Dissertation

I recently sent an email to Craig Atkinson from Cafe Royal, where i bought my zines for some primary research, to see if i could ask him some questions for my dissertation research and he said yes!

A little bit about Craig first:

He is an Artist, Illustrator, Lecturer and Publisher @ Café Royal where he publishes his own work alongside other artists and distributes zines and books.

Emailed Questions:

1. What made you want to start making zines?

I wanted a way to make art free / disposable / affordable and collectible, zines were a way of passing my work about but also making a multiple.

2. What makes a 'zine ' a zine for you?

It's very subjective I think. If it's high street it becomes a magazine, if it's glossy it becomes a book. So neither of them!

3. What do you think about zines being used as a political expression?

Thats how it started but I'm not sure how relevant it is today with blogs / web etc. I guess in some countries with high levels of government censorship it still works.

4. What do you think of mass production in today's culture?

I don't mind it, depends in what context. Things have always been mass produced.

5. Do handmade items have more value for you and mean better quality, while having more thought and effort behind the product than mass produced goods?

No. I like hand made things but I like mass produced too. Both are tools and each should be used when the time is right. I love well designed things, mass produced or otherwise.

6. Do you think that, as blogs can reach the masses quicker and cheaper in comparison to zines, they are making zines obsolete or is the physical publication of a zine that makes it valuable?

The zines I'm into mostly are art zines. They are a multiple, collectible piece of art, like a print is. Blogs will never come near that. Blogs do compete with political zines, as mentioned above.

7. What value do you think the public opinion is on zines?

They have a following but it's fairly small, I don't know, I guess people don't understand them if they're not familiar with them. Same with art generally I think.

8. What does value (in relation to small publications) mean to you?

They have more value to me as publications / editions that they do financially.

9. What do you think makes a hand made object have value?

It's quality, on all levels.

10. Do you think the short runs and limited editions of small publications makes them valuable?

Possibly. Depends on whether you mean monetary value or not. Collectible, yes.