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Misfit Artist’s Book

A multi-page spread from the book shows the mix of images, text and graphics across essays.

A collaborative collection that exemplifies prismatic heterogeneity, highlights defiant ungovernability, and demonstrates the power and poetry of inclusion and care.

Authored by Amanda Belantara, Sam Butin, Nicole Cheng, David Isaac Hecht, dre jacome, Katrina Kaplan, Judy Park Lee, Anne Leonard, Cen Liu, Elaine Lopez, Karen Mainenti, sam mandani, Traci Mark, Shannon Mattern, Melissa Minnich, Hannah Yukiko Pierce, Rachel Meade Smith, Lucas Vaqueiro, Mia Vasquez, and J. Faye Yuan 

With Contributions from Laura Briscoe, Gavin Marcus, Kristen Mueller, Kameelah Janan Rasheed, and Rose Vincent

Edited by Shannon Mattern, Becca Quon, and Rachel Meade Smith

Designed by Elaine Lopez 

Edition of 300

In the collections of:
– Bard College
– The Cybernetics Library
– Pratt Institute

Misfit: Cross-Reference Chronicles Vol. 01 is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives International 4.0 License.

Print copies will be freely available upon request through October 30, 2026. METRO member institutions and other collecting organizations will receive priority, and remaining copies will be distributed to those who express interest as supplies allow. Please request a copy here. (Limit one per institution or individual.)

A Peek at Production

The Misfits gathered at the Parsons Design Lab to print the risograph inserts for their forthcoming books. We see designer Elaine Lopez in the foreground.

In the fall of 2025, the Misfit class explored unorthodox publication formats with friends and colleagues at the ABC No Rio Zine Library, Printed Matter and the Cybernetics Library; developed a values-driven process of collaborative peer review and editing; and consulted with designer Elaine Lopez to design an unorthodox publication of mutualistic misfit parts. They worked with Lopez, and benefitted from the generous support of the Parsons Design Lab, to experiment with various production methods as they create an open-access publication.

Stacks of white zines with green and back ink sit on a long work table with people gathered around in the background whiles blurry/busy hands in black gloves fold in the foreground.
Folding in action. Photo by Melissa Minnich.
Joe Hirsch, director of Parsons’ Design Lab, stored our book inserts, which we later inserted into our bound volumes when they returned from the printer.
Authors hold final packaged books during a production workshop.