Zine views - access to small periodicals - directory

Whole Earth Review, Fall, 1990 by Gareth Branwyn

Duplex Planet: David Greenberger, P. 0. Box 1230, Saratoga Springs, NY 12866; $6/4 issues. A wise and light-hearted series of interviews conducted at nursing homes. Greenberger asks questions like "What would you do with a robot?," "Who were The Beatles?" and "Would you go to a nudist colony?" Some of the answers are sublime, others end up so far in the outfield even Zippy couldn't catch them.

Eulipian: Don Baker, R 0. Box 61387, Seattle, Washington 98121; $3. An incredibly gorgeous large format art/literary zine produced by graphic artist/xerox (Minolta, actually) wiz Don Baker. The production is impeccable, the artwork stunning, but the content is rather weak. With better writing, Eulipian would be, hands down, the best thing going. in the meantime it's a dazzling sideshow.

Woo-Woo: Brent Beever, 607 E. Dayton, Madison, WI 53703; $3/issue. Brent recontextualizes ads and other mainstream info-junk to make powerful sociopolitical statements. Some of these have made lights go off in my head.

Brain Dead: 4503 Washington Street, Kansas City, MO 64111; $1.50/issue. WOW!, another graphic feast. BD bills itself as a magazine of "comics, music, poetry and stuff." A large amount of comics are by the editor, John Bergin, along with other zine regulars like Joe E. (a contributor to my zine Going GAGA). Bergin's style is unique and beautifully rendered; his stories pensive, surrealist evocations. Lots of mopey, gratuitous poetry and art is also found here which seems to be the coin of the realm in the zine network. This is better than most. (issue #11, a 3 double issue, is especially recommended.)

Edge Detector: Glenn Grant, 1850 Lincoln Ave. #803, Montreal, Quebec H3H IH4, Canada; $2.50/issue. A high quality post-cyberpunk science-fiction magazine. Good writing, great artwork. Contributors have included Rudy Rucker, Paul Di Filippo, Peter Lamborn Wilson, Hakim Bey (sheesh, these guys are everywhere). Editor Glenn Grant is also an accomplished cartoonist who pens an episode of Genetic Lunarian for each issue. Look for bright stars in these heavens.

Artpaper: 119 N. 4th Street 303, Minneapolis, MN 55401; $20/year. A tabloid-style paper on the Minnesota art scene and beyond. I've turned several "socially conscious" artists on to this monthly and they have not been disappointed. Artpaper has developed an interesting niche for itself. It bills itself as an art publication but spends most of its column inches on politics, culture and the environment. Recent issues have covered green politics, gay phone services, decentralism, prison issues and art against AIDS. The main bait for artists is the grants, competitions, and events section. The letters column is long-winded (and often interesting).

Central Park: Box 1446, New York, NY 10023; $5/issue. Central Park is kind of the Granta or Conjunctions for the alternative scene. It has poetry, essays, drama, photography and art, all struggling (with varied success) to say something interesting, using unpredictable means, From their editorial statement: " . . . literary skill is not enough. We feel the world is in dangerous need of a new perspective, and we choose what we want to publish based on how it might contribute to such a perspective." Regardless of how much of this utopian standard they deliver from issue to issue #16 was very good, but would score rather low on significant ideas or fresh approaches), there is a quality of effort here that offers hope. Definitely recommended.

Boing Boing: P 0. Box 12311, Boulder, CO 80303; $3. A fun, rather loose-brained zine with "cyberpunkish" content. Articles have covered human domestication through furniture (by Antero Alli), comic zines and "brain toys." Number two had a hilarious little piece by SF author Paul Di Filippo on a new genre of speculative fiction he has dreamed up called "Ribofunk." He argues that all the attention cyberpunk has gotten is ill-placed. "Forget physics and chemistry .. and computers. The next revolution will be in the field of biology." AIDS research, bio- and nanotechnology, life extension and ecocide are some of the areas of exploration for Ribofunk. And where does the funk come in? With sex, reproduction, sweat, bile and other organic functions. "We need a fiction as urgent as hunger and hard-ons." He suggests some slogans for the movement: "DNA to others as you would have them DNA unto you," "Gregor Mendel died for your sins:' "Snap the Gap." Boing Boing is even having a Ribofunk fiction contest (under 5,000 words).

2600: The Hacker Quarterly: PO Box 752, Middle Island, NY 11953; $18/4 issues. The magazine for hackers, crackers, phone phreaks and cyber-cowboys. Kinda fun/kinda scary, always informative. They cover the latest news on hackers in court and in the media. Each issue usually has several technical articles on hacking, building boxes, dialers, etc. The letters column is extensive and a great place to pick up tips and insights into hacker culture.

Electronic Cottage: Hal McGee, P. Q Box 3637, Apollo Beach, FL 33572; $3/ issue. A magazine dedicated to home taping and other forms of "electronic folk art." The editor, Hal McGee, has big plans for using decentralized communication and cultural expression as vehicles for global understanding. Big thoughts, new magazine. Wish him luck. Issue #2 has a cool article on teaching kids how to do special effects and channel mixing on home stereo gear. I learned a few tricks too.