Art School - Adam Void

Art School

by Adam Void

Approx 21cm x 27cm, zine fold into 7cm x 10.5cm.

One page double sided b&w on orchid stock

$1

A visual mash-up, collage, cut & paste mini zine from prolific artist and zine maker Adam Void. It's a kind of cool little zine, and a perfect example of Adam's seemingly ceaseless creation and his view on art - specifically art school. 

In Adam's own words: 

"Well, not just any art school. It's a remix of illustrations from the 2018 School of the Alternative handbook. So more like art school in the woods with spraypaint, bears, and a bunch of weirdos."

I've reviewed a few of Adam's other zines in the past - which you can find here. I've always valued his work, so I'm excited to see Adam's new venture, a partnership with Chelsea Ragan, called Cut in the Fence. 

Cut in the Fence is a zine producer and distro with a focus on graffiti, underground, and folk art. Go visit the website and you'll see some great looking stuff - I've been sent a few more things for review, which will be posted soon. I also really think the pricing is set at a level that is accessible. For that reason, be aware that lot of Cut in the Fence publications are limited edition, so if you see something you like, don't hang around. 

Buy the Art School mini zine here: cutinthefence.com/product/art-school-adamvoid

www.cutinthefence.com



Review by Nathan Penlington

Railroad Semantics #1

Railroad Semantics #1: Eugene, Portland, Pocatello, and Back! 
By Aaron Dactyl / Microcosm Publishing

14cm x 18cm, 64 pages

Cost: offered as part of Microcosm Publishing sliding scale pricing $5.95-$9.95

Semantics is a branch of linguistics concerned with changes in meaning. Railroad Semantics - apart from being just a great sounding and looking zine name - is concerned ultimately with American railroads, and their place and meaning, both within a subculture and the wider cultural expanse. 

As Aaron explains in the introduction the zine is:

"a compliment to the off the grid lifestyle train hopping represents". 

Railroad Semantics is mostly comprised of first hand accounts documenting Aaron's journeys across the vast landscapes of America riding cars of huge freight trains - complete with near misses, and close calls - accompanied by his black and white photographs of landscapes, graffiti, and fellow riders. Interspersed are newspaper clippings of related interest - train disasters, train fanatics, and a fascinating piece about a town called Bill. And of more cryptic origin, handwritten letters from a fellow rail traveller. 

The content overlaps and shifts the ground, almost like sifting the mythology of the great American railroad through a fine grid. Earlier this year I reviewed Adam Void's zine about riding the American railroad, this zine has obvious parallels, and if you like that zine, you'll love this one too.

The production and design quality of Railroad Semantics is fantastic too, right down to a soft matt finish to the cover. 

Even if the closest you'll get to jumping the rails is being crushed while standing on a late running daily commute, Railroad Semantics will help pull focus on the cultural landscape of the train. I can't wait to read other issues. 

Buy Railroad Semantics #1 here: microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/3620

The first four issues are even available as a box set (there is something I find deeply satisfying about that): microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/6478


Review by Nathan Penlington

Land Slide Dreams - Adam Void

Land Slide Dreams 

by Adam Void

Approx 21cm x 27cm, zine fold into 7cm x 10.5cm mini zine. 

$/£: trades encouraged

Another mini-zine by prolific artist and zine maker Adam Void, creator of the great Nirvana Rules and Misadventures & Musings from the Train Brain zines reviewed elsewhere on SZR. 

Landside Dreams opens out into a cut & paste collage that illustrates a handwritten text on the reverse side: 

These memories, brought back by a brief dream I awoke from just a moment before. The bed was just cold enough to not make it back. Sometimes you just can't make it back. 

Like the best kind of zines it's confessional and artful, drawing you in to another's vivid world. 


If you'd like a copy contact Adam at adam_void (at) yahoo (dot) com - trades are encouraged. If you ask nicely he might also send you some other goodies. 

Adam's been making zines since 2003. Check out his past publications page: adamvoid.com/index.php?/ongoing/publications - now THAT is a zine maker.



Review by Nathan Penlington

Misadventures & Musings from the Train Brain - Adam Void

Misadventures & Musings from the Train Brain

Adam Void, 2017

13cm x 18.5cm, 20 pages, cardboard cover, plus 8 small centre pages. 

$/£: trades encouraged

Post-industrial American folk culture has the mythology of the once great railway running straight through it. At once a symbol of power, exploitation and expansion, to those on the other side of the tracks the railway is also a symbol of subversion and freedom.

In Misadventures & Musings from the Train Brain Adam Void jumps the present day rails, and this is a catalogue of those journeys: the yearning for the vast expanse of landscape, the thrill and reality of riding open porches, the dust of experience. 

Adam's zines have a distinctive style, partly the result of the cut & paste of urgent typewriter. But the writing is compelling too, and brings to mind some of the early work of Cometbus - I guess the wanderlust of this issue also helps contribute to that. 

The centre pages reproduce contemporary railroad graffiti - long part of hobo tradition - a firm nod to the history of a largely unacknowledged counter culture. This is a really well put together zine documenting perfect misadventures. 


If you'd like a copy contact Adam at adam_void (at) yahoo (dot) com - trades are encouraged. 

Adam's been making zines since 2003. If you want to make yourself drool and/or make yourself feel envious check out his past publications page: adamvoid.com/index.php?/ongoing/publications - now THAT is a zine maker.



Review by Nathan Penlington

Wasted Land 2

Wasted Land 2

by Adam Void

21cm x 27cm, zine fold into 7cm x 10.5cm mini zine. 

$/£: trades encouraged

A mini-zine by prolific artist and zine maker Adam Void, creator of the great Nirvana Rules zine reviewed a few posts back.

Wasted Land 2 is a collage of found images, additional drawing, and handwritten text. It's absurdist in the tradition of dada, and it's DIY culture in the tradition of punk. It's the kind of thing you want to leave in bars and bookshops to be discovered - no wait, it's the kind of thing you want to find in bars and bookshops.
If you want a copy contact Adam at adam_void (at) yahoo (dot) com - trades are encouraged. If you ask nicely he might also send you some other goodies. 

As I said in my review of Nirvana Rules Adam's been making zines since 2003. Check out his past publications page: adamvoid.com/index.php?/ongoing/publications - now THAT is a zine maker.



Review by Nathan Penlington

Nirvana Rules

Nirvana Rules

by Adam Void


11cm x 14cm, 14 pages, coloured paper, hand printed card cover.

$/£: trades encouraged

We all know that Kurt Cobain ruled right, but who or what is Nirvana Rules? Adam Void sets out to solve the mystery of a series of graffiti tags that started to appear around Baltimore. Is it just a reference to the band? But where are the references to the band artwork or songs? And why did it only start appearing in 2010?  

Nirvana Rules is a great zine - part documentary of a DIY subculture, part mystery, part interview, and a DIY artefact itself. It's got a perfect old school feel to it with the use of a typewriter, handwriting, and stencil. And it's got an extra Nirvana fold out in the centre too.

If you want a copy contact Adam at adam_void (at) yahoo (dot) com - trades are encouraged. 

Adam's been making zines since 2003. If you want to make yourself drool and/or make yourself feel envious check out his past publications page: adamvoid.com/index.php?/ongoing/publications - now THAT is a zine maker.



Review by Nathan Penlington

  

Not Guilty #2

Not Guilty #2

from Blackguard

52 pages, digest size, $?, edited by Midasone >>> midasone[at]ymail.com + www.notguiltymag.com + also available from http://etzinedistro.blogspot.com/
Not Guilty is a graffitti art/street art photography zine and it's all in full glorious colour. Most of the photographs are of artwork on the sides of trains, but there's also walls, bins, public toilets, gates, and some of the photos include the artists, either wearing balaclavas or with a black strip superimposed over their eyes. This one seems to be UK-based. I also checked out the website where there's loads more terrific photos.
[Thanks Monty for sending me this zine!]

Railriot

This black and white photocopy zine focus's on the

railway culture surrounding train graffiti and urban

exploring, featuring photography from the NG fam,

yards, layups, crawling, climbing, watching waiting,

catching, painting...

Graffiti Magazines & Fanzines

from ToXik

• Action Speax #1 (2005)
• Cekoadon? #1 (France 2000)
• DAIM (2006)
• Day In The Lyfe #2 (USA 2004)
• Dead In The Dirt - The All Steel Edition (2001)
• Dirty Deeds Magazine #2 & #9
• Ilegal Squad (Mexico)
• Innercity Magazine
• JVS Magazine #1 (1997)
• Mass Appeal #1 (USA 1996)
• Mass Appeal #2 (USA 1997)
• Metropolitan Press #3 (Spain 1995)
• Move #1 (USA 1991)
• One Sound #1 (Italy 1997)
• OnTrack (USA 2008)
• Outlaws #1 (France 2005)
• Round 1 & 2 (Germany)
• Second Line #1 (Croatia)
• Stencil Graffiti (2002)
• Stylefile
• Trapos Sucios #5 (Spain 2002)
• True 2 The Game #3 (Germany 1998)
• Urban Discipline 2001

Upmost #5