Zines/Online Zines/High Art

[Jo Whitby]

Hello everyone,

 

I've been lurking here for a while and thought it was about time I posted.

 

I'm about to start writing a conference paper about zines and since the whole Teal Triggs malarkey I thought I'd better start talking with everyone now.

 

Initially I wanted to talk about the physical zine vrs the online zine (as I run an online zine I thought it would be interesting) but according to my uni tutor it's not academic enough so now I have to talk about physical zines being deemed as high art and do a kind of CD vrs vinyl argument. The conference paper will consist of a presentation and a 6000 word paper. I've not decided if I will use any images yet in the paper but I'm positive I will for the presentation. It's unlikely that it will be published as I'm still an undergrad but I'm guessing whichever images I use its advisable to contact the zine creator to ask permission?

 

Hope everyone had a good festive period and all the best for 2011!

 

Jo

[Beth M]

DEFINITELY contact everyone you possibly can first, just to be on the safe side.

good luck with your paper and presentation. :]

[Jenna Freedman]

I use zine images a fair amount in conference presentations, and I have to admit I haven't been great about getting permission beforehand. I don't feel super obligated if the presentation isn't posted online. If the paper eventually gets published, in my experience any reputable publisher will require you to get written permission. I've only published images in US journals, so maybe it's different in the UK? Clearly it's different with Thames & Hudson. :(

 

[Dan C]

My opinion on social values (not laws): If you like zines and respect zine makers and particularly like/respect the ones you want to include in your presentation, and you know they might appreciate being contacted/asked, and you are able to do that, I think it makes sense to contact/ask them.

[James N. Dawson]

Since you're not going to pursue the on-line vs. paper issue, I guess the links below might not be relevant, but here they are for what they're worth:

http://wemakezines.ning.com/forum/topics/pdf-distribution

http://wemakezines.ning.com/profiles/blogs/syndicated-zine-reviews

You might want to Google "Fred Wright".  He's an ex-zinester who did his thesis on zines.  His writings are must-reads for anybody doing a school paper on zines.  They're very readable and informative.

Also, Google or look at on Wikipedia: Amateur Press Association, Amateur Journal, Self-Publishing, Little Magazine.

The CD vs. vinyl issue seems very similar to the on-line vs. paper issue, so it's not clear to me why you're eschewing the latter.

Zines as "high" art???  Art-heavy zines seem like they'd be more in the folk art genre.  And why would e-zines not be considered "academic"?  They're a social phenomenon, so why not a legitimate subject of academic study?

[Jo Whitby]

Thanks for all the info James.I will check out those links.

 

My tutor doesn't appear to know/care much about zines and doesn't seem to think there's much academic theory regarding the e-zine. She suggested the high art area of theory to argue that the physical zine could be considered high art due to the attitudes towards the online version as it being something inferior. I do however think that the high art argument does not apply to zines as they are made specifically to not be high art - I have a feeling my paper is just going to go around in circles - I'm already having problems getting started.

 

I am still going to use the online vs paper argument, as you pointed out it is pretty much the same as the CD vs Vinyl.

 

Many thanks for all the other comments too. I will definitely ask for permission first.

 

James N. Dawson said:

Since you're not going to pursue the on-line vs. paper issue, I guess the links below might not be relevant, but here they are for what they're worth:

http://wemakezines.ning.com/forum/topics/pdf-distribution

http://wemakezines.ning.com/profiles/blogs/syndicated-zine-reviews

You might want to Google "Fred Wright".  He's an ex-zinester who did his thesis on zines.  His writings are must-reads for anybody doing a school paper on zines.  They're very readable and informative.

Also, Google or look at on Wikipedia: Amateur Press Association, Amateur Journal, Self-Publishing, Little Magazine.

The CD vs. vinyl issue seems very similar to the on-line vs. paper issue, so it's not clear to me why you're eschewing the latter.

Zines as "high" art???  Art-heavy zines seem like they'd be more in the folk art genre.  And why would e-zines not be considered "academic"?  They're a social phenomenon, so why not a legitimate subject of academic study?