Frank151 has a lot of respect for other magazines out there. But with the massive amount of periodicals popping up every day, we rarely take the time out to praise any of them. However, there is one magazine that stands out above the rest and merits mentioning.
Aspen magazine was created by Phyllis Johnson in Colorado in 1965. Unlike any periodical before it, Aspen was a multimedia 'magazine' which came in a customized box that contained anything from vinyl records to 8mm film. While the first two issues stayed close to the goings on in Aspen, Colorado, future issues delved deeper into the arts.
Like the Frank Book, Aspen was a quarterly publication that featured guest curators for each issue. Contributors included Lou Reed, Andy Warhol, Yoko Ono, John Cage and Samuel Beckett. Though a great concept, Aspen only lasted until 1971.
"If Aspen was an art director's dream, it was also an
advertiser's nightmare. The ads, stashed at the bottom of the box, were
easily ignored. And although Aspen was supposed to publish
quarterly, in reality the publication date of each issue was as much of
a surprise as the contents. 'All the artists are such shadowy
characters,' publisher Johnson said, 'that it takes months to track
them down.' After issue 5+6, there were no more ads in the magazine."
Respect to Aspen for being a true originator. Unfortuantely, creativity does not always pay the bills.