Submissions Open for D.O.R Issue 3

It’s that time again! The LJMcD Communications magazine of experimental art and literature is getting ready for a third issue and we’re looking for your work!

We can’t pay anything for your submissions, but we do offer contributors a print copy of the magazine at reduced cost (just covering printing and shipping)

All submissions should be in word doc format and sent to lachlan.mcdougall@gmail.com and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

Please include a short third person bio in the body of your email to accompany your piece.

Poetry: please send up to five poems not more than a million lines. Any subject, any style, but the weirder and more experimental the better

Prose: short stories, text experiments, essays and whatever else you got up to 5000 words.

Art: send up to 5 high def images. Please include titles and any accompanying information you would like printed alongside your images (medium, process, etc.) It’s also fine if you want your if you want your images to stand alone without extra information.

Anything Else: we are open to new ideas and anything else you’ve got. If you’ve got something that you think would fit within an issue of D.O.R, please don’t hesitate to send it through or send a query and see if it would work.

And, if this is your first time, don’t forget to read the past two issues of D.O.R which can be read or purchased here

NegativeLand

NegativeLand is an obsession with the inverse, the photographic negative exposing that which we
cannot usually see. Colours form, image is distorted, the simplest artefacts become glistening
crescendos of light. In particular, I am drawn to the minute particulars and the sweeping beauty of the
natural world. The negative draws out a ghost of another time, a darkness and light that plays off our
subconscious reckoning.
Fourteen photographs kept in negative like projection light from deep inside. Do you see another world?
The inverse ghost world where the light grows thin. Each photograph is printed in an edition of ten
signed and numbered prints with the option of a second edition in the future. There is also a ‘print on
demand’ option which is unsigned and not part of the official suite. Ease of access to art is very
important to me.

You can purchase prints of each slide at artpal.com or take home the book of the series here

Systems

Systems is ten images based off the idea of an image processing system. We take a verbal cue from out in the aether and we transpose to the picture language. We distort what is through our lens of system. A rigorous system no doubt but what remains is another matter entirely. These photographs represent the functional world reduced to mere repeating patterns. Things are brought down to a simple gridwork or a fantastic kaleidoscope and move further and further away from that thing which they are. The physical world is no longer recognisable and the representative function of the photograph is nullified.

All images, bar one, were produced by taking a photograph of a thing then using a standardised procedural system to overlay image and distort functionality. The thing no longer remains although it has been multiplied ad infinitum. The odd image out was produced by abstracting photography away from the object and moving towards the infinitesimal—the thing becomes blind to our looks and takes on a textural quality like trees on a distant hill. I’ll let you decide which image is the odd one out.

Systems distorts the commonplace by repetition and abstraction. Nothing remains when you see a thing multiplied beyond the point of counting. The ocean is not a glass of water, a roll of paper is not a tree—these images are not their preceding form, they are something new that stands outside of function and time. They often take on a stark minimalist quality—the thing which looms so large is reduced to a mere pattern that stands in for the entire universe—or else they explode in kaleidoscopic mandalas where the thing loses itself in the monumental ebb and flow of time. Systems is the point of departure, even the name loses meaning.

Each image is on offer in a limited signed and numbered edition of 10 per photograph. For affordability and accessibility there is also an unsigned ‘print on demand’ option. Prints can be purchased from artpal.com or email lachlan.mcdougall@gmail.com for pricing and details.

System #1

System #2 (Fish Eyes Bug Out)

System #3 (Viper’s Nest)

System #4

System #5

System #6

System #7 (Keyhole Lights)

System #8 (Hermetic Order of The Golden Dawn)

System #9

System #10 (Future Proof)

Submissions Open for D.O.R issue 2

SUBMISSIONS CLOSED

Hi all,

I’m happy to announce that the LJMcD Communications literature and arts magazine, D.O.R, is opening up for a fabulous second issue.

I’m looking for poetry, prose, and art on the edge of sanity. Bold new experiments in text and form. Anything that pushes the boundaries of what we can do with language and symbol. Full details below.

POETRY: Send up to five poems as a single word document. No restriction on form or subject matter, just make it interesting. You’ll find I’m more interested in experimental poetry than I am in traditional sonnets and the like, but I’m open to anything. Up to a million lines, but make them count!

PROSE: Up to 5,000 words in a word document. Short stories, prose poems, essays on contemporary magick, whatever ya got, just make sure you’re doing something new with your words. I want my head to spin with the modern world.

ART: Send up to five high def images in a single email along with any additional information you want published like titles and media.

Send all submissions to lachlan.mcdougall@gmail.com. Please include a brief third person bio in the body of your email to accompany your piece if it is accepted.

Unfortunately, I cannot offer payment for accepted pieces, but all contributors will get the option of a print copy of the magazine at printing/shipping cost.

You can check out the first issue of the magazine in pdf or print copy here

Now, go forth and send me your best and weirdest work!

LJMcD Communications call for Ephemera

As you may know, LJMcD Communications publishes free zines and pamphlets from time to time. To date these have been the work of press founder and main contributor, Lachlan J McDougall, but now the call is open to have your work published as part of this wonderful free mail out network.

What we’re looking for: set your word document to A5 paper size and put together material up to 52 A5 pages in length. Please, no more than that as the zines become unwieldy, but anything up to that length is workable.

We’re looking for experiments here. We’re looking for something that’s been on your mind and you just need to get it out. You might want to check out the free pamphlets that have already been distributed here.

What’s in it for you: well, it’s a free mail out service, so there’s no monetary recompense, but it’s a great way to get your work out to a wide audience and it will put you in a good position if you ever want to submit a book for consideration with LJMcD Communications. There’ll be the option to limit the number of print copies if you’re into rarity, but otherwise your pamphlet will be distributed to the mailing network and included with orders of books and other mail outs and go on the ‘Catalogue of Ephemera’ for collectors of LJMcD Communications work.

Your pamphlet will also be put aside for inclusion in an anthology volume collecting all the LJMcD Communications ephemera in the future.

You will hold complete copyright over your work and can withdraw the zine at any time or use it for your own purposes, whatever you like!

There is also an option to put the pamphlet out as a full book after a period of time to set it in stone as part of the LJMcD Communications catalogue.

How do I submit: start by familiarising yourself with the zines the press has already put out, then put together your own zine manuscript and email it to lachlan.mcdougall@gmail.com for consideration. I’ll get back to you as soon as possible and let you know how to proceed from there.

Monthly Update: February 2023

Well, it’s that time again—the last Saturday of the month—and it’s time for the monthly update of everything going on at LJMcD Communications.

Let’s start with the brand new art book and photographic series Twelve Photographs of Silence. These insomniac photographs are designed to capture the sleepless lack of early morning and are a lovely little collection. You can purchase the folio book of the series here or view the series here

Next up is the fabulous Nagasaki Blues, my brand new cut-up novel and the first in the Hypernovel Trilogy. This book is a wild ride through to the end of the world and back and just has to be read to be believed. Get a copy right here

For either of these books, you can also order signed copies direct from LJMcD Communications by emailing lachlan.mcdougall@gmail.com with your order details and I will sign and send out as soon as possible.

***

That’s all the releases for February, but let’s take a look at what’s coming up in March.

A Pocketful of Scars by Laird Lee Kirk will be released in early March. This book of delightfully human poetry is a real treat and you won’t want to miss it. Pre-orders open, just email lachlan.mcdougall@gmail.com with your order details.

My second free pamphlet for the year, A Report from Elm Street Number 23, will be going out next month in a limited signed and numbered run of fifty copies. A free pdf will also be uploaded to the website, but to get your hands on one of the print copies, just email lachlan.mcdougall@gmail.com with your postal details.

Shimmied Christmas Jimmy, the Rat Fink of the Chimney is a brand new chapbook in the c22 open editions series. This long poem will be made available as a free pdf here and on the c22 website with an option to buy print copies if you like the work.

You can also have a look at the entire non-McDougall publishing schedule for LJMcD Communications here