Deitch Project’s The PIG: Sunday School Summer Workshop and Performance Program concluded its 15 week series August 9 with an art project to take home. With its reputation for hosting unconventional and, more often, flat-out peculiar shows, it seemed fitting for The PIG to close the summer with a lecture and do-it-yourself lesson on ‘zines.
At dusk, Deitch’s garage-turned-studio Long Island City site began a slideshow history of Xeroxing presented by author Trinie Dalton. She introduced the colorful and animated art of revolutionary photocopier (or Xerographer) Bruno Manarie. His Xeroxed copies, which endeavor to show movement in the still copy, have come a long way from the days of making numerous black and white prints of the palms of your hand (or, more amusing, other parts of the body). After a briefing on the contributions that the copy machine has made to art—not only through distribution, but as their own form of creation—Dalton handed the microphone over to Ben Jones and Dan Nadel to explain the craft of ‘zines.
Together, Jones and Nadel presented House Rules, a lecture on ‘zine-making and the stages of its progress as the art world evolves with the development of technology. Jones remarked on the Golden Age of ‘zines, when, as a young and penniless artist, he could deceive the Kinko’s copiers into producing his comically styled ‘zines for less than ten dollars. The slideshow made a trip to Kinko’s or Staples with a handful of arbitrary materials sound incredibly appealing. Now that the supply stores have fixed the loophole in their system, and the internet lets Ben’s idea of an “infinite ‘zine online” become a reality, the creation of the traditional ‘zine is drifting into obscurity.
Even though the process seems tedious when the options of Photoshop and virtual manipulation are available, ‘zines are still in vogue in the art world. What better way to test your art skills without spending money on paintbrushes and expensive acrylic paints? Simply make a booklet of designs, cut-outs and collages and link the pages with a story line and photocopy it.
