Megawopolis

One more thing you should be sure to catch this Friday is the opening of the Megawords storefront, located right down 11th street from the FH studio. I mean, we'll be practically neighbors! In case you're so unfortunate as to have never heard, Megawords is a slick d.i.y. publication out of Philadelphia, openly curated, that includes the words and photos of many different kinds of people. Despite its creators being less than formally trained journalists, the substance of its pages are frequently on par with the most widely recognized examples of solid reporting I've seen. The photos are equally, if not more captivating, so that taken together, the bound volume presents a fine example of indie publishing. It is therefore not surprising that the journal comes out of the famed collective powerhouse at1026 Arch St.



The creators, Anthony Smyrski and Dan Murphy, bring Megawords to their audience at a bargain: that is, free. The project is deliberately non-commercial and thus, you will find no advertisements hogging valuable centerfold real estate. Every last pixel is substance. They aim to achieve in doing this, "the exploration of the modern urban environment and the establishment of an open and active dialogue between the magazine and the community at large." As a result, however, the magazine only comes out twice a year--no small feat--though not as often as I would be happy to read it. To satisfy hungrier devotees, the creators also broadcast a radio show every Sunday night through their website.



Bringing it back to tonight, the storefront at 1125 N. Cherry St. is about bringing all this information and energy into a tangible space. With a rotating cast of famous and not so famous artists, the magazine hopes to ground its work in a single address for thirty days of installations, speakers, performances, music, workshops and film screenings. The point of the experiment as it was conceived is to document the learning process and the creative process among interesting, driven, artful people. And it is totally free, so everyone's invited. That's it, and then it'll be gone. For the thirty days the project exists, you can expect to find a veritable onslaught of things eminating from the space and the creators hope, a slurry of things inside it as well.