Harris, Jessamyn
Assembly + Craft = Artifact
Issue #28
Two women in San Francisco are keeping the DIY literary spirit alive with their monthly reading series and publishing project
By Stacy Dacheux
Published: June 1st, 2006 | 12:00am
To Melissa R. Benham and her friend Chana Morgenstern, innovative literature demands vibrant content, a supportive community, and some remarkably designed books. In other words, cutting-edge literature is not about the publishing mainstream — it’s a DIY art form.
That’s why, in November 2004, Benham and Morgenstern created Artifact, a reading series and burgeoning independent press that focuses on writing that “breaks the bounds of form, subject, genre, and language while introducing this work into the larger arts community.” Artifact is a place for renegade literature, much of which is considered “unmarketable” by mainstream standards. The writing is refreshingly experimental in form, teetering beyond the confines of narrative prose and poetry. Benham says she chose the word “artifact” because it stands for “archeological ideas. Something that will survive and speak about this underground literary culture.”
Ideas aren’t the only things Artifact is creating. Their first publication, doubly circulatory, a 36-page poetry chapbook by Artifact reader and writer Sara M. Larsen, is a tangible manifestation of those ideas. Built from scratch with a distinct DIY flavor, the binding is hand-stitched, it was copied at a local mom-and-pop place, and it sprang from a collaborative relationship between editor and author.
doubly circulatory is Larsen’s first book, and she says she doesn’t miss the ISBN number at all, insisting, “Publishing outside the mainstream is imperative if you want to connect with a community of writers who are truly doing something that is art, not a product.”
Artifact’s reading series shares this ideology and takes place in Benham and Morgenstern’s own living room. Soft lighting, hardwood floors, vintage furniture, and warm camaraderie fill the space, ensuring a relaxed environment for readers to share their work. Yet, as soon as a reading begins, the silence is immaculate. As Benham explains, there is an emphasis on “being right there with everything that is occurring, and being curious, asking questions of yourself and what you are encountering.”
Benham, who hand-picks writers for each month’s reading, is committed to keeping Artifact anti-elitist and open to anyone. There is no admission fee, only a suggested donation. As long as there is space, their motto is, “Come one, come all!”
Lately, it’s getting harder to find that space. What started as an intimate collection of friends has grown into a gathering of diverse writers, some of whom run their own DIY presses. And while Artifact is rapidly outgrowing their living room’s capacity, there are no current plans to start new chapters. Artifact as an organization, however, is branching out, having recently received fiscal sponsorship from Intersection for the Arts, a San Francisco-based organization that provides mentorship to help small arts projects gain non-profit status. Benham and Morgenstern plan to use the grant money to publish more chapbooks and to educate young people about the value of DIY publishing.
While ventures such as Artifact are admittedly rare, they are not altogether new. San Francisco throbs with several other literary artifacts, including Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s infamous City Lights book shop, reminiscent of the Beat movement of the 1950s and ’60s, another movement that embraced the DIY ethic in literature. Benham believes strongly that “If Beat culture [had] any influence on the current avant-garde writing scene, it’s in its DIY nature — everyone starting their own journals, presses, salons, lecture series, etc., and publishing each other … being deeply engaged with others’ writing and discussions of poetics.”
With regard to mainstream interaction with poetry, Benham sighs, “Most people don’t usually buy poetry, and if they do, it’s written by someone who’s already dead.” Larsen points out that this is why literary ventures such as Artifact are so important. “The mainstream publishing industry is mostly about money and the status quo,” she says. “DIY publishing is about interesting work and a community that values and cares for that work.”
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