GIFTNÅLEN no 1

GIFTNÅLEN no 1 — underground arts journal of apocalyptic and occult culture

GIFTNÅLEN no 1 is a 480-page black-and-white hardcover assembled and edited by Kristian Olsson. Issued as Issue No. 1 (Fall 2023) and reissued in its second edition by Korm Plastics in September 2024, it operates at the scale of a book while retaining the accumulative, non-hierarchical logic of a journal. The format is deliberate: at 20 × 29 cm and nearly five hundred pages, the object demands physical engagement before the reader has opened it.

Scope and content

The publication draws together apocalyptic culture, outlaw occultism, archaic sorcery, damned poetry, forbidden knowledge, perversion, and sinister visual matter. None of these registers is treated as subordinate to the others. Text and image accumulate without a governing editorial distance — the effect is density rather than argument, atmosphere rather than thesis.

The material is printed entirely in black and white, which flattens hierarchies of medium and source. Collage, photography, text, and illustration occupy the same tonal space throughout.

Lineage and precedents

The publication situates itself within a specific tradition of late-1980s and early-1990s underground print culture. Publications such as Amok, Esoterra, Rapid Eye Movement, Svarta Fanor, Pandemonium, Force Mental, and Exit form the visible lineage. GIFTNÅLEN no 1 does not reproduce that tradition or treat it as nostalgia. The material is heavier, more illustrated, and pushed further into excess than most of those precedents allowed.

The content is described as exclusive and rarely seen. The editorial orientation throughout is outsider — not positioned toward mainstream art publishing or academic discourse.

Edition history

The book was assembled between 2018 and 2023. It was first published by Styggelse Förlag and the Ajna Offensive. The second edition was published by Korm Plastics in September 2024. The Korm Plastics imprint, long associated with figures such as Frans de Waard and the broader industrial and noise milieu, provides a natural home for a publication of this character.

Context within the catalogue

Readers approaching GIFTNÅLEN no 1 from an interest in esoteric artist publications may find relevant adjacent material in the Artbooks section of the catalogue. Those drawn to the publication's ties to industrial and power electronics print culture may also find useful context in Music Books & Sound Culture.