Curator, Jodi Hauptman: Throughout this period, we see this just incredible proliferation of artists' journals. And they're very important communication tools.
Editor, Alexander Provan: My name is Alexander Provan and I'm the editor of Triple Canopy, which is a digital magazine based in New York.
I think the perennial reason for starting a magazine is the ability to speak to a vast number of people, to bypass gatekeepers, to get around the institutions that you might not have access to. theoretically you could reach as many people as possible without having to get anyone's approval or have much money or recognition or status.
I think what's most exciting about magazines from this period, especially, given the new nation-states that were coming into being and the degree to which nationalism was fueling war, you can use a magazine to create relationships that transcend national identity, to create an international network that generates new ideas about how we can be in the world, what kind of political models we want, and what kinds of demands we can place on governments.
I think, generally, the level of precariousness in the world that these people inhabited was really extreme. And these magazines were pretty short-lived, but I can't imagine the people who started them would have expected anything else. And, so, I think that's one reason the magazines are so intense. You feel like everything these people have is being put into the magazine. And every issue has everything at once.