{ "version": "https://jsonfeed.org/version/1.1", "title": "Scott Boms: Documenting", "description": "A personal notebook of things on my mind, moments frozen in visual time, and other interesting ideas and media. (link: /feeds text: Subscribe) for updates.", "home_page_url": "https://scottboms.com", "feed_url": "https://scottboms.com/documenting.json", "icon": "https://scottboms.com/assets/img/apple-touch-icon-200x200.png", "favicon": "https://scottboms.com/assets/img/favicon-64x64.png", "authors": { "name": "Scott Boms", "url": "https://scottboms.com", "avatar": "https://scottboms.com/media/site/ba52019455-1751662462/photo-scott.jpg" }, "language": "en-us", "items": [ { "id": "939", "url": "https://scottboms.com/documenting/say-hi-at-sf-zine-fest", "title": "Say Hi at SF Zine Fest", "content_html": "
SF Zine Fest
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For a little while I\u2019ve been mulling over how I might dip my toes into the world of zine/art book fairs and festivals, especially now that I\u2019ve amassed a decent catalog of original books, zines, prints, and other objects.So when the call went out a couple months back for applications for the annual SF Zine Fest, it seemed like the opportunity I was looking for. Local. One day. A bit more chill than the SF Art Book Fair. Perfect, really.

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Although initially waitlisted, earlier this week I got word that a spot had opened up and am now confirmed to exhibit at the event on Sunday, September 6th at The Hibernia in San Francisco. I\u2019m equal parts excited and nervous, but as they say \u2014 nothing ventured, nothing gained.

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If you happen to be around the Bay Area that weekend, come on by. I\u2019ll have the full shop available \u2014 and, with a little luck, at least one or two new exclusives.

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And of course a big pile of shiny Matter Editions stickers :)

Reply via e-mail or follow me at @scottboms@typo.social on Mastodon.

", "date_published": "2026-08-20T20:40:00+00:00" }, { "id": "938", "url": "https://scottboms.com/documenting/the-co-production-of-meaning", "title": "The Co-Production of Meaning", "content_html": "

I\u2019d like to think of printed publications, posters or zines as not necessarily the end product trying to convince anyone of anything, but rather as \u201cworking towards establishing conditions for the co-production of meaning.\u201d

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Eva Weinmayr

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I was caught totally off-guard when I encountered this quote from Eva Weinmayr\u2019s brief essay, One Publishes to Find Comrades1. It succinctly states the underlying premise that ties together my work from the Analog Lab \u2014 and effectively everything I\u2019ve produced since. It\u2019s right at the heart of what I\u2019m trying to imbue in everything from Matter Editions.

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For me, the opportunity in making things is to create conditions for someone else to want to take that thing and reflect on it to find their own meaning and conclusions through it; to become equally involved in the process of creation, assigning their own value to the object or artifact.

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I found a comrade in Eva\u2019s writing. And each time someone connects with something I\u2019ve made, I find yet more.

Footnotes

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  1. Weinmayr, Eva. One Publishes to Find Comrades*, 2014. \u21a9
    2. \n

Reply via e-mail or follow me at @scottboms@typo.social on Mastodon.

", "date_published": "2026-08-16T16:30:00+00:00" }, { "id": "937", "url": "https://scottboms.com/documenting/through-lines-291", "title": "Through Lines 291", "content_html": "

Right out of the gate, A Matter of Form proves to be an ingenious illustration of colorful and creative wizardry. A single point becomes an endless number of forms.

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Art & Design

Type of Note

One More Thing

I can\u2019t say I ever expected to see Gillian Anderson do an ad for LEGO, yet here we are in the year 2026 \u2014 and I want to believe. The Truth is (Still) Out There.

I started assembling this issue over a month ago and have found myself either distracted by other work (I released a new zine recently and have 2 more in the works), or life, or just feeling like I needed a break from so much bad news on the internet. The world is kind of a bummer all around right now so it\u2019s tough to feel like any of this actually matters. But here we are, and maybe I should get started on the next one sooner than later.

Reply via e-mail or follow me at @scottboms@typo.social on Mastodon.

", "date_published": "2026-08-15T13:00:00+00:00" }, { "id": "936", "url": "https://scottboms.com/documenting/dont-shake-a-polaroid-picture", "title": "Don't (Shake a Polaroid Picture)", "content_html": "
\"A
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\"A
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\"A
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I had an idea for a zine that would capture my collection of failed Polaroids. Failed for numerous reasons \u2014 outright bad film packs (it happens, or rather used to back in the more experimental Impossible days), expired film, or even mechanical camera issues with my SX-70 at the time. It\u2019s taken almost 3 years to find its form after numerous failed attempts and going in circles with approaches that didn\u2019t work or just didn\u2019t make sense.

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Of course, the minimalist approach which I must have subconsciously been avoiding is what clicked, leaving me now in the enviable position1 of having a weekend\u2019s worth of folding, stapling, and cutting ahead of me to wrap up a small edition, and which frees me up to continue with the other two books that are currently in development.

Footnotes

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  1. Enviable in my mind because it means time away from a screen and working with my hands. \u21a9
    2. \n

Reply via e-mail or follow me at @scottboms@typo.social on Mastodon.

", "date_published": "2026-08-01T11:35:00+00:00" }, { "id": "935", "url": "https://scottboms.com/documenting/all-senses", "title": "All Senses", "content_html": "

Once we have surrendered our senses and nervous systems to the private manipulation of those who would try to benefit from taking a lease on our eyes and ears and nerves, we don\u2019t really have any rights left.

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Marshall McLuhan

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Right now, a good number of companies (I don\u2019t need to name them, you know who they are) seem hell-bent on taking this a step further and going straight for the whole package \u2014 eyes, ears, nerves, and ultimately our minds. The real trick will be when these same people come along with the solution to the problems they inflicted on us in the first place. There has to be a way out of this vicious cycle, but if anything feels true, it\u2019s that the cost will increase indefinitely the longer it takes to tell them \u201cenough.\u201d

Footnotes

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McLuhan, Marshall. Understanding Media: The Extensions of Man (Critical Edition). Gingko Press, 1994. p 99.

Reply via e-mail or follow me at @scottboms@typo.social on Mastodon.

", "date_published": "2026-07-27T22:00:00+00:00" }, { "id": "934", "url": "https://scottboms.com/documenting/long-lost-memories", "title": "(Long)-Lost Memories", "content_html": "
\"A
Preview detail of a spread from a forthcoming zine project currently in production
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I\u2019m working on several zine/book projects at the moment, and now have the first in production. It\u2019s only taken about four years of second guessing, losses of momentum, and restarts to get to here, but it\u2019s finally found a form that works. Of course, stripping the idea back to the bare metal is what helped it finally click. The plan, as much as there is one, is to have this and at least one more ready in time for SF Zine Fest in September, though whether that means anything is contingent on whether I get past the waitlist for a table.

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I\u2019m also re-considering a second printing of the long-out-of-print Simple Sabotage Field Manual as well, possibly even the (currently) abandoned redesign and expanded version. The exciting ones (to me at least) are the other two not specifically mentioned.

Reply via e-mail or follow me at @scottboms@typo.social on Mastodon.

", "date_published": "2026-07-21T21:10:00+00:00" }, { "id": "933", "url": "https://scottboms.com/documenting/art-in-the-wild", "title": "Art in the Wild", "content_html": "
\"An
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I\u2019ve barely had time to look at the hundreds of photos I took while in Japan since we\u2019ve been back, but my eye caught this one today from the deer park in Nara, one of the most naturally charming places I\u2019ve maybe ever visited. It\u2019s a good reminder that there\u2019s beauty to be found in the little, often and easily ignored moments in a day. You just have to slow down and look.

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I needed that today. And come on \u2014 look at how beautiful that manhole cover is!

Reply via e-mail or follow me at @scottboms@typo.social on Mastodon.

", "date_published": "2026-07-13T21:00:00+00:00" }, { "id": "932", "url": "https://scottboms.com/documenting/friction-is-necessary", "title": "Friction is Necessary", "content_html": "

A tool that shields us from the friction of the work is compelling, but if we don\u2019t experience the friction, we will never change the work.

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Rutherford Craze

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In my mind, earlier consideration of disruption from digital tools now seems so quaint and na\u00efve by comparison to the effects of so-called \u201cartificial intelligence\u201d on traditional human-centric creative processes. Rutherford makes a clear, cogent case for why keeping humans at the center is critical. He goes on to astutely note, How dare we abandon so many countless traditions and people and ideas and nuances, simply because they are under\u00adrepresented in the training data?

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While I\u2019ve seen some value in these tools, I can\u2019t help but feel \u201cthe ick\u201d in how they\u2019re being used to re-shape the nature of how designers and artists create work \u2014 and in who gains the most from the growing entrenchment of these tools. Then there\u2019s the ongoing question of when the bottom will fall out from it all.

Reply via e-mail or follow me at @scottboms@typo.social on Mastodon.

", "date_published": "2026-07-11T15:10:00+00:00" }, { "id": "931", "url": "https://scottboms.com/documenting/specificity", "title": "Specificity", "content_html": "

Japanese craft is rooted in specificity. Each object and solution is considered in its own context. That mindset often prioritizes appropriateness over efficiency and precision over scale.

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Kyosuke Nishida

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Having just returned from 12 days in Japan, immersed in their incredible history and culture, this quote from creative director Kyosuke Nishida feels both apt and also true. Westerners could learn a lot from how the Japanese approach not just design, but infrastructure, community, and shared responsibilities. It might not come as a surprise, but it was an eye-opening, meaningful, and rewarding trip on many levels \u2014 and made it hard to return to our adopted home.

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It\u2019s a shame that Western companies and governmental priorities are almost entirely driven by efficiency and capitalist ideals, because we all lose out as a result.

Reply via e-mail or follow me at @scottboms@typo.social on Mastodon.

", "date_published": "2026-07-05T19:45:00+00:00" }, { "id": "930", "url": "https://scottboms.com/documenting/storied", "title": "Storied", "content_html": "
\"Five-storied
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I suspect I\u2019m going to return from Japan with a lot of photos of temples and little architecture details since that\u2019s what I find myself gravitating towards when traveling. This trip is already proving to be a good source of photos to (finally) start fiddling with the Aphera beta, which immediately made me want to erase all memory of Lightroom from my archives.

Location Info

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Senso-ji Temple, first built in 942 AD before being destroyed in 1945 and rebuilt in 1973.

Reply via e-mail or follow me at @scottboms@typo.social on Mastodon.

", "date_published": "2026-06-23T16:50:00+00:00" } ] }