Zines are a dying art form, but you wouldn’t have guessed it as more than a thousand people attended the L.A. Zine Fest in Los Angeles March 1st and 2nd.
Zines are a type of magazine, often created first hand by the artist, and self-published, to display art and stories. This two day zine production was hosted by the Broad, a contemporary art museum in Downtown L.A. More than 85 artists shared, sold, and discussed their work.
CSArts is filled with young artists, yet few of them share their work with the world. This is often because there aren’t always accessible ways to put your work out there, and it can be intimidating to share your art. Zines are a wonderful medium with which to put art out there, and explore other artist’s work.
Mel Henderson, one of the artists and print-shop owners at this event, explains what made her start making zines and sharing her work, saying, “Your art is going to be loved by somebody, it’s all about finding your people. I would just encourage anybody, if you make zines, if you make any kind of art, just put it out there.”
At the event, there were thousands of different zines. The amazing aspect of exploring all of the art was that every zine was completely unique and expressed something different, yet everything that was expressed was important. There were booths with zines centering around personal struggles, political stances and issues, social injustices, and interests ranging from punk rock bands to childhood dreams.
“I’m an artist of several different mediums, so I make prints, I do photography, and zines was just this really magical way for me to mix all the mediums that I do into one. And it’s just so tactical and I’m also just in love with paper, so zines checked a lot of boxes,” Henderson says.
Zines are an easy way to express yourself, share your art, utilize different mediums and interests you have, and work with paper—a dying art form in itself. Henderson advocated for the creation of zines from all young artists. She says, “I made my first zine about a year and a half ago, and I just have not stopped since!” If you’re looking for a way to express yourself through art, Zine’s could be the perfect artform for you!
The Writing on The Stall