Concrete Playground

Anyone can make a zine, right? Just cut some things and glue some stuff. How hard can it be? Well the answer is: really super very hard. Have you actually tried to cut something out and stick it onto a page? Have you? Cutting out is hard. And then pasting it down in a visually pleasing way is also really hard. And on top of that you have to choose things to cut out that are sufficiently whimsical or thought provoking or left field but trendy like beards or obscure '80s TV shows. It’s a hard task. Imagine how gluey your fingers would get. And the paper cuts? Forget about it. And then there’s the task of photocopying the lopsided mess, which opens a whole new can of Pandora’s worms. Where do I put my money again? Where do the pages come out? How do I do a double-sided copy?

My advice is: leave the zines to the pros. Luckily, they’ve all agreed to assemble for your picking and/or choosing pleasure at the MCA for the third annual MCA Zine Fair. There’ll be other creative bits there too, so if zines aren’t your thing why not buy a badge or twelve? Swapping zines is also welcome! And you can catch Sydney Writers' Festival panels on Graphic Novels vs Illustrated Texts and FBi's Out of the Box with guest Tom Cho.