White Fungus 6 On Sale Around the World

White Fungus 6 On Sale Around the World
Press Release - July ‘06

Wellington-based arts magazine White Fungus is now on sale throughout New Zealand and around the world. The experimental arts zine, which began as a free photocopied handout in late 2004, is now available at international locations including San Francisco’s City Lights Books, Brisbane’s Institute for Modern Art and Singapore artist-run space the Substation.

Current issue, number six, features an interview with New Zealand Melbourne-based artist Ronnie van Hout and an article on Islanded, an exhibition of New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan art that was held at Wellington’s Adam Art Gallery and is now at Singapore’s Institute for Contemporary Art.
The issue also includes a full-colour comic drawn by Wellington comic artist Tim Bollinger and an article on world-renowned New Zealand experimental sound artist Birchville Cat Motel.

The beginnings of White Fungus trace back to Taiwan where three of its creators, editor Ron Hanson, designer Mark Hanson and music editor Rowan Laing, lived for several years before returning to New Zealand in late 2003. The name of the magazine comes from a brand of canned food discovered in a local Taichung supermarket.

"Taiwan’s been through some pretty rapid economic development," Laing says, "and some of the English branding of products can be a little haphazard or chaotic at best. It started to make us think about branding in general."

The magazine, while focusing on the experimental arts in New Zealand, looks to tap into a wider dialogue. German music magazine Tokafi described White Fungus as being "an active opposition to the information model – instead of feeding you with knowledge, they spark the fire of inspiration and the desire to go out and explore for yourself. It knows that awareness comes into being through active involvement."

For more information on White Fungus, check out: www.whitefungus.com

ENDS

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