! DAD Sorry, we came home early because your mother smelled steak from a barbecue nearby. You know how sensitive her nose can be. Both siblings agree with him with a guilty look. The mom starts sniffing around. MOM Do I smell trans-fat??? BROTHER Uhhh, the cat farted. The dad finds a twinkie wrapper and holds it up. DAD GASP! Is this a twinkie wrapper?!? The brother and sister try to save themselves by explaining that they only had one while the dad is having none of it. DAD GO. TO. YOUR. ROOM!!! Both kids head towards their rooms heads down. MOM I can’t believe our kids were eating this. DAD This is ABSURD! What

would

MOM make them think this behavior is acceptable?

kind

DAD It’s probably from your side of the family. MOM What?!? Nighthawk returns with the pizza. NIGHTHAWK KAWKAAA!! It’s Nighthawk. DAD Who are you?? NIGHTHAWK Nighthawk. You guys didn’t order a pizza??? MOM PIZZA!? DAD Give us that! Get out of here! NIGHTHAWK Aight. Nighthawk out. KAWKAAA!! Nighthawk leaves. MOM They were going to eat this?!? DAD We need to get rid of the evidence. MOM How? The dad opens the pizza box and each of them take a piece and start eating it and are enjoying it. MOM MMMMMMMMM. This is disgusting. As the parents are eating the pizza the children come into the room to apologize about there actions. BROTHER Mom. Dad. We’re really sorBoth the parents look like deer in headlights. END. Go to AUSY96 YouTube channel to see this play, and many others, in action. [LINK: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suC9DCrFdQA] Austin Wills : Grand Rapids, USA

[Original German]

[English Translation]

operation with different energy sources possible

The Banana Ripe Tester (energy saving fully automatic machine-tester of the future) glass dome (anti splash/sterileelimate)

spotlight for optimal illumination moisture tester (slewable and tiltable) holding clamp (adjustable for clamping)

tappet switch for energy input

banana pulp collecting tank (ancillary equipment for further tests possible)

collecting or funnel tank downpipe

banana skin ejection (collection container)

handeling via remote control pressure reducer

active lights trunk

adjuster seperating holder

-effective control (time-, personal-, energy and material saving)

all automatic control possible test button pressure control

Luise Brauer : Leipzig, Germany

Giulia Formica : Milan, Italy

Allie Wass : Grand Rapids, USA

Utopias are narcissistic psychographic spaces. Utopia is purely imagined. Once the Utopian acts upon manifesting a physical Utopia, its purity is corrupted due to the lack of perfection in the physically identifiable world. Utopia is not the future, but is the past, for the past cannot be changed and is thusly perfect because it is what has happened. A future projection of a Utopian ideal is flawed because the future is always subject to change and change is the enemy of Utopia. None of this is good or bad. We only construct our personal Utopia by looking to the past. If we hope to build a future Utopia, our only success will come from crafting a Utopia that fails in the present. My personal Utopia: The Grass is Blue album from Dolly Parton, Trouble of the World sung by Mahalia Jackson, The Statue of Liberty, and text messages from Patti Smith.

Visit https://vimeo.com/147212573 to view: One Day Out of Every Day I was Born to Suck, a digital poem exploring the construction of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s self within a larger empire or social structure through the use of internet sources, memory, and autobiography. Although the past may be perfect in its completion, our remembrances of it are super-flawed. This creates an uneasy simplicity I find mesmerizing.

Dave Bermingham : Chicago, USA

Timothy Nguyen : Chicago, USA

The

Carcerem in Horto Metropolitan Correctional Chicago, Illinois

Center

The city of Chicago has long been regarded as a city of great architecture. When the International Style of modernism first moved to America, it was to Chicago; when Frank Lloyd Wright developed his timeless “Prarie Style”, it was in and around the neighborhoods of Chicago; and around the world, when we look for an example on developing new cities, skyscrapers and ways of living, we look to Chicago. But amidst the renowed works of Mies, Sullivan, Wright, and Root, sits an anomolous building, a striking opposition to the vibrant city around it. Characterized by it’s narrow windows, triangular plan, and austere concrete facade, the Metropolitan Correctional Center is one of a very small number of U.S. prisons located in or near major population centers. It’s style and it’s location set the MCC apart as a monolithic emblem of incarceration and an unmissable landmark for the city. The image is intended to explore the relationship between the prison and it’s city, investigating the strangness of incarcerating 622 individuals within a stone throw Michigan avenue. The image, like the building, is intended to be uncomfortable, accessing the sensations of separation and coarseness implied by the MCC. A special focus was given to visualizing the distinction between inside and out; between the free and the imprisoned. As our national awareness of the problems posed by mass incarceration grows, it is becoming increasingly clear that the existing approaches to crime and punishment are no longer suited to our societies values. The cost of the modern justice system is the very lives of the people we pretend to protect and rehablitate. The Metropolitan Correctional Center is nothing if not an icon of this outdated modality, but maybe, if we were able to truly see it, for all it’s brutality, symbolism, and strangness, we might begin to ask what exactly it’s role is in the great and beautiful city of Chicago, and what it’s role is in our cities future.

Alexander Beckman : Chicago, USA

Dennis Khambai+Friends : Chicago, USA

Kevin Wolf : Kalamazoo, USA

Brought to you in a display of contrast. Between crumbling remains of man made structures and the vast open areas thats still thrive on this earth. Your perfect world is not my perfect world. While you may enjoy towering buildings, being surrounded by people with barely enough room to breathe... that might kill me. Some people need to see a horizon to know there is still an entire world out there beyond the skyscrapers. Nothing under the sun is new. We as humans simply find new ways to arrange it. UTOPIA is IMPOSSIBLE and will crumble... and someday it will all be wide open spaces again.

Jon Zomer : Kalamazoo, USA

“moment of reflection” Life size replica of me made from reflective vinyl and installed in a aluminium foil covered staircase. A commentary on self reflection and decision making. Do I go up or down? I’ll illuminate either way. Self reflection is utopian if you allow yourself options.

Michael Gillhouse : Chicago, USA

Mohammad Kassem: Kuwait City, Kuwait

Amanda Wills : Chicago, USA

Wahyu Eko Prasetyo : Surakarta, Indonesia

Luise Brauer : Leipzig, Germany

[inside cover] Dan Harvey

freeassmag.com