Content:

Join us for a listening session with artists, archivists and designers Josh MacPhee and Marc Fischer. Josh and Marc will share their collection of records recorded in IL jails and prisons and chat with the audience about the recordings. The collection includes recording from Cook County Jail and prisons in Indiana and Pennsylvania, and spans from the early 1970s to the early 1980s when incarcerated musicians were allowed to record, and communities outside of the prison were invited in—to perform, play sports, and more.

WHEN: Friday, June 12th from 6:30-8:30pm
WHERE: Walls Turned Sideways, 2717 W. Madison St. Chicago, IL

Josh MacPhee is a designer, artist, and archivist. He is a founding member of both the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative and Interference Archive, a public collection of cultural materials produced by social movements based in Brooklyn, NY (InterferenceArchive.org). MacPhee is the author and editor of numerous publications, including Graphic Liberation: Image Making and Political Movements (Common Notions, 2024) and Signal: A Journal of International Political Graphics and Culture. He has organized the Celebrate People's History poster series since 1998 and has been the main designer for the campaign to Shut Rikers Island Jail Complex for the past decade. His most recent book is Strike While the Needle is Hot: A Discography of Workers’ Revolt (Common Notions, 2025), a compendium of vinyl records produced by striking workers.

Marc Fischer is a Chicago-based artist, publisher, and teacher known for collaborative, experimental work that often focuses on overlooked cultural materials. He is a member of the group Temporary Services, co-founder of the publishing imprint Half Letter Press, and founder of the project Public Collectors.