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Designer: Yang Ji
Publisher: Dreamer FTY
Size: 170 x 240 x 19 mm
Pages: 286pp
Binding: Paperback, swiss binding
Printed in: China
Year: 2023

The clues in the second issue of P_PAL continue the theme from the first issue, aiming to showcase the people in the art publishing industry - the "professions" and "roles" involved in creating a book, which together form this diverse creative environment.

The main section of this issue includes several conversations, starting with a handwritten letter from Chang Yuchen, followed by exchange of emails between Nelson (Lost Magazine) and Steve (Stack), and a face-to-face video call with Malte (Indiecon). Time elongates in the waiting and then suddenly contracts, followed by a newfound appreciation for communication and exchange.

We also attempt to summarise, in a "Talking on Paper" style, some of the common concerns that everyone has about book-making: how to choose paper, how to distribute self-published works, and How to organise book fairs after the pandemic. In this issue, we have once again compiled a directory of global independent bookstores and invited five Chinese independent bookstore owners to introduce themselves in a comic form.

Through dialogues on different dimensions, what has been salvaged are the thoughts and experiences of fellow travellers on the subject of "book-making." Their willingness to delve into the minutiae of things and open up their crevices, along with their generous sharing of practical methods, give this book a reassuring guide-like quality.

This issue's special theme casts its gaze on a broader community, actively envisioning a form of "shared work and life." Holding the glass called "Action," which was passed on by the "Big Fool" Matsumoto Yasushi, a group of artists, curators, and activists are raising their glasses in the living room of Xiao Zhou Village in Guangzhou to celebrate the completion of a new space. They maintain a loose yet closely-knit cooperation as naturally as breathing; they inherit the community radio stations of Pirate Radio across various locations, using music as a lifeboat and collectively carrying out daily acts of small resistance with their listeners. 706 Youth Space once established a democratic experimental field based on "shared living," attempting to rewrite the boundaries between private and public.