Some friends and I recently gathered in Portland, Oregon for the 2007 PDX Zine Symposium. Held on the lush campus of Portland State University, this was the seventh annual zine convention, featuring an abundance of tablers, zinesters, and visitors. Although we did not purchase a display table this year, we did represent our graphic zine collective, Dead Letter Art (DLa) by making the rounds, checking out new zines, and sharing issues of DLa. Since the annual Zine Symposium began in 2000, DLa has attended almost every year, learning, networking, and exploring ideas with fellow zinesters. Thus, with a hefty stack of DLa issues in hand, the DLa posse traded zines, collected chunks, and consumed as much information as possible from an endless river of zine literature and DIY propaganda.

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Dead Letter Art (DLa) is an esoteric underground art collective. The collective consists of eight core members that have known each other since high school, and have been creating and sharing their art for well over fifteen years. Sharing many common interests and influences, the DLa collective explores diverse artistic media, both individually and collectively. Their vast media expertise includes everything from drawing and painting to website development and multimedia production. Further, the group also embraces the fine art of desktop publishing, employing their periodically printed zine, Dead Letter Art, with their recently redesigned website, deadletterart.com, as their vehicle of choice for sharing, discussing, and exploring their highly creative, collective universe.

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A new Dead Letter Art website is in the works and coming soon. The new site enhances previous content with dynamic features and improved organization. The new site has also been updated to include more archived content, including ancient issues and special projects. Additionally, some keen Ajax functionality kicks the “fun” up a notch. Anticipated release date: September 1, 2006. Check out the old, sickly green website here (update 9/2011: green site has been removed).

Update: [ 02/01/07 ] — The new Dead Letter Art website is now in full effect! Check it out at deadletterart.com. Browse the infamous DLa Archives, chat live with the crew in the DLa Forum, or even leave a comment in the Guestbook. — You’ll be glad you did..

The Dead Letter Art website is temporarily back online. This is the once infamous, vomit-green version of the website we’re talking about here. One of the first serious attempts at website design, the green DLa site offers slice-based rollover action, table-based markup, and seriously grotesque aesthetics. However hideous the site, its content showcases some of the finest highlights from the Dead Letter Art experience.

Nonetheless, the site is back online for a hopefully brief three-week tour. This may indeed be your last chance to relive some of that ol’ vomit-green magic. So come on, feel the love…

Dead Letter Art represents the creative exploits of several Northwest chillers. Their collective history is rich and reaches back almost two decades. For several years during the turn of the millennium, the DLa artists collaborated and published over twenty issues of their infamous zine, Dead Letter Art. Somehow, time has once again brought great distance between the members of DLa, and only time will tell if Dead Letter Art will truly rest in peace.

Nonetheless, it is interesting to ponder the current happenings related to those once involved with DLa. So, in the interest of future business, here are some current DLa statistics:

• DLa Status: Unconscious
• DLa Issue: Halloween Issue, 2005
• DLa Website: Last update: November 6th, 2004
• DLa Project: Website redesign (Spring 2006)

DLa Member News:

88teeth

Alive & well — presumably enjoying life in Portland, filling sketchbooks, pimping photos, and relaxing. Click here to examine his website.

Perishable

Regaining focus through faith in Christ. Also working on various projects, mostly online (for now).

Nimbus

Rumored to be slaving his life away as a maintenance technician. Most likely dabbling in the creative realm, snapping photos, drawing pictures, and painting rocks.

BHBW

Last seen pwning the small town of Moses Lake, WA — Driving taxi and appearing in court. Chances of seeing some new BHBW art in your lifetime: slim to none.

Osseus

News from the West — whispers of a nameless fear… well okay, maybe not — but his new website is super stylin’ — check it out.

Sui Lan

Last seen over a year ago online at her Y Design graphic design website (ynakamuradesign.com), which unfortunately is no longer available.

Kalacakra

Freshly exhumed, the originally hellish Hard Rock Zombie plays himself in the short film, Snow Day, Bloody Snow Day, which may be previewed here.

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