Reframing the narrative: «Bookselling can be a solitary and demanding job which, however, can lead to collaborations and experimental projects»
LUMPEN, London
Stefano Mancin, the sole creator of LUMPEN, has referred to the forum as an art bookshop and occasional publisher. But since its inception, its future plans have outstretched the aforementioned descriptors.
A concept brought into fruition in December 2021, LUMPEN was the result of years spent meddling with artistic mediums between Italy and the United Kingdom. «LUMPEN has evolved since I first conceived the idea. It started as an art bookshop because I love books, yet I was aware that there are countless bookshops in London and specifically in the UK, so I wasn’t trying to reinvent the wheel», explains Mr. Mancin.
Fast-forward to today and LUMPEN has matured to become a multi-medium platform for publishing. LUMPEN has now a new section dedicated to editorial content, serving customers from all over the world. In the near future, the aim is to also include a gallery and an area for publishing and collaborative projects. «LUMPEN is now an umbrella that groups together different sections. It’s more than a bookshop», says Mr. Mancin.
LUMPEN as a start with bookshops: Stefano Mancin
For the founder, working in publishing and with printed matter wasn’t the first choice, but when the time came around, it was an obvious one. «I am Italian. I moved to London in 2014 to continue my studies and I went to an art college – the London College of Communication. Although I studied art, I was not artsy and I couldn’t develop my medium. I was not the best at painting, drawing or music. But then I pursued publishing in 2019 – that’s what I studied for my Masters Degree in London. It was then that I found that it was editing and writing that I enjoyed doing», explains Mr. Mancin.
From there, LUMPEN grew. «It was always my intention to evolve it into a multifaceted platform, but I had no idea how to launch or evolve any of the sections that I wanted to. The bookshop side of LUMPEN was the easiest to build out – it was a bridge between the sections – the reason being that I had done publishing before, be it exhibitions, writing or editing with work. I didn’t have an idea of how to begin on any of the other three aspects, so I decided to start with the bookshop».
While LUMPEN’s various sections grew, books still stand today in the spotlight as LUMPEN’s flagship. This comes as no surprise when the founder admits to having «hundreds of books» and always being «interested in books as objects, rather than for written text or the author per se».
Written content across design, architecture, and furniture: LUMPEN’s catalog
LUMPEN’s catalogue revolves around visual feasts. The curation process is constantly evolving according to Mr. Mancin. «I would imagine a lot of people who own bookshops say this same thing: in the beginning, I was more focused on trying to get a little bit of everything, a little bit of what I think would work. Now, one year into the project, I am confident in what I choose and in understanding what works for LUMPEN and what does not».
While visual-heavy and aesthetically driven works have always been a frontrunner in Mr. Mancin’s selection process, a shift toward written content across design, architecture, and furniture is underway. «Today, I am confident in choosing books with written content. This is a difficult task when you don’t have the time to sit down and read the content fully to understand if it will fit with your audience. That is why photobooks and image-heavy books are so much easier to feature».
The language should not deter the reader: LUMPEN is multilingual
The size of the catalogue, too, has expanded as the platform itself. At inception, LUMPEN vied to maintain a small offering – Mr. Mancin notes, because «it is stressful to curate a catalogue» – yet the platform is carrying up to 60 books now, and its offering is on the rise. «Even though I keep saying that I want to keep it small, you can never stop because there are so many books and magazines out there. There is no such thing as ‘being done’ because there is always something to be added».
Featuring predominantly English works, the future goal is to broaden the offering, although Mr. Mancin admits that to date these haven’t sold well. «With book trading, unless you have limitless resources, you always have to select books thinking ‘will this sell or not?’». Mr. Mancin argues that a person’s ability to read a certain language should not dissuade them from enjoying a photobook and that a physical space in the future may remedy this, «That is an idea that I want to start putting into fruition; if and when I have a physical space, people would be able to come in, browse and get the sense or feeling of a book. Right now, when people see images online and they read that the book is Spanish, for example, they might feel – if they don’t know the language – put off and will not make the next step to purchase the book».
LUMPEN: United Kingdom and then United States
When it comes to LUMPEN’s audience demographic, the usual clientele include creatives and those interested in art, design, photography, culture and/or sub-cultures, architecture, fashion and interior design, to name but a few. Customers hail mostly from the United Kingdom; the next major geographic region for purchases is the United States.
«I am trying to find a way to target more students because the books that I stock are expensive. There is an idea that I am trying to pursue: for a lot of magazines, the way the distribution works is that once a new issue is out you have to send back the previous issue for recycling – but you send back only the front cover. So you end up having an old issue, without the cover, that you just have to throw away. I have spoken to other book traders, and we have talked about giving these issues to universities so that students can use these as tools».
For Mr. Mancin, who operates the shop from his flat in London, the impracticality of these leftover magazines carries extra weight. «As LUMPEN operates from my bedroom, the idea of having all these wasted magazines sitting around my bedroom is what has sparked these conversations around the unused magazines. Speaking to my friend Linda from RIPE – a magazine shop based in Glasgow – she suggested to get in contact with local art universities and donate the now unsellable magazines to students for their future art projects», adds Mr. Mancin.
Publishing at LUMPEN: the digital book
The publishing arm of LUMPEN will be a future addition to the online based project, and one that has been in the work for a while. «Because I have a full-time job, everything is slow and takes time to make happen. I have a few digital publishing projects that I would like to put out», says Mr. Mancin.
One of the first digital publishing projects on the agenda is an online magazine, an activity that is planned to be a recurring feature on LUMPEN once launched. «I work digitally because the cost of printing is incredibly high at the moment. Although digital publishing has its pros and cons, it is an interesting challenge that can lead to really experimental results».
Collaboration, says Mr. Mancin, is key to the creative process. «Doing this project by myself has opened my eyes to the fact that collaboration is essential; working with other people and getting feedback is key, even if you develop your own artistic practice».
The future of LUMPEN
Looking to the future, Mr. Mancin says, «The more I develop LUMPEN as a multifaceted project, the more I realise that bookselling is not just a business. But actually, bookshops carry meaning, and can function as incredible mediums for curation, collaboration and experimentation. They also create communities – whether irl or online – and I can already see that happening with LUMPEN. I am bringing more friends into LUMPEN, and the project is in constant evolution thanks to the exchanges I often have with other booksellers, artists and publishers I admire».
For now, however the goal stays the same; in creating LUMPEN, the vision always was and still is today to have not only a bookshop but instead a digital space where «people can find books, read interviews with artists and discover new publishing projects – a place where people will come back to or refer to, rather than just come to buy a book and then leave».
LUMPEN
LUMPEN is an online art bookshop, digital space for conversations with artists and (occasional) publisher.
