Basic Paper Airplane #12

Basic Paper Airplane #12: The Interview Issue

Joshua James Amberson 

14cm x 21.5 cm, 36 b&w pages , risographed cover. 

$3 USD (plus $1 p&p w/in US, $3 international)

The theme for issue #12 of Basic Paper Airplane is simple - a collection of interviews - but what makes it unique is that they are all interviews Joshua made with a diverse array of artists, musicians, and writers, while working on a series of articles for The Portland Mercury. The original articles only included a few quotes, so this zine sets our to rectify that by collecting together longer interview transcripts for the first time.

Each section opens with a paragraph or two that sets up the interview, roots the process of interviewing in real time, real place, and a real mindset. What emerges is Joshua's sensitivity for the creations of the interviewee, and a genuine love of being excited by things other people find joy or inspiration in. As testament to Joshua's approach the interviews are full of pertinent observation and considered thought about the practice of creation - whether that discipline is music, writing, or film. 

The zine follows a simple layout, with a photo of each interviewee heading every section. The cover though, designed and printed by C Stone and Anthony Michael, is a thing of risographed beauty. 

The best way to look at Basic Paper Airplane #12 is as a primer on the work of creators you haven't yet discovered. It will have you scrabbling to track down albums & books, that you know from the interviews alone, will be rewarding. Its no easy feat in a cultural climate that constantly sells to us through every channel, to the point it's easiest to disengage, to succeed in creating active engagement. Basic Paper Airplane #12 does exactly this - through honesty, personality, and passion. I can't recommend it enough. 

Buy a copy from http://www.antiquatedfuture.com/zines/basic-paper-airplane-12-the-interview-issue/

Or say hello - PO Box 42081, Portland, OR 97242, USA. 


Review by Nathan Penlington

Make a zine!

Make a Zine! 
by Joe Biel with Bill Brent / Microcosm Publishing

13.5cm x 17cm, 160 pages.

$9.95

I know, I know, a book about making zines. But wait! Wait! You need to keep that snobbery in check, or you'll miss out on a fantastic handbook of all things zine. (In fact snobbery should be a future topic for one of Microcosm's long running series of zines Dr Faith's Five Minute Therapy - but more on that in future reviews). 

This is an updated and expanded 20th anniversary edition of the Microcosm's original Make a zine! The book guides you through chapters on 'behind the scenes' topics crucial to making zines - creative commons, communities, and contributors - as much as the more fun hands on side. 

There are contributions from other zine makers and shapers, including a great primer on DIY Comix by Fly. The history section reflects the changes in the zine community of the last 20 years, the rise of zine wikis and databases, review sites (*cough*) and forums. There is an interesting discussion of fake zines by Stephen Duncombe (author of the incredible Notes from Underground: Zines and the politics of alternative culture) - and how a shift towards a polished look, letterpress, or artist book style embellishment, is actually a good thing for contemporary zines.

Interleaved with the practical advice is a narrative based on the authors' experience of zines, running a distro, and a being a publisher. But even if you've also been around zines for 20 years, you should buy this book. It will invigorate your passion for reading and making zines. Make a zine! has made me want to read, review, and make more than I do already. And once you've read it, give it to a friend or a stranger who is just starting out, and who would perhaps benefit from basic, practical advice about binding, printing, the legalities of copying, and the giddy heights and lowest lows of collaboration. In doing so, you might just help someone start something special. 


Order Make a zine! here: microcosmpublishing.com/catalog/books/1202 or order a copy from your local bookshop. 

Microcosmpublishing.org 


Review by Nathan Penlington