IMPERFECT
THE NEW ABANDON-ALL-RULES APPROACH TO WEARING VINTAGE-INSPIRED LADYLIKE DRESSES AND SEPARATES, CAST THROUGH A LOMOGRAPHY-INSPIRED LENS.
In an age when we’re inundated with creators and storytellers uploading endless realms of digital content driving #metoo, #notme, #heforshe, #timesup awareness, it seems quaint that an ubiquitous part of ’80s and ’90s DIY culture has made a comeback, with even Kanye catching on (see his lookbooks for Yeezy). Hand-drawn, often photocopied, and stapled or laminated together, the art of the selfpublished zine has, of late, been on the rise.
Just last month, the folks behind Queer Zinefest put on a zine-making workshop for a group of aspiring zinesters. This was on the back of its inaugural festival held at Camp Kilo Charcoal Club in July – a platform for creators to share their self-published printed works. Around the same time, the fifth edition of the Singapore Art Book Fair included a brand-new feature: a room specially dedicated to zines curated by local collective Squelch Zines that aimed to broaden the already rising scene here. And for its swansong exhibition last November, conceptual art space I_S_L_A_N_D_S collaborated with publishing outfit Knuckles & Notch for an array of art and zines from 28 artists. All works featured were created using risograph, an increasingly (re)popular ’80s printing technique often favoured by creative types, small institutions and, yes, zine makers for its affordability and lo-fi aesthetic marked by vivid, uneven hues (think silk-screen prints).