Marc Fischer wrote "Against Competition" in 2006. The essay takes on the pervasive and corrosive problem of competition that exists and is created between artists by a market-driven art system. The essay also explores productive collaborative models in art, as well as in underground music subcultures whose approaches to generosity and working together might be something for artists to learn from. Fischer's has been a popular text used in classes and downloaded many more times than the initial print run of the magazine the text was first published in.

Half Letter Press has reprinted the essay with illustrations made by our highly talented collaborator Kione Kochi. A new Afterword follows up on some of the stories and examples from the original essay, and looks at the impact of social media on all of these concerns and how things have changed in the years since this text was first written. Learn more at halfletterpress.com/against-competition-2022-reprint

By: Marc Fischer, illustrations by Kione Kochi
Chicago: Temporary Services, September 2014. Second printing in November 2016. Third printing in November 2017. Fourth printing in May 2022.
Pages: 16
Dimensions: 5.5” x 8.5”
Cover: soft cover
Binding: staple bound
Process:Risograph
Color: three color
Edition Size: 474. Second edition: 175 copies. Third edition: 495 copies. Fourth edition: 476 copies
ISBN: none