Thank you to everyone who helped us to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the OCAD Zine Library! Even though our anniversary month has come to an end, we’ll keep celebrating zines in various ways in the months to come (watch out for March when we hold the OCADU Zine Fair and July when it’s International Zine Month!).
We’ll also keep the staff picks coming (though probably at a slower rate). But to end out this whirlwind zine celebration, here’s a large selection of our favourite zines from the collection:
Asscat by an unknown author (call no. C57M).
“How does one describe Asscat? This zine is often referred to by the zine library staff as our favourite zine. It is so surreal, funny and… why does it exist? We don’t know, but we love the ridiculous joy that it brings to our lives. There are so many zines about serious and important issues, but sometimes it’s so fun to read a zine that is just plain zany.” – Marta
What Makes an Object Queer? by Jamie Q (call no. Q04XS)
“This is a very mini, beautifully colourful zine that launches itself off from Sara Ahmed’s text Queer Phenomenology to explore what queerness means when it’s applied to objects. I’m drawn to this zine for its clever combination of a thoughtful concept (that can relate to more than just objects) with fun illustrations.” – Lindsay
Audre Lorde, from the Life and Times of Butch Dykes series by Eloisa Aquino (call no. Q12S)
“Reading about awesome, strong women can be inspirational. ‘The Life and Times of Butch Dykes’ series presents a series of fanzines about awesome strong women. It’s great to see Audre Lorde’s voice represented amongst ‘icons.'” – Heather
In Situ No.2 by Sophie Yanow (call no. C118M)
“The Zine Library has a few issues of Sophie Yanow’s ‘In Situ’ and this second entry is my favourite. Each entry is a poignant vignette of life, drawing on the all too familiar feelings of anxiety, fear, depression and sickness, but Yanow balances it with moments of humanity, friendship, and losing oneself in the sonic wash of Doom Metal on the metro. Visions of a wintery Montreal and the emotional environment fostered by snow-covered ground is alluded to again and again, something I think most Canadians can relate to. In Situ’s drawings communicate the emotional state of the artist in their spontaneous mark-making and on-the-fly editing with scratched out faces and words, emphasizing the visceral power of this work.” – Dylan
Ideas from the know by Madeleine Colleran (call no. A52M).
“I think my favourite thing about our zine library is going through and finding something a friend has made and submitted. A zine I’d like to point out is ‘Ideas from the Know’ by my sister Madge Colleran. I’ve always loved my sister’s comics and really enjoyed looking through the art she compiled for this zine. Madge blends humour, illustration and collage elements into work that is equally funny, colourful and surreal. I also always get a kick out of how stylistically opposite her work is from my own tendency towards formal realism. She can capture someone’s character in a few quick gestures.” – Tom
Jane: Documents from Chicago’s Clandestine Abortion Service 1968-1974 by Firestarter Press (call no. P44M).
“This is a collection of first hand accounts of people who worked in an illegal abortion counselling service and clinic in Chicago before abortion was legalized in 1973 — it’s a powerful record of a group of people who were willing to engage in illegal activity to provide safe medical services for pregnant people in need of support.” – Marta
Tomato zine by Dana Neilson (call no. I40M).
“A favourite summer zine — a zine dedicated to heirloom tomatoes. Nice illustrations with little packages of seeds attached to each page, now that is dedication. It’s a fun resource when planning your summer garden or just thinking about toasted tomato sandwiches — yummy!” – Heather
How Mystery Science Theater 3000 changed my life: or, 13 lessons I learned from the best TV show ever by Tyler Hauck (call no. I120M).
“There are discernible themes coming out of my picks this month. I clearly like zines about personal stuff, queer stuff, and how pop culture can change a person’s life. Mystery Science Theatre 3000 is one of my favourite shows, so when I first encountered this zine I was intrigued. MST3K is almost a zine in TV show form. It started on a low budget on an independent station in Minneapolis, it featured homemade puppets, and its premise (of a guy trapped in space forced to watch bad movies by an evil scientist) is a celebration of low art and pretty much everything I look for in media. It’s also everything Tyler Hauck was looking for when he discovered it. As fun and silly as MST3K can be, the lessons Tyler learned from the show are serious. They include ‘In someone else’s trash, you can find treasures,’ ‘Your heroes are imperfect’ (that one’s particularly timely), ‘There is more to a message than its literal meaning’ and ‘To make something, all you have to do is set your mind to it.’ Those, and the other nine lessons Tyler learned from one of the greatest TV shows ever made, make this zine worth reading whether you’ve seen the show or not.” – Lindsay
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