Zines: A HistoryMaster ClassIn-Person

This master class will examine the artist’s ’zine. Most often associated with the explosion of punk rock at the end of the 1970s, self-published booklets, fanzines, or simply ’zines actually arose first in the context of science fiction collectors in the 1930s. Beginning in the late 1960s, artists adopted and developed the format as a vehicle for visual expression, drawing from precedents in pop art, artists’ books, mimeographed literary magazines, historical avant-garde movements such as Dada, and more contemporaneous developments in conceptual art and mail art. Overlooked in favor of artists’ books and artists’ magazines, on the one hand, and in favor of various types of music or personal expression-based zines, on the other, the artist’s ’zine forms a rich and multifaceted genre spanning over five decades of practice. This seminar will examine the artist’s ’zine in the contexts of both art and music history; issues related to the expression and exploration of race, gender, and sexuality; and notions of networking and community-building. The course will include a guided tour of the major historical exhibition, “Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines,” co-curated by Branden W. Joseph and Drew Sawyer at the Brooklyn Museum.

ENGLISH, HISTORY, VISUAL ARTS, LITERARY MAGAZINE & YEARBOOK ADVISERS, ETC.