‘Lost’ magazine meant to be found by Vancouverites

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NEWS: ‘Lost’ magazine meant to be found by Vancouverites

If you should stumble across a small magazine this month with a cover bearing the phrase I left this here for you to read, Tim Devin wants you to pick it up. The 33-year-old Boston-based artist is a librarian by day, and is now in the sixth month of self-publishing I left this here, a series of handmade magazines featuring photos, writing, and ephemera from people around the world. Fifty copies of each issue of the magazine are printed by Devin, who, with the help of more than 100 worldwide volunteers, distributes them in public spaces including parks, bus stops, and restaurants, with the intention of humanizing public space and combatting the isolation of urban life. In the six months since the inception of the project, the magazines have been distributed to more than 25 North American cities, including Canadian distribution in Toronto, Quebec City, Victoria, and Sackville, New Brunswick.

This month, issues of I left this here will appear for the first time in Vancouver, courtesy of Ryan Nadel, a grad student who first learned about Devin’s project on a design website. Nadel e-mailed Devin on a whim two weeks ago to inquire about getting involved with the magazine, and he is now responsible for compiling material for its Vancouver edition.

“One thing I find is really great about the project is it’s a very old-fashioned application of new tools,” says Nadel. “This project wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for the internet, if it wasn’t for the ease of communication and the transfer of information provided by digital technology. That evolution of technology to make the simple things easier... is really exciting.”

Nadel is also excited about the potential of I left this here to transform our everyday experience with public space. “We’re so trained to expect to see advertisements when we’re outside,” he says, “but a piece of art, which is there at a bus stop, there at a restaurant, there at a dentist office, totally breaks down that expectation. I hope the large goal of the project is to change that relationship with public space. There can be flashes of art in this public world which has been so dominated commercially.”

For Devin, the project represents another creative venue in which people can connect and share ideas — one of a long line of public art projects he has created with the intention of documenting life’s small profundities. One of his most popular current projects is a Google Maps documentation of the locations of first kisses that have taken place around the world. He also published a book last year, The Last Time I Saw..., a collection of stories based in Providence, Rhode Island, about the last time individuals saw a lover, a friend, or family member. “All of my projects involve interacting with people in different ways,” says Devin from his home in Boston. “Particularly in the past few years, I’ve been interested in collecting people’s personal stories.”

Devin plans to continue publishing the magazine for at least another year, or until all submissions to date are included. For more information, e-mail Tim at i.left.this.here@gmail.com, or visit TimDevin.com