Zines (short for ‘magazines’ or ‘fanzines’) are
independently produced and distributed publications; they are textual, visual,
and material forms of cultural production. In today’s mini-zine workshop we
think with and through zines as material manifestos/manifestations of feminist,
queer, anti-racist maker movements. How have anti-racist and queer feminists
used zines to generate theory from everyday life and to articulate
utopian/dystopian versions of the world? How might we use zines to imagine and
create our own visions of maker movements?
Recommended
reading: Alison Piepmeier, “Why Zines Matter: Materiality and the Creation of
Embodied Community,” American Periodicals 18.2 (2008).
Explore
these links!
Mimi Thi Nguyen Zine Collection at the Fales Library:
http://dlib.nyu.edu/findingaids/html/fales/nguyen/admininfo.html
Writing/Sketching/Thinking
Prompt: Before you come to class on
Thursday, please journal, draw/sketch, make a bulleted list (or some combo of
these) about your utopian (or dystopian) version of the maker movement. What
are your (our) dreams for what “making” can mean? What kinds of “making” do we
want to make space for in our world—what do we want “making” to look like? What
do we want “making” to be used for—what kinds of work can/should it do in the
world? What and whose labor is needed to make this happen? These can be
existing or imaginary utopias/dystopias/heterotopias. It can be short, typed,
handwritten, whatever you want but it just needs to fit on 1 page. There is no wrong way to do this!
Please
bring with you to class:
--one extra copy of your writing/sketching/thinking
(you can photocopy it at the library!). So you’ll have one copy to keep and one
copy to use in the workshop.
--your circuit scribe kits!
--fun writing implements: colored pencils, markers,
etc. I will provide sharpies, glue sticks, and scissors so don’t worry about
those.
--collage materials, old magazines, images,
photocopies: anything you feel comfortable cutting up!
My “maker”
utopias at these cool links (which might help you think about your projects!):
Zinester and art activist Nia King, author of Queer and Trans Artists of Color: http://www.artactivistnia.com/book.html
FANTASTIC site on e-textiles and soft circuits by
some of their inventors: http://www.kobakant.at/DIY/
My own online multimedia essay, “Making Queer Love: A
Kit of Odds and Ends”: http://hyperrhiz.io/hyperrhiz13/missives-of-love/queer-love.html
About me: Melissa Rogers is a PhD student in Women’s Studies
at the University of Maryland who is currently finishing her dissertation on
queer feminist fiber craft and gender, race, and technology in maker movements.
She is also a teaching artist in the MAKESHOP at the Children’s Museum of
Pittsburgh, where she facilitates workshops on electronic textiles. She has
been making and collecting zines since 2010.
===
