Unfinished Book Bureau
The Unfinished Book Bureau is a publishing endeavor created to document and distribute the creative work of David Buckley Borden and collaborators.
The birth of the Unfinished Book Bureau can trace its conception to the Fall of 2022 with the publication of Borden’s Ghost Forests Exhibition Guide. This initial short-run artist catalog, created with Trustman Art Gallery curator Helen Popinchalk, organically developed into a series of “zines” documenting Borden’s collaborative work with the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest and the Fuller Initiative for Productive Landscapes at the University of Oregon. The initial zine titles were supported by a grant to Borden from the University of Oregon’s Sustainability Faculty Fellowship for Community-Engaged Learning, PNW Just Futures Institute.
The DIY ethos and practice of the Unfinished Book Bureau draws inspiration from community-driven underground music and radical political “zines” of the 1990’s. As such, not-for-profit, short-run, hard copy editions of each publication are offered for sale at cost on davidbuckleyborden.com. Digital copies of all Unfinished Book Bureau titles are available free to the public; simply email a short note with requested titles to dborden4@uoregon.edu.
Hard copies of Unfinished Book Bureau titles, while supplies last, can be purchased online here.
Available Unfinished Book Bureau titles:
Ghost Forests, artist exhibition catalog, fall 2022
PNW Tree ID Signs, exhibition guide, winter 2023
Forest Fashion, Lookout Edition, anthropological material culture survey, summer 2023
The Arboreal Goth Cone Collection, a morbid botany field guide, fall 2023
PNW Tree ID Signs, project profile, winter 2023
Arboreal Anglers, by Ian Escher Vierk, et al., winter 2024
Forthcoming Unfinished Book Bureau titles:
Lightning Stool Lot, a DIY design-build primer for electrocution, fall 2024
Rad Collab Flag, a vexillographer’s archive of soft voices for hard questions, winter 2025
Barns; Quilt and Hex, a graphic love letter, spring 2025
Arboreal Goth Cone Collection
UBB-005, PC-001, Fall 2023
Thirty-eight pages, 5.5 X 8.5 inch format, color copier printing, DIY zine featuring speculative design objects and writing by David Buckley Borden et al. Publication includes speculative design writing, project backstory, botanical naming primer, arboreal gothic culture exposé, and a dozen arboreal goth cultivars. Within the watercolor paper cover, one will find a variety of blow-ins including project postcards and a two-color 22 X 22 inch Arboreal Goth Collection 2023 AD black cotton bandana.
Limited edition of twenty-four hard copies. Twelve copies available for sale online.
Purchase your hard copy here.
Forest Fashion, Lookout Edition
UBB-003, PC-001, Summer 2023
Forty pages, 5.5 X 8.5 inch format, color copier printing, DIY design zine featuring creative writing and speculative design objects by David Buckley Borden and collaborators. The interdisciplinary Forest Fashion project debuted at Lawrence Hall at the College of Design, University of Oregon in the Spring of 2023. The publication includes speculative design writing, project backstory, EWS primer, and twenty featured works of design-fiction exploring backcountry “fashion” in wildfire prone landscapes. Within the etched-canvas waterproof cover, one will find a variety of blow-ins including color centerfold, project postcards, and other creative treats by the collaborative team of designers, artists, and scientists.
Limited edition of 44 hard copies. Twelve copies available for sale online.
Purchase your hard copy here.
PNW Tree ID Sign Exhibition Guide
UBB-002 PC-001, Winter 2023
Twenty pages, black and white, 5.5 X 8.5 inch format, DIY artist PNW Tree ID Sign exhibition guide at the University of Oregon’s College of Design in winter 2023. Content includes project backstory, creative process, eight featured works, and a PSA regarding black-clad Arboreal Goth gangs. Hand-sewn silkscreened, waterproof, cover by Vinnie Arnone, Helen Popinchalk, and Nancy Silvers.
Limited edition of thirty-four hard copies. Twelve copies available for sale online.
Ghost Forests Exhibition Catalog
UBB-001 PC-001, Fall 2022
Twenty pages, 5.5 X 8.5 inch format, DIY artist catalog of Ghost Forests exhibition at Simons University’s Trustman Art Gallery in fall 2022. Hand silkscreened cover by Helen Popinchalk, three blow-ins including, but not limited to color-print centerfold, exhibition postcards, 18 x 24 inch silkscreened EWS guide on newsprint, etc.
Limited edition of forty-four hard copies. Twelve copies available for sale online.