The Ziñata – The Smashing

This is the fate of the dragon – we did feel a bit guilty destroying it but it was the dragon’s destiny! Simon took these photos while Vanessa was busy tying her scarf round people’s eyes then jumping out of the way of the swinging pen, or sword (people could choose which they would use to slay the dragon). Thanks to everyone who helping to bring down the monster and unleash the zines.

 

 

 

 

Mini Zines

When we were planning Snapdragon, we wanted to have some kind of zinemaking challenge. After throwing ideas about for a while we came up with the idea of the pinata. At first it seemed like a frivolous idea, but then it turned into a really good idea, and we realised that we could get people to make little zines to go inside it. We put out the call and zinemakers responded!

On the background of my (Vanessa’s) unappealing living room carpet I present to you the fifteen miniature marvels that were inside the zinata. Starting from the top left corner and moving from left to right along the rows:

1. Rhetorical Thoughts #3 “a mini mini zine” by Chiara (of Rhetorical zine, which you can find in the Take Care catalogue).

2. Kindy Quotes “Stories like these are shared in staffrooms daily” by Melanie, teacher’s aide.

3. Instructions for Paint by Lynn Cook.

4. New Look a the Touch of  Button (anonymous)

5. You Can Live in your Zine Shop by Elouise of Smells Like Zines distro.

6. Hello by Clare from The Bower.

7. Shit, a zine of things that shit me, by Staples.

8. Biblioburbia, by Vanessa, taken in part from the Biblioburbia blog.

9. i can still dream of things that have never been but someday will be by Emma D.

10. Too Lazy to Become Australian by Milly Rockparty.

11. A Zinata Special by Hannah Dostine. All these were different, each handwritten!

12. Postcards from the Dreamtime, drawings from November 2008 to October 2009 by Nicholas Beckett

13. Please Remit (anonymous)

14. Instructions for Everyday Performance by Anna Dunnill.

15. Does Your Sweetener Leave a Nasty Taste in Your Mouth by Cherish Marrington and Matthew Moore.

Thank you to all these fabulous zinemakers, and congratulations to all the lucky people who picked up some of these zines from the confetti on Sunday. I’ve tried to put in website/contact details where I could but if you’re one of these people who doesn’t have a link, please let us know your website details in the comments.

 

 

 

 

Snapdragon – Thank you

Thank you to everyone who came to Snapdragon yesterday, those who had stalls, came to look at zines and say hello, those who were brave enough to take a swing at the dragon (full report on the exciting zinata smashing to come). In particular we’d like to thank Simon and Anwyn, both of whom gave us lots of help on the day and in the lead up to the fair. Thank you!

 

 

The Snapdragon

 

The dragon! Soon after the moment of creation, the dragon rises with great fierceness from its offcuts.

Tomorrow you will have the chance to meet this beast and fight for its innards: many tiny zines – sent to us from all over Australia and made specially for the Snapdragon fair. Will you (or perhaps your dad, it being father’s day) be the one to burst through its fearsome exterior?

The Stuffing (Enter the Dragon II)

In your life you might have stuffed a chicken, or a capsicum, but have you ever stuffed a dragon? In particular, have you ever stuffed a dragon full of tiny zines? I can now say that I have done this, and here is the evidence. Inside our dragon are many tiny zines that some fabulous zinemakers created specifically for the zinata.

On Sunday, join us for the release of these tiny marvels, as well as other exciting zinata prizes. And stay tuned for the next post, in which the dragon will be revealed in its entirety!

The Continued Construction Adventure of the Zinata

On a small purple island in a sea of needing-to-be-mown lawn, a dragon is taking shape. Notice how serious and industrious we are: a Sunday afternoon, five people, one dragon.

 

Enter the Dragon

Using the classic materials of egg cartons, newspaper, and cardboard, we started to construct the zine pinata last weekend. We had already constructed the papier mache core of the beast, layering up strips from the Domain section of the newspaper. Millions upon millions of dollars in real estate forms the belly of this dragon.

Here the creature is pictured in an otherwise normal suburban setting (hills hoist, fibro house, jasmine vine, blue skies), prior to its enrobement in tissue paper. Stay tuned for the continuing story of the Snapdragon Ziñata!

 

 

The Ziñata – The Planning Stage

How does this sketch become a large piñata stuffed full of tiny zines? This mystery will gradually be revealed over the week, until next Sunday you have the chance to meet and defeat the monster yourself!

Something for the Zinata…

Vanessa here, with a note on what I’ve been working on for the zine pinata, a tiny A8 zine to go in the belly of the beast (whatever the beast might end up being – we are yet to construct it). I usually favour A5 zines, so shrinking things down small is a challenge for me. The great thing about it, though, is that you come out with a zine that only takes up one piece of paper – in fact I can make 2 zines from one piece of A4 paper, which is very satisfying for someone who usually condemns herself to spending hours photocopying 40 page behemoths…

Here the typewriter’s out, the papers are stacking up, the tea’s being drunk. But for the final result, you will have to come and have a bash at the zinata as that’s where copies of this zine will be.

Anyone else who is sending us little zines for the zinata, make sure you do so now! The same goes for our Absent Zinesters – and there’s more info below for both of these if you need to refresh your memories on what to do. The main thing to remember is, get it to us this week.

We’ll be back soon with some in progress shots of this crazy zinata…

Absent Zinesters Table

As well as sending us zines for the Ziñata (see previous post) you can also participate in the Absent Zinesters table if you’re unable to make it to the fair. Here is some information on how it will work!

Send us copies of your zine and we will sell them for you on the day. We won’t charge commission for zines sold on the Absent Zinesters table. After the fair we will pay you for your sold zines (via paypal or bank transfer).

If there are copies of your zine left over after the fair you can:

a) leave them with us to sell though Take Care Distro (which is run by Emma and Tim), in which case they will sell your zines on consignment. More details about that can be found at takecarezines.org

or

b) we can return unsold zines to you, if you pay for the postage. If you’d prefer this we’ll get back to you after the fair to sort out the details

Send 5-10 copies of your zine to:

Take Care Distro
PO Box 4
Enmore NSW 2042
Australia

They need to arrive before the 4th of September, so the last week of August is your approximate postage deadline.

Please include a note with your zines stating clearly:

* your name and/or zine making pseudonym
* the name of your zine/s and how many you’re sending us
* the retail price of your zine/s
* your paypal email (or bank details)
* your contact details
* what you want us to do with unsold copies of your zine/s (i.e. sell through Take Care or return to you)

 
Also, whether you’re sending zines or not, feel free to send flyers for your zine or for zine-related activities in your town!