J.I.C Survival Guide <br> B. Thom Stevenson

The J.I.C Survival Manual is a pocket-sized scrapbook of wilderness survival tips, culled from artist B. Thom Stevenson’s personal collection - his additional notes and illustrations throughout both clarify and obfuscate what these sundry tidbits offer. Stevenson was drawn to the culture of self-published survival guides when he left Brooklyn for rural Massachusetts with his wife and new-born son. The remoteness came with new anxieties and paranoias. It wasn’t only the insights these guides provided but the no-nonsense style of communication the illustrations employed. Stevenson calls it: “Maximum clarity, with maximum alacrity.” These illustrations are intended to be more helpful than artful. Many are by self-isolationists who are nonetheless trying to communicate to a community of kindred-minded souls. The advice they offer evokes fundamental forms of human ingenuity: how to build a house with a hatchet, or make soap from urine. Stevenson trawls through a breadth of material: found