A Drug flyer, the early days of Plazm magazine
During the spring and summer of 1991 was when I first got involved with what ultimately became Plazm magazine. One of my housemates at the time, Andy McFarlane, heard about a meeting happening in a warehouse space in what is now branded as the Pearl district.
We talked about artists representing artists, about media control. We didn’t know then that we were making a magazine. There were artists, writers, photographers, poets. Each week we met. Some people came one time, others stayed for years. Andy and I both became part of the small group of early founders of Plazm. Others included Neva Knott, Sean Harrison, Karynn Fish, Dena Carter, Prometheus Jones, and Patrick Bardel.
Reuben Nisenfeld was the initial instigator and had the vision for an organization / foundation that encompassed the magazine and other arts / music / culture based programming. He called his entity Inverarity Media Foundation — “serving your creative needs since the end of history”. See one of the original letters below. Inverarity was the publisher of the Plazm №1. Reuben lit the match. Though as with any fire, it takes tending. Many people have contributed time and energy to Plazm over the years.
Once we had collectively decided to make a magazine, we had to decide what to call it. There were many proposals. One of my early suggestions was “Drug.” Fortunately wiser minds prevailed. The one and only flyer / poster that uses the name Drug magazine is featured here. It contains a collage by Donna Martin, who I met only once, though Reuben knew well. She and I met with Reuben downtown, where she handed me the collage to turn into a poster. I added the type. The words were written and compiled by Andy. The ethos and energy of early Plazm work is in this flyer. Note all of Oregon still used 503, so no area code was needed back then.
