By Temporary Services
Chicago, IL: Temporary Services, March 2013
Pages: 20
Dimensions: 8.5" x 5.5"
Cover: soft
Binding: staple-bound
Process: offset
Color: full color throughout
Edition Size: 1000
ISBN: none

The 99th publication by Temporary Services is a catalog, overview and exhibition guide titled "Records as Portable Exhibitions and Interactive, Participatory Objects." Printed on heavy, glossy paper, this little booklet is packed with writing along with twenty color illustrations. And yes, the front cover, drawn from the back of "Shinin' On" by Grand Funk, will produce a 3-D effect if you have a pair of glasses handy.

From the introduction:

"This booklet focuses on vinyl records and their packaging that are either interactive and participatory, or that operate like portable exhibits. Temporary Services made this booklet to accompany a collection of the albums that are featured in this publication. We love music and the rich collaborations that surround its production and presentation. We also enjoy the democratic aspects of mass produced creative works like records. As a group that has released no records but has authored and/or self-published nearly 100 booklets, books, and newspapers (along with lots of posters and ephemera), we love the idea of creative things that don’t cost a lot of money to make or sell and that thousands of people can own. And okay, a couple people in the group are record collectors so this project was bound to happen at some point.

The albums in this exhibition and booklet represent a range of inspired listening concepts, design strategies and interactive possibilities for 12” long-playing phonographic records. We have collected these records together because they serve as a vehicle for a range of interactive possibilities or an unusually generous array of readable and viewable materials. These records go far beyond the standard presentation of music recorded to vinyl and packaged in a cardboard sleeve. Some of these records include enough printed inserts to comprise a substantial wall display or a small exhibition. Others encourage action – even asking you to draw on the cover or dismantle part of the interior and wear it."

Some of the records discussed in this booklet include albums by: Bootsy's Rubber Band, Cheech and Chong, Chicago Thrash Ensemble, Alice Cooper, Crass, The Ex, Faces, Hawkwind, Jefferson Airplane, Jethro Tull, Led Zeppelin, Man, Parliament, Rolling Stones, Sweet, Terry Plumming and The Who.