WORDOBJECTS

jacob is making objects out of words…

…like his very first chapbook!

This collection is a meditation, an imperfect record-keeping of the passing of a year, from Autumn 2020 to Summer 2021. Those days, the world was as quiet and as loud as it has ever been: dreams and relationships grew permeable, and loneliness itself became a traveling companion.

This collection is a photograph, a smudge of moment overexposed. In twelve scenes, it entangles solemn moments of reality with jubilant moments of surreality, mournful recollections of the past, and ecstatic prayers toward our deserved collective future.

…and zines!

What’s a zine?

Glad you asked! A zine is a nugget of wisdom, a little booklet, a morsel of magic. A zine could be a pamphlet, a receipt from CVS, a Chick Tract, etc.—not quite “books,” but they are often images and words arranged on paper, and they do like to get passed from hand to hand.

The zines you fine below, unless otherwise noted, are designed to be made on one single folded piece of paper. Magical. Want to learn how to make one yourself? ICA Boston has a great tutorial!

polished smooth

This zine features a four-part poem created for the Jewish New Year, 5783. It is about tradition, diaspora, and the sense of both exile and intersectional unity that existence within empire accidentally creates.

This zine was included as part of the omnibus “WE LIVE AS IF ON THE EDGE OF A VOLCANO” by Jewish Zine Archive.

no return address

This zine is an experiment in form, a short poem with collaged images sprawled across its surfaces, condensed enough so that two copies can be printed on each piece of paper.

The poem, an ode to likeness, survivor’s guilt, and the recognition of mounting threats of oppression globally, is also a prayer, a hope that even just a little piece of folded paper can keep us abreast of the horrors of the world—and help us feel together in the struggle.

NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH

This zine was handmade using block printing, tediously carved and printed directly onto each section of the page in advance of cutting and folding it into the 8-page mini zine template.

It is an image-based, minimalist response to a lengthy performance piece, a forthcoming poem-manifesto called “lullaby.”

The final line, “the neighborhood watches over / stay, let’s make dinner / no grieving on an empty stomach,” recontextualizes the concept of the neighborhood watch as something inviting and healing rather than punitive and racist.

The first internal page of “NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH”

Ground to Wall

This zine was made using cut pieces of paper placed on a large background, photographed at a large scale to preserve quality. The layering of paper along with strong, direct light produced shadows that could act as part of the drawings.

The zine was conceptualized and created over a few days in partnership with another artist, SLS, in Lawrence, Kansas, May 2024. The two artists witnessed these events unfold and decided it would be an endearing story told through zine.