General Submission Guidelines:

Each published issue features a curatorial call for the next issue by a guest curator, asking artists to consider specific concepts and approaches to collage. Submitting artists always use the previous issue of Cut Me Up as raw material to cut up and transform, in response to the curatorial call.

Call for Issue 14: Winter 2025
Curated by Aaron Beebe

Deadline for submissions: October 1, 2024

A Failure to Communicate

“I don’t necessarily agree with everything I say.”

– Marshall McLuhan

From oral traditions to visual arts, humans’ methods of communications have evolved over time, each with its own complexities. Yet, within all methods, miscommunication is inevitable. Whether through cut-off words or misinterpretation, conveying meaning is a delicate process.

Combining words with images is often seen as a remedy for greater clarity. But does the marriage of text and visuals inherently clarify or complicate the intended message? How can combining these elements affect their individual meanings?

For Cut Me Up Issue 14, we invite artists to explore the complex relationship between images and text. As you reimagine the works in Cut Me Up Issue 13, consider the intricacies of communication, how different elements influence each other, and the potential for creating new layers of interpretation.

In the process of conveying meaning, missteps can sometimes lead to unexpected discoveries. Let your materials guide you. What are they saying, or NOT saying?

Did I speak too soon?

– Aaron L. Beebe, Publisher, Designer, and Visual Artist


To submit artwork responses:

  • Incorporate text into your work, whether fragmented or piled on top of one another — whatever you fancy!

  • Explore how the interaction of images and text can create a narrative, explore new meanings, or expose failures of communication.

  • Consider text typography, font choice, and placement to create visual impact.

  • Solid colors are encouraged.

All eligible submissions must:

  • Incorporate some portion of Cut Me Up Issue 13.

  • Be vertically oriented and sized at 10.25 x 8.25".

  • Be flatbed scanned at 600dpi and saved in .TIF format, or

  • Photographed with a digital SLR camera at the highest resolution setting — 600dpi strongly prefered; 300dpi minimum resolution.

Send submissions via the form linked here: submissionform

Issue 14 Curator Aaron Beebe

Aaron L. Beebe is the Founder, Editor-in-Chief, and Art Director of Plastikcomb Magazine, a publication that melds art with graphic design.

Instagram: @beebe.grafik, @plastikcombmag
Web: beebe.grafik.com, plastikcombmag.com


Cut Me Up Issue 14 will be published on January 1, 2025