Eating Bitter as Gratitude for Hard Work: In Anticipation of Independent Publication Practices on Slow Down

Distribution Assembly East (DAE) is an occasional convergence in matters of print, thinking fluidly through borders, identities—and the content between covers—by taking up the mantle of “circulation as form.” In 2018, convened by 八家 Bajia and 展销场 Display Distribute, seven independent publishers and presses gathered on the heels of the Art Book in China (Beijing) fair, for an intensive exploring the heavy networks of distribution. In 2019, 八家 Bajia, 展銷場 Display Distribute, and Sponge Gourd Collective assembled as DAE to present publications in the Friendly Fires section of Printed Matter’s LA Art Book Fair, centering around the theme of “Disappearance.” On the would’ve been occasion of the 2020 edition of the fair, publisher-distributors 八家 Bajia, 展銷場 Display Distribute and soi | ซอย planned to present new selections thinking through the thematic lens of "Shadows,” as movements that course through the channels of the visible, are often elicit, mostly marginal and always essential. However, in light of the pandemic, various logistical and transportation ruptures provided instead a rare moment of contemplation of the potentials inherent to circulatory practices on slow down. At the request of DAE, this PDF was published on Printed Matter’s website as the first-ever free PDF offered by the institution. “Eating Bitter” is an annotated transcript of a conversation that took place over Skype, across 3 different timezones, in the onset of global crisis—wherein members of the roving collective expressed their fears, aspirations and ambivalences in regards to publishing today.