Magazine of the international boondocks: In 1978, Bordeaux-based artists Michel Aphesboro and Danielle Colomine embarked on their on-going itinerant project 4 Taxis. Establishing temporary studios in different cities— from Berlin to Los Angeles—they’ve produced a nomadic publication that focuses on distinct places and a wide-ranging world of cultural activities.

When Leonard Koren, a graduate of UCLA’s School of Architecture, founded WET: The Magazine of Gourmet Bathing in 1976, he vowed never to take it seriously. Published over a period of 5 years, the 84 issues of WET regularly featured art, music, fashion, nudity, and hot water-related phenomena.

Writer Esther McCoy (1904–89) arrived in Los Angeles in 1932 and reckoned it was the wrong place to be. She stayed, however, and for over fifty years her sharp-eyed writing explored the radical politics, modern architecture, and sidelined literary ambitions of the endlessly compelling city.