zug press is an artist collective focused on independent publishing founded by Zhu Gaocanyue and Zuya Yang and based in Brooklyn, NY, Providence, RI and Hong Kong.

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Past Book Fairs

December 13-15, 2025 | New York
✾ Pioneer Works



November 14-16, 2025 | Seoul, Korea
✾ Unlimited Edition 17 - Seoul Art Book Fair 2025



October 11, 2025 | New York
✾ New York Queer Zine Fair




October 2-5, 2025 | New York
✾ ICP Photo Book Fest 2025



April 26-27, 2025 | New York
✾ Other Islands Book Fair (Pratt)



April 5, 2025
✾ Unbound Art Book Fair (RISD) | Rhode Island



Feb 21—23, 2025

 ✾ Jersey Art Book Fair 2025 | New Jersey



February 1-2, 2025
 ✾ Land to Sea, Lunar New Year Market | New York



December 19, 2024
 ✾ The International Center of Photography, Free Third Thursday x Late Night ICP Holiday Market, at Chinatown Basketball Club’s table | New York



December 7–8, 2024

✾ Pioneer Works, Press Play | New York



October 19, 2024
✾ The International Center of Photography (ICP), Nifty Fifty, at Chinatown Basketball Club’s table | New York



October 19–20, 2024

 ✾ 9th Singapore International Photography Festival, Photo Market | New York



October 13, 2024
 ✾ CBC 3x3 Autumn Classic Tournament Mini Market | New York







Dreaming of Being A Butterfly

In the past year, I walked around the riverside near my home day by day. A mind flying away, feet touching ground, daylight becoming dreams. I find myself waking up in sweat some mornings, feeling exhausted. An entire lifetime in a dream dissipates in a second. And the records I wrote are broken.

The illusion seems alive, the reality is still touchable. I can not tell which is more meaningful.

“Once upon a time, Zhuangzi dreamed he was a butterfly, a vivid and lifelike butterfly, feeling that it was enjoying itself. He was completely unaware of being Zhuangzi. Suddenly, he woke up, and then he was undeniably Zhuangzi. He could not told whether he was Zhuangzi who had just dreamt of being a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming of being Zhuangzi. There must be a distinction between Zhuangzi and the butterfly. This is what is called the Transformation of Things.” -- “Qiwulun,” Zhuangzi

The butterfly is me, and me is the butterfly. It flies through every breath in, every breath out.

- Zhu Gaocanyue

4⅛ x 5 inch
20 pages

Artist: Zhu Gaocanyue

30 copies, numbered; printed in April 2024, Providence.
Risograph with black ink, hardback, laser print with white ink. Accordion.