Looking for Lesbians: A Los Angeles Atlas

Looking for Lesbians presents a map of my specific encounter with the ONE Archives collection and traces my interactions with the archive and beyond. It chronicles some of the archival material, places, and people I have encountered, and the conversations I had during my artist-in-residency. The map is in conversation with the archival materials on display in the vitrine—my attempt to untangle and re-tangle some of the threads of lesbian history and activism that weave through the collections at ONE. Interwoven with the pulp collection, the map traces the lesbians in Los Angeles who were looking for lesbian literature, and, through this search, created their own literary culture, including writing groups, feminist presses, magazines, newspapers, listings, and published novels and poetry. It highlights some of the significant collections held at ONE Archives, including Clothespin Fever Press (1985-1986), which was a lesbian feminist publishing company run by Carolyn Weathers and the artist Jenny Wrenn. Wrenn additionally published Lesbian Line newspaper, which acted as a catalogue for Clothespin Fever and as a national newsletter and finding aid for lesbian publishing across the USA. The map is in no way comprehensive or representative of lesbian literary activism in Los Angeles. It is only a snapshot--my visualization of my time with the archive and some of the lesbians of Los Angeles. It is an acknowledgement of the deep pleasure that finding lesbian connections can bring, and a reminder of the joy of finding lesbian community.