Hello, can you start by introducing yourself and tell us who you are?
I'm Nick Sethi, working here at the newsstand. I'm an artist photographer.
I worked at the original newsstand, made a bunch of zines in the past, made a bunch during that time, and now we get to show them at MoMA.
So when it was done, you would just make zines and directly bring them there to show them?
Yeah, the way it started was just with kind of like our crew of people and the employees and our friends and stuff.
And eventually it just led to whoever could bring them by or have someone else bring them by, we would sell them for them.
So yes, can you tell us about your zines? So your photographer, I guess that is made mostly photo base?
Yeah, I mean the way that not just me but a lot of people I guess work, like seeing this whole exhibit is like there's kind of serious ones that are like very photo or follow like one project or kind of a stricter thing.
And then the other cool thing about making zines is you just can do like the dumbest idea you want. I mean honestly those are probably the best ones because it's something that wouldn't really get made otherwise and can't really translate to anything else.
And maybe it's something that you could make like a website for but there's a website for everything.
So more like a gif maybe, something more spontaneous, something funny. Yeah, but like the fact that someone took an idea, a small like dumb idea and went through the whole process of like finding all the work or all the images for it, cutting it, stapling it, printing it and then bringing it somewhere to like give to people is like you know when you see it in your hands that's like those are the best ones that I think.
Do you have some of those silly ones in the one that you selected?
I have, yeah there's like, I mean this one is just pictures from that store Hollister and it's on, this is from the really big one on Broadway.
So that's you? That's me, I went with a friend who also worked here and like I just, I happened to go there like with a cousin of mine by accident and just realized how cool it was.
This is like this huge photos of like naked dudes and there's like lights, the lighting's all crazy, they have their own scent that they spray through. So I would just take people there, like I'm like little tours of it.
So this is all like just photos that you know, this kid Nathaniel who also makes a bunch of zines and he's also worked with them. Oh yes, he has some here.
I went with him and we just ended up taking all these photos and then at some point we had enough and just put this together you know so.
You know again it's like really, this is like the one that's not done the best but like a lot of people have had a good reaction to this just because it's like you know it's big, it's printed, it's in color.
There's no reason for it to exist, you know.
And is it also in response to this controversy that there was with the fact that they wouldn't make a large size clothes? No.
I had no idea about that.
Yeah, okay.
But it's cool itself to that.
Yeah, it just like you know I mean this is my own so obviously you know I liked it enough to put it out but there's so many other projects in that vein that are in here that like they just work.
You know, I like the idea that the artist is just the one that is like a tourist in his everyday life.
Yeah, exactly.
And like I mean it could be that, it also just could be like a lot of this stuff is like someone just did it you know.
It's because these are, you know what those actually aren't for sale.
Sorry.
I know.
So you mean we can't just take photos?
The posters though.
Yeah, yes but the one I really want is out of.
Oh, okay, I know. That's what, it's kind of crazy because everybody gets in that mindset of they're like oh yeah there's free stuff.
Well no, I was here the other day and it was out awesome.
Oh, okay.
I came back today to see if I could answer my name.
You can take a look through it.
They're all different like books, artist books and zines that people have made and this used to actually be a store that we had in the subway.
So we kept one copy of everything as an archive so that's this.
They're not for sale.
They're not for sale.
It's part of the exhibit.
Yeah.
And it's really hard to understand because at some point there are some prices.
Yeah, there's prices on things.
It's like that's why we wanted to be here.
Just sell it.
Yeah, yeah exactly.
Basically to let people know.
You can probably make a lot of money selling it.
We did, we used to sell it all.
It was all for sale but it wasn't a lot of money sadly.
That's why you're doing that.
Yeah.
You can make money here.
Yeah, I mean but it's a great thing to be able to do.
Thank you.
Yeah, of course.
I really like it because it perfectly shows how this works.
No, of course.
Very differently from the original newsstand.
These originals were supposed to be a store, right?
It wasn't ever, I mean it also wasn't really supposed to make money.
We have to sell things.
We can't just give it away for free but it was just for all these people to be able to
have something that they could sell and to have an audience to put it out to which is
why it's so cool being here because there's I think 1200 titles that we had from the time
that we opened until we closed and most of them are here.
So it's like hundreds and hundreds of people whose work is in the moment.
And how is it different to work from the subway to the mobile?
It's pretty different.
There's always one person that comes in that would have never been to the original one.
Usually someone older, usually someone who lived in the city for most of their life and
is blown away by this.
It's the same, yeah.
It's bigger.
We made it just so people could fit in.
It was pretty simple.
That was so funny.
Thank you though.
My friend, when we came here for the best.
We lived over there.
I don't live over there.
I love how it was even bigger in price.
Okay, yeah.
Sometimes at the company.
Sure.
Thanks.
I mean, even like this woman left like an hour ago, but there's always like one, like,
you know, she said she'd been here since late 50s.
So she's fairly old and she's like, I've seen movies where it changed and whatever.
And like, she's like, this is cool that it would have been there.
Because that would have been closed for a while to get that location.
Nothing there.
There's finally, like, I think six months ago a new guy signed me.
So it's a good luck.
It must be like so expensive.
Sure.
Did you guys have a ramp to get the space or strictly didn't manage to talk?
No, we got like, we got some funding just because then it's like, we could actually do it and
be comfortable and not have to take money from all the artists.
Right.
Like not take a cut.
Like if someone is like, if you're selling something for like five bucks, you're like,
we're going to take four, you know, like it just like doesn't.
Right.
That was a really good project.
Was Dashwood a little bit behind that?
Yeah, we got like selections from all the local stores.
But I mean, are they more behind money lies?
No, they weren't really money wise, but we did.
They did help like, yeah.
And they kind of, they co-published the stuff and did the launch space.
So even though they had their story to do it there, you know, but
That was really good.
Really good.
I know some kid who knows A-Fall guys.
I'm not sure.
Yeah, yeah.
He was, he reminded me about this.
It's like working at FIT and he's doing it at FIT.
I was like, cool.
Yeah, it's good.
I mean, I've been meaning to get over here for weeks.
I know.
It's like the last.
Nothing to sell.
No, nothing to sell.
It's strictly archive.
Just because it's one of everything.
Right.
No, it's hard to allow.
Some of these are like no one's ever going to buy these.
Yeah, yeah.
For sure.
I collect all of these.
I mean, it's good, but you never know.
Like even so when we did the newsstand, we had people who,
like people who've made zines years ago that like,
even though there's kids who die for these things,
sometimes the connections before the internet,
especially doesn't get made where it's like,
the person who made it has 50 sitting in a box
and there's 50 kids in the world that are like,
Googling it, trying to find it, but it just doesn't work.
So we had people bring us some like,
some older stuff that they made, rare stuff.
Yeah.
Which was sick to be like, and it's priced.
Christ.
To be the only kind of spot that we could have.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's a good mix.
Because this is an August for now.
Yeah.
It's pretty epic.
Like I have some riot girls zines, parents and stuff like that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
The limos are really like important zines.
Oh, for sure.
I guess what's common between the one in the subway
and the one in here is that there's a great deal of talking
to people.
You know, people are always very excited to see this
and it's as unusual in here as it is in the subway.
Yeah, true, true.
It's also, it's like very, there's like a lot of things going on.
You know, it's like, sometimes people, in here,
it's more like people don't know if stuff's for sale or not
or want to know like the history or there's people that have been
to the original one, whereas like the one in the train to be,
also, since we were in between two trains,
we had a lot of commuters are like people that would walk by
every day.
So at a certain point they would always just stop in.
And they, a lot of those people like didn't know what any of this
stuff was, you know.
So same thing.
It's super confusing.
It's very confusing.
Yeah, yeah.
They're like, did one person make it?
Did you make, did you guys make all of it?
Like, how can I get stuff in here?
We had kids come with their parents and look through stuff
and they'd be like, oh, check this thing out.
Like, look, this is just drawings and you can photocopy it.
And like a month later come in and bring stuff that they made together.
So it was like, yeah.
Inspiration for the young boys.
Yeah, yeah.
I mean, that's what hopefully the whole thing is.
Can you tell a bit about how, what it means for you as an artist
to make this kind of publications and, you know,
also relating to other types of works that you can make?
Yeah, for sure.
I mean, this was like some of the first stuff I did just because
it's the most accessible.
You can just make it right away, you know.
And it kind of shows you, you also have like an audience.
You can give it to people, you know,
if you're lucky enough to find a cheap way to make it,
then you can essentially give it out for free.
So it like helps you gauge what in your work is working
and what's sticking and what you feel strongly about.
Because I have scenes that I made that I don't really like.
That was like, damn, good thing I only made this out of it
and I didn't turn it into a big project or something.
Why don't you like them?
I think just for me personally, it was, they were like too, too immediate.
Like you make it, you're like, I have an idea and then you do it
and you didn't even stop to think whether like,
if you were making like a painting, you would have to like go,
you'd have to buy all the right stuff, you'd have to create it.
It usually takes, you know, hours, days, weeks, months to do.
So they were too fast.
Too quick and then you do it and you're like, cool, I made 15 of them
and then you're like, I don't know.
And what makes a good one?
What makes a good one?
I don't know, it's all like, they're all different.
You know, even in my own work, I have ones that are very like,
they're like quieter and more serious and more of a photo project
and then I have ones that are just so stupid.
But I think like Peter Sutherland who's made tons,
he always makes good ones because like, I think like he's one person
where he's figured out like, what, okay, I know the answer.
I think the good ones are something that is very authentic to you
or some experience you've had or something you think about.
And that's like, like, that's why I brought Peter.
It's like, anytime you see his, you're like, fuck, dude, it's like...
Yeah, precise.
Precise.
But it's like so, they're just so good.
There was one right here a second ago.
There's one with like stickers all over the cover. Do you see it?
Does this work or it's not?
No or not.
Because it used to be a store.
See, to me, like, this guy's work always...
I don't know, like, there's a lot of stuff in it
and it's a lot of stuff that like, a lot of our friends, similar people,
I guess, like, see, but I feel like most of it kind of came from him
and like, even this, like, the cover is like all stickers
and then you realize it's printed on like the back of a FedEx envelope,
which is like cool because you know what, if you ever go to Kinko's to make copies,
you always put them in these envelopes because it's free.
You know, it's essentially a...
And it's like, weird, just like, it's bootleg stuff
but then it's printed on this like, thin, crazy paper.
Um...
Certain things taken from other photos, it's text
that I believe was taken mostly from like, Nepal.
You like, photograph stuff in Nepal and cut up the text.
But you know, like, to me, this works because it's like so many different things happening, right?
And like...
And does it work for you because you see what he's referring to?
I guess, yeah, more like, like, personally, it's stuff that I like.
We're not, maybe not everybody likes the same thing.
But it's also, as you said in the beginning, the way that it's made,
that makes them very specific and very precise.
Yeah, it's like, it's almost when you see people like, treat it as a real work of art.
Like, not to sound like pretentious about it because it shouldn't...
It doesn't need to be.
But it's like, just putting the thought into it.
Because it's like...
I mean, the cool thing is like, okay, you use the FedEx thing,
like, that's, it's free.
So it's not like, you're not doing it in some like,
crazy conceptual fine art way necessarily.
It's just like, part of it makes it a cheaper thing to make,
which is, all is better.
You know, like...
And then you could see like, the same dude made these little books.
And it's like, it's humans and nature and the way that people interact and...
You know, it's like, they're all like, different things.
It's natural stuff, it's like rocks that have been drawn on and...
Can you tell me how to spell that?
Yeah, it's the first name?
Yeah, it's A-R-I.
A-R-I.
And then it's something like N-A-E.
I'll look it up for you.
Yeah, I don't know.
So it's just...
You know, sometimes it's like stuff that is made a certain way
and like the content and the way it's made work together.
That I always think is cool too.
Can you show us more of your own stuff?
Sure.
Okay, so just because I was talking about that, like this one...
Okay.
I'll put it like how you would get it.
Yeah, so it's inside of the envelope?
Yeah, it like basically comes in this like, this like crazy, like fully blackout bag,
like this kind of foreign bag.
And then it's, you know, it's all black, no cover, no nothing.
But it's like coated papers.
You can see your fingerprints on it and stuff.
So it's like the second you look through it, it like gets like kind of dirty.
It's never perfect.
Yeah.
And then it's just all these photos.
I was like going tanning because they like just got it in the gym that I go to
and they were doing it for free.
And I'm Indian, I don't need a tan, but I just was like, fuck it.
So the lighting in the tanning spots like makes these crazy...
It's just like cool color and good like these weird lines because it's bars of light.
And especially on the phone, it like cancels them out.
So I like found all these photos that I collected of like girls that went tanning and took over.
Yeah, it's crazy.
Like you, this like just the things like this girl had to like put her phone on the floor.
It's like shooting up, but it's where her feet are.
So you know, she had to put it there, put a timer on it.
It's like, it's nuts.
And then close it again.
Close it.
And then you get the photo and then it's supposed to go into the world, but like not...
You know, like they would be mad if they saw it.
And what are the bars on every photo?
Sorry?
What are the bars on every photo?
The bars are because like if you go, if you see in the tanning thing, it's all these light tubes.
So the part where there's no light coming through is like pitch black because the light is so strong.
It's like very like contrasty inside.
You know, so again, it was like supposed to be this weird, like you don't really know who made it.
I mean, I put this little thing, it's like bookmarky thing.
Okay.
And then your name isn't on the, directly on it.
Yeah, so it's not like...
It's only on the bookmark.
Yeah.
So if you ever get it, or like if you lose that, it kind of just exists as this weird like...
Yeah, nobody knows who made it.
It's like a thing in a weird bag.
And then this is a little bit more of just...
I mean, this is like halfway between like it's kind of a book because we got it printed nicer and did 500 of them.
But this is a book that I did with Dashwood.
It was a store and publisher here.
And this is like a little bit more strict photo.
It's from a trip I did in India.
So it's like all these little kids that I met.
I met this kid first and he introduced me to all like this whole group of homeless people that were living under this bridge.
And I spent like three months with him this time and I've gone back twice to see him again.
So I still, I've known this kid now for like six years.
And he's just like a random little kid.
But he's cool.
He's a really good photographer too, actually.
He always like, I would give him my camera and you would take it around and like...
He shot probably some of the photos in this book, even.
This little brother.
So this is like if you, even the way it's like laid out, designed, printed, everything.
It's a very like, you know, it's just a photo.
It has the codes of the photo book?
Yeah, exactly.
Richie Rich!
This is like their whole, this kid's whole setup of all this stuff.
Yeah, so it's like different, you know, you can...
Like as I guess serious as like my work would get.
Because the subject is more serious?
Yeah, it's a little bit more like, subject is more serious.
It's also follows.
Like we work with a designer.
It's printed in a bigger edition, 500.
It's just like, it's more of a book in a way.
Yeah, there's tons of, there's a whole variety of like projects that go from...
Oh, yeah.
Kind of like nothing to a thing like that took months or years sometimes for some of the stuff.
Well, thank you so much.
Yeah, thank you.
Was that good?
