Köp Ett Liv

BUY A LIFE / KÖP ETT LIV by Akay

Technical Specs:
Format: Zine, digital print
Size: 14 x 19 cm
Pages: 28
Year: 2026Origin: All photos taken in Stockholm, April 2013.

The Story:
These posters have been haunting me since 2003. Back then, I first painted them using an italic font: BUY A LIFE. LEAVE ME ALONE. I eventually decided the leaning font looked wrong, so I never put them up—but I couldn’t bring myself to throw them away either. For years, that giant roll of posters sat there, a constant weight on my conscience.

Finally, I went out and put them back into bus shelter adshels just to get rid of them. It was a blast. But when I brought home the posters I had just replaced to paint a new batch in a better font, I realized my mistake: I was stuck in a loop. I had a new pile of posters. Was I supposed to just throw those away?

I still have a giant roll of posters waiting for me. They never leave me alone. This zine is my exit strategy: I’ve cut the posters down to create unique covers for this edition. Ahh, free at last.