About this project

Hi, my name is Scott Hug, I’m a NYC artist and K48 is my fanzine that I founded ten years ago as my thesis project at Pratt Institute. K48 is the quintessence of publication-as-synthesis, embracing music, fashion, art, and design as it disregards genre in the pursuit of an aesthetic of sensory overload. Its name evokes the inscrutable codes at the loose in the culture (on pharmaceuticals, automobiles, electronics, and weapons). Each time capsule is a CD-size block, containing contributions from dozens of artists, friends and heroes, each with an accompanying CD soundtrack.

I started K48 to shake things up — to bridge the gap between different communities and since then, the impact has been monumental. K48 has inspired and launched the careers of some of the worlds most talented contemporary artists like RYAN MCGINLEY, MATTHEW DAY JACKSON, TERENCE KOH, FISCHERSPOONER, HANNA LIDEN, SLAVA MOGUTIN, KELLEY WALKER, WADE GUYTON, MEREDITH SPARKS, RICCI ALBENDA, RACHEL HARRISON, LUCKY DEBELLVUE, SCOTT TRELEAVEN, DEARRAINDROP, DEVENDRA BANHART, TELFAR, HRAFNHILDUR ARNARDOTTIR aka SHOPLIFTER, ASSUME VIVID ASTRO FOCUS, and the list goes on and on…

We take a year or more to nurture each issue going on studio visits, developing stories, creating music, and making art works. Issues frequently appear in conjunction with installations, a thematic fusion of space and object, the two pieces at once freestanding yet inseparable like the "Teenage Rebel: The Bedroom Show" which traveled to agnès b.’s galerie du jour in Paris, "Kamp K48" at Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, San Francisco, and "Is There Anybody Out There," at Hiromi Yoshii Gallery in Tokyo, just to name a few.

Themes are in response to previous concepts: for example the expansive travel of issue 2 led to 3’s introspective teenage bedroom, which was the point of departure for Kult K48’s investigation of religious cultures in issue 4. The natural environment encountered by the Boy Scouts became the theme for issue 5: caged animals, taken from nature, inspired the prison issue. As a liberation from this enclosure, an outer-space theme for issue 7 was launched.

The eighth edition of K48 will continue to explore contemporary culture with ‘magic’ as a central theme of the issue. Once again, deploying a well-known penchant for combining an electric mix of artists drawing from various disciplines, K48 unveils the unknown territory of the supernatural. With 196 pages of collaborations by BRIAN BELOTT, ALEX DA CORTE, ROBERT SUMRELL, OLIVER LUTZ, ONE-HALF NELSON, AUREL SCHMIDT, PAUL MPAGI SEPUYA, AMY GRANAT, JOSEPH WHITT, DIS MAGAZINE, ROBERT BITTENBENDER, TIMOTHY HULL, SARA GREENBERGER RAFFERTY, OLAF BREUNING, and a custom R-U-In?S spread compiled by KARI ALTMANN called “Similar Image Haul: Magic Eye XD” among others. The issue will feature an exclusive interview with the band SALEM and a full length CD mixed by BOOKWRMZ including original tracks made by HOUSE OF LADOSHA, LIGHT ASYLUM, BRENMAR and MIRROR MIRROR – it’s an indulgent foray into realms of mystery, enchantment, surprises, and illusions that are at times ethereal, and at other times staggering.

We need to raise the rest of our printing costs: approximately $12,000+. K48 is no ordinary fanzine. The best printers are used and a number of special offset printing techniques are applied like ‘tip-on’, holographic foil stamping, dusted edges, die cuts, silver Mylar inserts, posters, stickers, fold-outs, spot colors, soy-based inks, recycled acid-free papers, etc. Each limited edition K48 time capsule of 192+ pages is a collector’s item.

For your pledge, I will match each amount with limited edition K48 multiples, signed copies of out of print back issues and unique artworks. Not only are you supporting hours of hard work and a very awesome endeavor but also you will be receiving special limited edition artworks that will increase in value over time.

K48 throws some of the best parties NYC has ever seen and we want to bring it to you! K48 is your pocket guide to inspiration but we can't continue without your help.

What is art without K48?

Peace, love and happy holidays,
Scott Hug

I would like to thank the following awesome people for their help with our K48ickstarter video: Lyndsy Welgos, Ara Anjargolian, Brenmar, Michael Magnan, Fixx Invictus, and Chris Rice.