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Hocus Bogus aims to be a lowkey
and accessible publishing project that develops and supports mischievous voices in art and print.
Hocus Bogus is a publishing project initiated and run by Dennis Munoz Espadina, in 2015. Hocus Bogus was created to share artistic “B-side” material in the form of printed matter. Munoz’s own artistic practice would often incorporate print, connecting to performative interventions or larger projects. In its early years HBP dealt mostly with the distribution of zines and fringe artistic content. There was no proper printing equipment and we could only make sporadic use of wonky Xerox or stencil duplication machines. Still, friends and fellow artists would often ask us if we could publish their 16 page zine. By going to zine and art book fairs to sell and often trade publications, HBP started reaching an audience ,and making friends in this small art print world. Over the years this misfit network of fellow zinesters, small press printers and DIY publishers grew steadily, as did our catalog of publications.
Approaching HBP as a side project for side projects, we murmured through the years basically unchanged, until 2020 when Covid-19 shut down the world's rhythm. The lockdowns not only put a hold on exhibitions, residencies and performances, but the print studios and fairs were also getting closed and canceled. At the same time a lot of artists got in touch with us to create publications, a medium that was still able to travel and find its way into the audiences sanitized laps. In 2021 we decided to take matters into our own hands; buying a secondhand RZ 1070 E stencil duplicating machine, and other printing and bookmaking equipment. Officially enabling us to offer printing services to others : a big landmark!
Another important evolution came in 2022, when we moved into Roodkapje. Roodkapje is a multidisciplinary platform for presentation and talent support for young artists, musicians, performers and programmers in the heart of Rotterdam. Since then we have had the pleasure of giving numerous workshops, mentoring for Roodkapje’s residents program, and organizing events surrounding publishing, performance and print.