Katherine Gillieson and Howsem Huang
This paper discusses the work of the Occasional Press, a publishing initiative at Emily Carr University in Vancouver, BC, as a relational systemic practice. It begins with conceptual underpinnings and how publishing networks can be seen to build resilient networks, both locally and globally. Working through founding principles prioritising accessibility, sustainability, and a pluriversal mandate (Escobar, 2018), the Press is shown to foreground diverse perspectives at Emily Carr and, more broadly, conscious of its locale on unceded territory. Publishing, from normative to more critical forms, is discussed as a complex systemic practice involving many actors, flows, and feedback loops (Meadows, 2008). Dimensions of publication design, including the physical/digital, temporal, and socio-cultural, are considered, shedding light on its power as a systemic tool. A discussion of key projects includes the flagship Occasional Papers and a detailed account of its most recent project, Bittersweet. Here, Howsem Huang examines Chinese diasporic identity through self-publishing and the networks emerging through the creative process, in which readers, publishers, and other active producers create a positive feedback loop (Ludovico, 2012). This discussion of the Press’ ongoing experiments in agile and open-access publishing provides insights into publishing as a contextual, responsive and ethical systemic practice.
KEYWORDS: Publication Design; Systems and Networks; Pluriversal Design; Social Justice; Diasporic community; Sustainability; Resilience
RSD TOPIC(S): Cases & Practice, Society & Culture