Suzie Harrison If you’re in the scene,...

Suzie Harrison

If you’re in the scene, then you’re down with the zine, the hip

underground world of publishing. With the new exhibit at the Orange

County Museum of Art South Coast Plaza gallery, the realm of zines is

brought to life for those not so in the know, through “Zine Scene.”

Though it hasn’t made its way into Webster’s yet, a zine is

typically defined as a modest publication by an individual or group,

according to curator Irene Hofmann. Artists often use zines to share

their thoughts, work and ideas.

“Zines are used to work out ideas, new ideas,” Hofmann said. “It’s

a simple way of doing that. It’s liberating, cheap and easy.”

A zine can be as simple as a couple photocopied pages of something

someone somewhere finds interesting. Its binding can be as creative

as its inside, with pins, staples, rope, string or ribbon used. The

list of possible materials of the actual zine is endless, and so is

the actual product. It can be glossy paper, take the form of a flip

book, or even be a shrinky-dink-like version of a novel.

“The term zine itself is a shortened version of fanzine, which

refers to pamphlets originating from the fan club scene,” Hofmann

said.

Hofmann spoke of its history -- that zines are part of the lineage

of underground publishing and the alternate press movement.

Zines are by definition anti-establishment and noncommercial.

Zines are made by zinesters or zine-makers.

They can be highbrow or lowbrow. After all, there are no rules to

this often subversive phenomena.

“A lot are totally irreverent, but it’s kind of fun,” Hofmann

said.” Some actually have another thing going on, more feeling,

unique.”

One piece on exhibit had the cover of a steamy romance novel

attached to a pair of jeans with expressive words written all over

the denim canvas. Another was a spoof of Spiegel catalogs. Then there

were editions eight and nine of “Stupor.”

“So many are so personal, they start to read like diaries. It

starts to become that,” Hofmann said.

“For the Love of Beef,” for the American-made man, has a picture

of a cowboy and accompanying verbiage -- packed like ground round

with clear shrink-wrap and Styrofoam tray. The only thing missing was

the blood, though the paper used was red.

Handwritten text is the content of some. Others use art, pictures,

drawings -- anything. The context and the text can vary by technique

and design.

“Zine Scene” has transformed the gallery into an interactive zine

reading room with zines from around the country populating reading

spaces.

“Clearly people are having a lot of fun with this format,” Hofmann

said.

For the exhibit, there are retro vinyl couches -- perfect for

reading a zine. The gallery is also going to have a zine-making

workshop.

“It will be geared toward high school age,” Hofmann said. “We will

have a photo copier. People can make photo copies in the spirit of

it.”

Hofmann said that the majority of the zines included in this

exhibition are submissions from students and alumni of the Cranbrook

Academy of Art, where “Zine Scene” originated last year.

New submissions will make their way into the exhibit, as a steady

flow of new works will be added, including new submissions from zine

makers on the West Coast.

The next generation of the zine is the e-zine, which functions as

a Web site instead of a paper pamphlet Hofmann said.

“Zine Scene” will be at Orange County Museum of Art’s South Coast

Plaza Gallery at 3333 Bristol St., Costa Mesa. The exhibition runs

through April 23. For information, call (949) 759-1122, ext. 211.