Prior to ‘The Short Films of David Lynch’ – a screening event showcasing the early shorts of ‘the master of the uncanny’ David Lynch – there will be a zine-making workshop lead by the University of the Arts London’s zine librarian Holly Callaghan. In this workshop, you will get to experiment with a range of materials and learn different DIY techniques to create your own zine. The Lynch-inspired publications will then be collated to form a programme booklet that will accompany the screening. A selection of relevant zines, fanzines, photos and textiles from the library and collection will be on display for you to draw inspiration from.

Zine-making 101

You might be one of those people who don’t really know what a zine is. Or you just want to know the difference between a zine and a magazine because a lot of people who are new to zine-making believe that zine is just short for magazine, but that is not the case and here we are about to clarify what a zine is and the main difference between zines and magazines.

The main difference between the two is that while magazines are published and edited by a company, zines are self-made and self-published. They are not made for a large audience like traditional magazines and usually only a limited number of a specific zine is printed and circulated, and this is mainly because most of the time zines deal with controversial topics or niche subjects aimed at specific groups of people.

Now, you might be one of those people who make a connection between a zine and a magazine, but this is not the case. The word zine is actually derived from fanzine and the first fanzines were published back in the 1920s and were mainly about science fiction and because of their nicheness, it is believed that zines evolved out of these fanzines and are linked to social movements, giving voice to the voiceless.

The first ever documented zine can be traced back to 1776 when Thomas Paine self-published Common Sense which he used to promote the ideas that contributed to the US.

What gave rise to the zine culture is the punk scene back in the 70s when punk bands had to find a way to promote their music because back then these bands didn’t receive the desired attention and had to spread the word about it in a more innovative way that didn’t involve mainstream publishing.

The zine culture came back in the public eye in the past few years mainly because of people’s need to express themselves in social media. For example, movements like Black Lives Matter also used zines in order to express their ideas and beliefs.

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