I love it that you are keeping zine culture alive! I remember when zines really took off in the 80s and early 90s (after being popularized in the punk scene of the 70s). They were strange and beautiful, but most of all they seemed like a reclamation of individual expression after too many decades of publishing homogenization.
I like this modern take, and it is definitely a style that bucks the trend of AI art and writing. It's also interesting to note, however, that zines have always represented a democratization of information & art dissemination, whereas AI creation has sort of democratized art creation. That is, anyone with time & a printer can create a zine, even with no publishing experience, and now anyone with a computer (even the pocket-sized versions we all carry around) can create art, even with no innate artistic talent. Seems like an interesting, simultaneous, convergence & divergence.
The trading is a wonderful aspect as well. Back when I was deep into scrapbooking we would trade supplies like fibers and ribbons as well as "artist trading cards" all over the world, and it was fascinating to see what others could get and make, that I could not. I'm sure you make many amazing discoveries reading the zines of others (and they, yours)!
Thank you for sharing!
!PIMP
!PIZZA
You must be killin' it out here!
@willendorfia just slapped you with 5.000 PIMP, @calendulacraft.
You earned 5.000 PIMP for the strong hand.
They're getting a workout and slapped 2/2 possible people today.
Read about some PIMP Shit or Look for the PIMP District
I love what you have written here! I grew up in the 90s and got a little bit of a tale end of the zine culture but really experienced it around 2010 when, in my little town there was a zine library. It was and is very much as you say "a reclamation of individual expression after too many decades of publishing homogenization". That is a great way to put it!!
It seems important to reclaim the individual expression when now it feels that there is a force in the world attempting to homogenize our thoughts. I don't want to live in a world where everyone is in lock-step and I hope that freedom of expression flourishes, even if the root is rebellion.
Interesting what you say about AI has democratized art. I am not so sure I agree, or at least, I don't see it that way. I have always felt that art is inherently democratic. One can make art with pencil and paper, or a sculpture with clay found in a mountainside. But, I do agree in that the common-ness of cellphones and the digital tools they provide gives people from all walks of life the ability to be content creators and send their words and work out into the world much more than in the analog world.
I hope you get back into scrapbooking and making such trades. I hope scrapbooking makes a comeback! That is something I miss from the 90s and early 2000s, scrapbooking parties were definitely a big part of my childhood.