Copy Machine Manifestos, on display at the Brooklyn Museum, gives a voice and visibility to marginalized artists.
From an article by Veronica Esposito in the November 28, 2023 issue of The Guardian –
A new exhibition collates more 800 objects to give insight into the zine scene, a way to democratize art and journalism.
A medium that basks in the unruliness and unpredictability of the creative process, zines are gloriously chaotic and difficult to pin down. Requiring little more to produce than a copy machine, a stapler and a vision, zines played a hugely democratizing role in art during the 20th century and have managed to stay popular and relevant in spite of web-based innovations, like blogs, that might have supplanted a less compelling medium.
The Brooklyn Museum’s substantial and exciting new exhibit, Copy Machine Manifestos, offers a welcome, thorough examination of zines made by artists. With over 800 objects on display, Copy Machine Manifestos is a crucial step toward documenting the zine scene, even if, in zine terms this show is a proverbial drop in the bucket.
As the exhibition co-curator and art historian Drew Sawyer put it in an interview: “Even if we wanted to be very inclusive and seemingly comprehensive, we knew it would be impossible to claim to be comprehensive in any way. It would be delusional to think anyone could be comprehensive on a history of zines.”
Copy Machine Manifestos looks into the explosion of zines that occurred around the punk movement, as well as the ways in which queer individuals and feminists used zines to have greater control over their own identities. Later sections continue into the 21st century, exploring the relevance of zines to queer creativity and examining how zines are continuing to remain relevant in the contemporary world.
One thing that makes Copy Machine Manifestos particularly interesting and valuable is that it attempts to look at zines from the perspective of art history. As one of the largest exhibitions of zines ever attempted, this show gave its curators the opportunity not just to present an exhibition but also to add missing chapters to the story of 20th-century art.
Copy Machine Manifestos: Artists Who Make Zines is on display at the Brooklyn Museum in New York until March 31, 2024
Read the full article at www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/nov/28/zines-exhibition-brooklyn-museum-art.
