Struts round table finds local artists discuss making zines, multiples, and artists books
On Wednesday, Nov. 12, Struts Gallery hosted Swap Meet: Independent Publishing round table. Swap Meet is a series of member-driven events, where Struts builds a panel of members who can speak to a relevant arts-related theme. The panel was filled with a wide variety of local artists working in publishing, with a focus on books made by artists. Those in the presentation included Jon Claytor, Laura Watson, Patrick Allaby, Rachel Thornton, Dave Dyment, Roula Partheniou, and Thaddeus Holownia. The panel was mediated by Paul Henderson, the Director of Struts.
Community and connection emerged as recurring themes throughout the event. Partheniou noted art fairs as being excellent opportunities, “partially to share your work with the public, but also about connecting to people who do the kind of work that you do.” Tips given by Claytor for a successful art fair were to bring a friend, and make friends with the people sitting beside you. Claytor goes on to say that fairs are particularly special as they facilitate “interactions that don’t exist in the cube gallery or on the internet.” Thornton mentioned in fairs you can have “the unexpected visitor” who just happened on the space and “you get to tell how great art books are.” Allaby, who runs the Sappyfest zine fair, has seen the growth in the community firsthand. The Sappyfest fair has expanded from having only 15 artists apply, to Allaby having to turn people away due to size limitations. Allaby highlights this growth in comic and book fairs saying, “there’s a lot of momentum in these spaces.”
While Dyment said there is “an appetite for artists books,” a common thread wove all publishers togethers: artists books and multiples were “a labour of love,” says Henderson. “Artist books” are books made by artists that often transform the traditional form of a book and play with people’s relationships to books at some level. The artist’s multiple refers to a series of identical objects made by an artist often with a limited edition. Nothing Else Press, an independent publisher of artist editions run by local artists, Partheniou and Dyment, is “pretty much a not-for-profit,” says Partheniou, with their financial goal being to “break even.” The press follows the ethos that art should be more accessible, making multiples instead of unique objects, and is an ethos they “want to continue and make room for.” When asked about the horrors of independent publishing, Dyment says “they’re all a horror story, each one is a different problem to solve.” At least once during the process of painstakingly recreating each edition, either Dyment and Partheniou will shout “I’m never doing that again!”
While economically, the decision to participate in the independent publishing world seems questionable, the artists seem happy to be participating in the artist book movement. Dyment says “sometimes your role models are these other little bedroom operations so as long as we’re part of that gang, we’re good to go.” Henderson says it comes down to “connecting to other people or your own passion for the things that you make or the things that you want others to make” which makes it all worth it.
Everyone is welcome to visit the Owens Gallery to read some zines from the Zine Library. A “zine” is short for “fanzine,” which usually comes in the form of an independently published book, often handmade or printed, and its contents include text, images, collage or a combination of elements. Zines are often part of non-commercial distribution networks, traded, mailed, and given away; they are, according to Thornton, “very responsive to the time that they’re being made and the people that are making them” and “the perfect place to act against whatever you don’t like is happening.” The Owens Gallery Zine Library “amasses the voices of the people that make zines,” continues Thornton, and was inspired by Anchor Archive, a large collection of zines in Halifax, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary.
You can find the Owens local zine collection online at: https://owensartgallery.com/owens/zine-library/
To learn more about future Swap Meets, sign up for Struts Newsletter on their website: https://www.strutsgallery.ca