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Toxoplasma Press
Stockholm, Sweden
WHAT IS...?
Toxoplasma gondii is a brain parasite that alters the fear response in rats so they engage in riskier behaviors which make it more likely for them to end up in a cat’s guts—which is where the parasite wants to be. A large percentage of the human population is infected with this microscopic brain parasite and in otherwise asymptomatic individuals some correlations have been found between latent infections and personality traits or altered behaviors. Most notably, a disregard for rules and authority.
Toxoplasma Press makes available books and art projects which often feature a disregard for rules and authority. They’re designed to alter brain chemistry.
WHO ARE...?
We are a group of friends and collaborators. Artists and writers. Photographers and designers. Contact us: toxoplasmapress (at) gmail (dot) com
WHY DO...?
Many small presses have announced that they are closing down because of shipping prices, paper and supply shortages, and the generally predatory practices of publishing and distribution industries. What better time to relaunch Toxoplasma Press! We don’t consider a book to be a unit of commerce—a package for an idea to be bought and sold. We create books to be art objects—often hand-bound and specially printed—or as lasting documentation of clandestine or otherwise impermanent art projects.
This site is meant to be an archive to share everything we’ve done and show what a collective of (possibly brain-parasite influenced) people can create from repurposed materials, limited funds, and an abundance of DIY drive. Thanks for reading and for letting your curiosity take you this far.
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Publications
Pallet Collars (2026)
repurposed wood . wheatpasted inkjet color. 30 x 42 cm . 4 pages each . 2026
Four giant plywood books document the projects and installations made from repurposed shipping pallet collars. The metal-hinged books themselves are the final stage in the lifecycle of this material.
Approximately 20,000,000 pallet collars are manufactured each year to serve the shipping industry worldwide. The hinged wooden boards are designed to fit the standard 1200 x 800 mm Euro pallet. The 195 mm boards can be stacked to make a box of desired height and can be collapsed when not in use to save warehouse space. Oftentimes, after a completed delivery, those pallet collars are left outside—folded and propped up against buildings or construction sites. That is where Toxoplasma found them. Akay and Olabo collected nearly a hundred wooden pallet collars from street corners and shopfronts, then relocated them to the Toxoplasma workshop to be used as material for a series of projects.
Crack Padlock (2018)
Akay & Olabo
art book . wood + lock . dimensions . xx pages . year
Enjoy the meditative and perhaps addictive activity of methodically trying to crack a combination lock. A printed booklet with all possible 4-digit combinations are included. Cross out the numbers page-by-page or discover your own technique.
Demolition Box (2018)
Klisterpeter & Akay
art box . multimedia . 28,5x20,5 cm . 18 pieces . 2019
Akay and Klisterpeter’s recent work has gotten a bit less public… which means it involves more breaking-and-entering onto private property.
Demolition series av Akay & Klisterpeter contains 16 photos, a text plus a DVD with 7 short films. All presented in a custom-made wooden box made from pine-paneling found on site.
Akay Black Book 1986 - 1990 (2022)
ISBN–978-91-527-20806
Akay
hardcover . offset . 34 x 25cm . 154 pages . 2022
This is a replica of Akay’s first blackbook. The production of the original began in the autumn of 1986, when 16-year-old Akay glued a spray paint color sample chart onto the first page of an unassuming, standard-sized sketchbook.
BEIJERS (202X)
- AKAY + OLABO + RAE -
art book . inkjet . dimensions . xx pages . year
This massive book weighs __, printed on __ paper in an edition of __. The spreads fold out to dimensions of ___. The cover is tarpaulin sourced at the Beijers location, the “GO AWAY” text cut down to size. Rae wrote the poetry, and Akay and Olabo roller-painted the words on site.
KÖP ETT LIV (2026)
Akay
zine . digital print . 14 x 19 cm . 28 pages . 2026
All photos taken in Stockholm during April 2013.
All posters harvested from bus shelter adshels and painted with spray using stencils.
These posters have been bothering me since 2003. I first painted them with that italic font way back then: BUY A LIFE. LEAVE ME ALONE. But thought they looked stupid with that leaning font, so I never put them back up. I couldn’t get myself to throw them away either, so that giant roll of posters was just always in the way, giving me a bad conscience, and I kept thinking that I needed to get rid of them. I finally went out and put them back up in the adshels, and it was so much fun! So I took the posters I’d just removed back home and painted a new batch with the regular font. Looks good. Went to put those up immediately, but then you maybe see my problem. I had those new posters now that I’d just replaced. Was I supposed to just throw those away?
I still always have a giant roll of ad posters waiting for me to do something with them. I can’t get rid of them. They never leave me alone. (So I cut them down to be the covers for this zine. Ahh, free at last!)
