If you’re from out of town and wondering what our zine shop looks like, I’ve made a little (very lofi!) video spanning most of the shop. You might catch a glimpse of your zine or someone you knows! We’ll try to get more of this kind of stuff if anyone is keen to see it… pop a comment below!
I’m supposed to be writing away at my business plan and some specific arts funding applications tonight but hells bells./ I’m Greading and listening to My Morning Jacket instead. I came across something pretty interesting on the ol’ Google Reader. Herein lies an interesting blog post:
Zine Swap is located in London but accepts zines from all around the world. You, as a contributor send in 3 copies of one of your zines and they send you back 3 other people’s zines. They send out one copy of your zine to another contributor and keep the other two of archival and exhibition purposes. If you’d like to check out the form and send in some zines, here’s the form.
Sometimes you wish for something so hard that it comes true. Emma D of Flying Machine (brilliant) distro fame & her friend Tim are setting up a new distro in Sydney-town called Take Care. Pop ‘em an email for more information on how you can stock your lovely zines with them: takecarezine(at)gmail(dot)com
In a wonderfully horrid twist of fate, Bird in the Hand’s computing facilities have been thieved. Yes, you heard it right. Over the weekend we were robbed (during the day!) of our Macbook, iPod, some cash, our internet dongle thingo, and our backpack (to carry the booty in, I’m sure!).
I should be still annoyed but the truth is, I’m sitting here chuckling at the thought of some filthy burglar enjoying Million Dead’s best track “I am the party” or sifting through my boring boring financial information. They might learn a thing or two about ‘business’. They probably know more than I’ll ever know.
There’s a few reasons behind this message to you:
- If you’re expecting a reply to an email, then give me but a few days more to reply.
- If you’ve been wanting to buy some new zines, there’s plenty of new ones, which juuust arrived from Microcosm Publishing. You’ll help us pay all that great insurance excess. Get a look-in at our new stock at http://www.zines.bigcartel.com
- If you want to help out, which some people have said they want to, the best way is to buy some zines.
- If you see a silver Macbook (with a This is Not Art sticker on the top) and reckon it’s stolen, stealth it back for me okay?
- If you want to help, but don’t really want to get new zines then you could send some spare change via paypal to susy.pow@gmail.com but I’d really prefer you do the above things instead!
Well, look after yourselves & your things. If a thief goes to the effort of opening a gate, climbing onto the roof, breaking in through a window and through two doors to find your goodies then maybe it’s worth checking your security before you lose stuff too!
x Susy
Bird in the Hand Zine Shop
There’s a pretty excellent article about Renew Newcastle going about. It’s written by a Canberran blogger, Useless Lines.
More and more frequently these days, it feels as though Canberra is growing in reverse, heading backwards.
As the city grows, you expect things to grow with it – but instead of more shops, restaurants, bars and venues opening more and more ‘for lease’ signs are popping up. Some places have been vacant for longer than I care to remember. Canberra’s situation is not unique, and it’s certainly not as bad as some.
During my first ever trip to Newcastle earlier this year I was amazed, like the majority of first-time visitors, by the number of vacant buildings throughout the main streets of the city. It was a veritable ghost town.
Delving a little deeper I realised this was not strictly the case. Scattered throughout the stretches of unused real estate, hidden within the shells of heritage structures, were exciting little shops, cafes and galleries; earnest realisations of creative endeavours. I was at once thrilled and thoroughly confused. How could these tiny, left-of-centre ventures afford such prime commercial spaces? And if they could afford it, why couldn’t anyone else?
What I had yet to realise was that these weren’t feats of squatting or happy coincidences in a freak local economy. These small businesses were bright tiny flowers in the harsh soils of a garden lovingly planted and tended by Renew Newcastle. read more
I’ve been hearing a lot lately from people seeking out particularly niche zine subjects and so I thought I’d put them up and see if we can get people who’ve made zines on these themes to send them in. Alternatively, it might inspire someone to make a zine about this stuff too!
- Skateboarding
- Queer
- Poly
- Riotgrrl
- Anarcho Feminist
- Vegan Recipes
- Birds
If you’re keen on a particular theme post a comment and I’ll add it. And if you make something on one of these subjects clickety click on the Stockist Enquiries link.
I’ve been having pangs of guilt recently. I haven’t been reading enough. There’s a little worm inside my head coaxing me back to words on screens and words in books and words in zines. The realisation I was starving myself textually came during a recent train journey from the Blue Mountains to Newcastle. I foraged through my bag for pen & paper and wrote for literally hours (the train ride is about 5-6hrs!). Then I returned to reading this lengthy and incredibly interesting paper on zines as ephemera and as political pieces of paper. And not just political in the sense of anarcho punx and feminism (etc) but moreso in that ALL zines are political. The mere act of putting together a zine is taking control of media, removing the financial motivation that is usually attached to our materialist society and poignantly stating that “everyone’s voice has value, and factors such as money, status, and even talent are not limiting to one’s ability to create a zine” (p.6). Well, anyway, I implore you to read it. It’s here:
But wait, there’s more. Both yesterday and today were filled with lovely zine deliveries. Our PO Box has never been so happy. I’ve got a few of them here with me.. they’ll be available to buy soon!
This is such an amazing zine. Both Sarah and I were nervously excited as we read this zine
This zine has so much inside! Recipes, stories, tidbits, rants and comix!
Whoosh! The Zine for Whale Lovers
Roller Derby zines rule so much. This one's by freshmeat Amy from SRDL. We also have derby zines by Bettie Brimstone of NRDL!
Critical Animals, the 3-day creative research symposium that takes place annually in Newcastle as part of This is Not Art, is looking for a Co-Director for the 2010 and 2011 festivals.
The position information can be found here.
If you know any interested artists, organisers, academics, students, polymaths, multitaskers or lateral thinkers, please point them in their direction.
More sneaky research can be done….heeeeere – Critical Animals
Such interested parties should send their cover letter and CV to criticalanimals@gmail.com
Likewise, queries to criticalanimals@gmail.com.
Yours in anticipation,
Aden and Britt
I just got a wonderful email from Renew Newcastle HQ and I know you’ll be interested…
You’re invited – pass it on!
Next Friday night Renew Newcastle will continue its series of twilight events in the City – First Friday. On the First Friday of the month in November (Friday 6th) the Renew Newcastle art and creative projects will host a collection of special events in the early evening 5 – 8pm.
This month on Friday 06 November there will be 11 free simultaneous events taking place, including gallery exhibition openings from 6pm: SynCity – a history of sampling and remix culture since the early 1980’s – screenings at Loop Space sound and digital media gallery; a comic photographic exhibition “Looking for Love in all the Wrong Places” at Gallery Raw – Newcastle House of Photography; a dreamy preview of ARThive’s site specific installation “Magic Mushroom Mould Mountain Made Mysteriously Of Milked Moose”; and a playful Art Party (including pass the parcel) at Emerald Arts.
All of the Renew Newcastle shopfronts will be open for trading at the same time for special late night shopping. Up on the terrace in Market Square Art Brasil’s artisan jeweller will show more sculpture and works made using sterling silver, Mad Hatter Millinery ladies will take you through their Melbourne Cup fashion on the field highlights, Shannon Hartigan landscape photographic prints show off amazing Newcastle and Kerrie’s all lycra and sequins at the Run Amok Dance Clothing studio. You could wander up and explore Susy Pow’s Bird in the Hand Zine shop, come for a spot of early Christmas shopping at Ciao Meow – jam packed with local handmade fashion, jewellery & homewares. And then if you need a little sit down, the Tea Party at Totoro’s Teahouse offers vegan treats and specialty teas, while you ponder their gallery walls.
This month Renew Newcastle says goodbye to some wonderful enterprises which have livened up the Hunter St Mall area – as the commercial tenants are moving back in. Some of these projects will open up new shops: lookout for Alex from Surfhouse Photography, Floyd from Biami Mara, the makespace ladies, and Mark and the gang from Gallery Raw in new spaces over the coming months. And we’ll keep you updated on what Nick from Upcycling and Penny from Silk House Art Projects get up to in new incarnations in the new year.
So far Renew Newcastle has placed 41 projects into 26 empty shops and offices across the CBD. Come along to see how Newcastle’s creative community is making city revitalization their business, and enjoy the city in a new way at twilight on the First Friday of the month.
Facebook event: (link)
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