Coldspot #1
Author Gill, Eire
Contact coldspot at yahoo dot ie
Website http://www.flickr.com/photos/gilll_
This is the first art zine I ever read so I'm not sure if I'm its target audience. In fact, I'm not even sure 'read' is the right word: the only words in Coldspot #1 are Gill's contact details at the back. My visual illiteracy means I have been putting off this review for a while now (not including the panic when I thought my brother had put it in the recycling and had to figure out whether I could still write a review of it... fortunately, I found it under my bed).
Coldspot is a full colour sixteen page photography zine, printed on high quality paper and hand bound. Some pages have just one photo on them while others are grouped. A few sets of the grouped photos are by theme; for instance, one page shows a row of votive candles on one side and a crackling home fire on the other. The first thing I thought of when I saw this was coming home from church in the evening and changing into my pyjamas for bed. In fact, the next few photos are of home settings, so this may have been deliberate. I couldn't tell whether Coldspot was meant to be a continual narrative, but Gill's slightly fractured photography style leads me to believe these are parts of her life we're being let in on. Definitely check out Gill's website for more neato art photography.
Saturday, 19 March 2011
Wednesday, 16 March 2011
Mandy Palmer and me
I joke about trash 'cause it takes class to be enlightened!
I joke about sex because it's funny when you're frightened!
I've written a brief zine, called I Fought In A War, about my experiences with the military complex. This is a zine I'll only trade, rather than sell, because I'm picky about who gets to read it. At the start of it I put a brief warning: [this zine] is intensely personal and some bits were very hard to write. I should imagine they might also be hard to read. So that you have sufficient warning, this zine contains references to assault of all kinds (including sexual and physical), abuse of authority, violence, organised religion and military culture. I put the warning in because although the zine doesn't discuss any of these things in real depth it seemed like the decent, human thing to do. I've never had a bad reaction to anything I've read in a zine, but I've always appreciated people who put warnings in them so that I can ready myself or avoid them entirely if I'm having a bad day.
I've reread my own zine and the worst thing that happened was I felt slightly uncomfortable at some bits. Definitely nothing I couldn't handle. And then... Amanda fucking Palmer. Today I was listening to one of her songs on the bus. Actually listening to it rather than putting it on to dance around to while I tidy up. The two lines up there? Made me throw up. I started to panic, got off the bus, and threw up on the pavement. It didn't occur to me to just take off my headphones or stop the tape, which on reflection would have been a much more sensible course of action. It did, though, give me a renewed sense of respect for people who take the time to put warnings in their zines. It's such an easy thing to do, and if it stops someone having a panic attack or other bad reaction, totally worth it.
I joke about sex because it's funny when you're frightened!
I've written a brief zine, called I Fought In A War, about my experiences with the military complex. This is a zine I'll only trade, rather than sell, because I'm picky about who gets to read it. At the start of it I put a brief warning: [this zine] is intensely personal and some bits were very hard to write. I should imagine they might also be hard to read. So that you have sufficient warning, this zine contains references to assault of all kinds (including sexual and physical), abuse of authority, violence, organised religion and military culture. I put the warning in because although the zine doesn't discuss any of these things in real depth it seemed like the decent, human thing to do. I've never had a bad reaction to anything I've read in a zine, but I've always appreciated people who put warnings in them so that I can ready myself or avoid them entirely if I'm having a bad day.
I've reread my own zine and the worst thing that happened was I felt slightly uncomfortable at some bits. Definitely nothing I couldn't handle. And then... Amanda fucking Palmer. Today I was listening to one of her songs on the bus. Actually listening to it rather than putting it on to dance around to while I tidy up. The two lines up there? Made me throw up. I started to panic, got off the bus, and threw up on the pavement. It didn't occur to me to just take off my headphones or stop the tape, which on reflection would have been a much more sensible course of action. It did, though, give me a renewed sense of respect for people who take the time to put warnings in their zines. It's such an easy thing to do, and if it stops someone having a panic attack or other bad reaction, totally worth it.
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