If there exists a major anarchist publication in this country from Fifth Estate to Factsheet Five which has not been graced by at least one of Freddie Baer’s meticulous Ernst-like collages, it is unknown to us. Cartooning and xerox collage are the major graphic forms of the late ’80s, as future art historians will have to admit (after everyone finally realizes the death by boredom of “fine art.”) However, not every TV-saturated would-be neo-dadaist can simply slap together a few headlines from the Weekly World News and fragments of magazine ads and call it a collage. Masters of the form, including the three in this book and others like Winston Smith and Ed (“Dadata”) Lawrence, work harder and smarter with scissors and glue than many modern artists with brushes and paint.

The following three pieces by Freddie Baer, and another on page 51, are only a small sample of her prolific output, but they can suggest her consistent quality.

–p. 47, Semiotext(e) SF (Autonomedia 1989)

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