random ramblings

Going to Zinefest last week was more proof that my LIS classes are taking over my brain, since everything I saw there connected in some way to ideas in library studies.  First of all, it was exciting to experience the community there for a short time.  It seems that networks like the zine scene are few and far between, at least in my life.  My experience growing up in Iowa has been that the art and music scenes are scattered and shared between several mid-sized towns (like Iowa City, Des Moines, the Quad Cities, Madison).  Even the larger mid-western cities seem to share scenes, as evidenced by the large number of Zinefest attendees from Minneapolis, Milwaukee, and Chicago. 

It was great to see all these artists and authors physically converge on College Library and putting themselves out there in their self-published magazines and mini-comics.  To me, the act of zine-making and distributing takes more backbone than blogging, even though blogs are likely to reach more people.  Blogging is virtually anonymous.  I can delete negative comments if I wish.  Zines typically require a face-to-face connection to hand off works, or if not then may involve receiving a lovely hand-lettered package in the mail, ordered through a site like Etsy (I think I've made it clear how I feel about physical works of art or music, so I'll spare you the same old speech).  The by-product of this social interaction is a system of supporters, collaborators, consumers (or traders), and friends.  I fear I may be getting too starry-eyed about all of this, but it made me realize just how much I crave that kind of community and socialization when I spend so much of my time online. 

One of the most interesting things presented at Zinefest was the Queer Zine Archive Project, or QZAP.  The presenter told us how he and his partner had taken it upon themselves to collect and digitize zines about GLBTQ issues.  It's great to see that people who are passionate about a specific type of zine have the foresight to gather and preserve obscure but important literature and artwork for future generations.  In the interest of fairness and accuracy, I think it's important that these voices find a way into history.  Zine creators have found a means to communicate outside the restraints of mainstream publishing in the same way that blogs have provided a place to be heard for so many.  I made the initial mistake of thinking that zines are like blogs.  No, blogs are like zines in the sense that they can provide agency to those who might not otherwise be heard.