Spank

It’s always helpful to enter uncharted territory with a guidebook. And nothing could be more uncharted than a new event. For BPX: The Black Party Expo and Bazaar, The Saint at Large tapped Spank to create Exposed, a limited-edition version of its bimonthly ’zine produced expressly for BPX.

Spank was founded two years ago, says Jason Roe, who edits the ’zine with Sean Bumgarner and William Lynn. “Sean wanted to connect to a blog or another magazine to promote our parties, so instead, we made our own ’zine.” Spank’s interactive parties encouraged art-making, from live nude drawing to Polaroid snapping, and that work was then published in subsequent issues.

The party-publication feedback loop boosted the popularity of both. Now, Roe says, most of the photography and illustration work seen in the pages of Spank comes from commissions and volunteer submissions. Bumgarner notes that the burgeoning of interest and contributions has influenced his own professional work as an art director.

Spank prints 500 copies of each issue, and they are available at St. Mark’s Bookshop and online for $6.50. The trio recently landed a distributor, too.

Spank Produces Exposed
The BPX booklet Exposed began with a simple email introduction, Roe recalls. “I think it really meshes with who Spank is,” he says of the custom publication, which features advertisements from vendors (many of whom did not have a physical presence at BPX) interspersed with artwork by Spank contributors that establishes this year’s thematic combination of bondage, revolutionary politics, gay sexuality, and transgender identity.

What are his and Bumgarner’s thoughts on The Saint at Large’s combination of these subjects? “Argentina will always be relevant,” Roe says. “As gays, our lives are always in a precarious state. The rights we have today may be taken away from us tomorrow.”

Bumgarner: “I think there’s a sense of nostalgia right now, a romantic idea of culture created by a community. Gay liberation is positive, but it has also bred normalcy. And with that you lose a certain specialness.”