Zine text

Next Saturday, May 20, I’ll be exhibiting at Chicago Zine Fest alongside my pal Rachel’s Bitza Press. This is probably a big deal. People have been waiting three years for this particular gathering. Milwaukee’s Zine Fest’s attendance beat expectations by a factor of 10. I will probably introduce myself to a lot of people, and show a side of the work practice that has never gotten exposure in quite this way.

Rachel & I met last week to talk over details, and in the process I went into the closet and pulled out every zine I’ve made over the past few years. It’s a fairly shocking number! I was expecting to have little to show, to have to publish something new at the last minute, but I think this will work well to show where my brain has evolved over the past few years.

Everything is topically scattershot. Zines that appeal to one person won’t appeal to others. It’s not clear what Draft does from all of this, or what the overall endgame looks like. I’m putting three zines on sale that are professional-adjacent. One of them was given only as a private gift to clients for our 10th anniversary; the other two are related to Store Design. Two are about food; one is about being able to see sound; one is about how to trip safely. (I’m weird, thanks.) There are two general essay complications; one is Draft Evidence, which is basically a 350-page essay zine. I’m selling pins & posters from our fifth anniversary.

Probably none of this makes sense because I am into too many things, and I did all of them at once, continuously, for three years. I think of this in gentle opposition to someone like Marc, who made a whole ding dang career out of zines, who presents at zine fests beccause it is his literal job, and above all whose work seems to conceptually cohere in a way that feels generous and tent-building.