THE ART OF SLICK IN 2024

And so the 2023 season ended not with Volume #23, as we had planned, but with Volume #22. There’s a reason, of course: in the fall as we were reasoning about the success that Volume was having as well, we realized that 2023 was a best-selling season for SLICK, given the success that Volumes #19, #20, #21 had had as well. Here, we thought this is the right time to do what we had actually decided during 2022: a Volume of SLICK must come out when it is ready, that is, when it is worthy of the collection.
So we are abandoning the regular cadence: the idea is to produce a Volume every three months or so. We shall see. One thing is certain: no current subscribers will lose out, because those who have purchased 6 Volumes will always receive 6 Volumes.

Those who know us should not be surprised: SLICK is an independent, out-of-the-box, even somewhat underground project. We wanted it that way: recognizable as an outsider to classic publishing, thus with a DNA that pushes it to constantly experiment.
All 22 Volumes that have been produced so far have been part of an experiment-transforming the magazine concept into that of the art book dedicated to Motorsport-and now it is clear that, in the era dominated by social media, such a paper product must think about quality and not quantity: SLICK wants to be a source of inspiration, a tool for in-depth study, catalogable and searchable, a collection of stories suitable for understanding not only the past but also the contemporary.
So SLICK takes the path of art products with conviction, that is, those that are published when there is something to tell.

Now the time factor is somewhat relevant: that is, time to do things right. Back in 2019 we assessed that as we continued to move toward the book concept, there would be a gradual narrowing of the horizon of major topics: this does not mean that the stories end, but that at some point more time is needed to seek them out and tell them.
The time factor also affects the way SLICK is made. It is a handcrafted product, we don’t delegate anything to artificial intelligence and there is no optimized production process: each Volume is different, that is, disconnected from the previous one and the one that will follow, so each time we start from scratch, resetting not only from the point of view of content but also of the internal graphics.
We continue to develop a project that is suitable for our audience, which is circumscribed but strongly participatory: people who, like us, are passionate about different things, even rare things.

A Volume of SLICK is, in fact, limited edition. The print run is limited, which is why SLICK is not on every newsstand. And that is why our website has an e-commerce function: we sell not only the Volume of the moment, but also back issues (in Italy and abroad).
Often those who discover one Volume of SLICK, then request the others as well: it means that SLICK is solidifying itself as a product with no expiration date, a container of stories to be savored unhurriedly, even after a while. Maybe every now and then they reread, as one does with a good book.

A big hug to those who have been following us for a long time and to those who have just discovered us.

Happy New Year to all!
Team SLICK