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Property Zine 1.2 (Fall 2016) & 1.3 (Winter 2016)
Various contributors
@propertymaterials
Facebook.com/propertymaterials

I was going through my zines earlier today when I realised that my review for Property Zine 1.2 was long overdue – I’d already received the winter issue! And while I make no promises in terms of review timelines, I have been wanting to review these zines… and I realised I had an opportunity.

One thing I really love is watching a zine series grow and change. Whether one person or a collaboration of people is putting something together, I think it’s great to see the evolution of a project.

That’s why, my friends, today we get a two-in-one special.

Property Zine is a big (a bit bigger than an A4, I reckon), glossy zine with the feel of – you guessed it – a magazine. But you know me! I’m not one to judge, and a lack of gloss does not a zine make. It’s glossy, wonderful, and an art zine.

The fall issue is filled completely with art. Save for the cover and the first page, there is nary a word to be found. (Or contact details, but it’s well made up for in the winter issue.) What you will find are vibrantly-coloured images, photographs, and painting, all utterly well suited to the size and the gloss.

For me, art is like poetry: I don’t often ‘get’ it, but I know what I like despite a lack of being able to articulate it. No, not every piece is to my taste, but there is truly something special (to me) about the pieces I like.

The winter issue (as compared to the fall issue) is what inspired me to do the double review and take some time to talk about the evolution of a zine series. This issue has at least double the pages and includes written pieces and poetry while still sticking to its foundations in art. It lands firmly with both feet steady on the ground, thick and heavy with the confidence of a zine that is willing to expand its ideas about content.

The beautiful thing about varying your content like this is that it makes it appealing for a flip-through as well as coming back again to take a closer look and read the written pieces. I have nothing against things that stay strictly to their niche, but variety provides a much bigger net of possibility.

Also, I must say it was so much fun to see names that I know in a zine like Big Tight and Fishspit. That made me feel a sense of community in a way that I haven’t for a long time. I also loved seeing their work as presented by someone else.

All up, I’m really excited to see where Property Zine goes and hope to participate in future issues.

*Full disclosure: A piece of my art is in Property Zine 1.3

Let’s Communicate!
Text by Misha (m.murasovs@gmail.com)
https://bigtightzine.wordpress.com/
Illustration by Babs (basiahurnik@gmail.com)

Atomic entanglement. I bet you never thought you’d read those words in a zine.

Let’s Communicate! is about – you guessed it: communication. From the atomic to the cosmic, there are levels of communication you may have never known about and amazing questions humanity has yet to answer about how it all works.

Aethetically, this zine is absolutely lovely. It has a smooth, thicker cover with adorable little cell-like creatures decorating the inside front and the back. This zine is full colour, but I love the focus on blue. It’s calming and inviting. The art is a fun mic of adorable and childlike with other parts being skilled and precise.

I think what I love the most about this zine (beyond how lovely it looks and feels) is that I get this feeling of pure passion and awe from the writing. The person who wrote this is truly amazed by this universe of ours, and that feeling really comes through. While I have always had a passing interest in physics, reading about this kind of stuff in this form had me even more interested.

You might not think a science-y zine is for you, but I still recommend giving this zine a shot. It’s lovely to look and and brings up a lot of interesting things to think about.

It makes me wish for a part two!

*Special note: You might want to double-check the emails if you can because I’m not 100% sure that I’ve read them correctly on the zine.

Shit Talk
People
5th and B
Double Fur Press

Ah, my final review for 2016. You may be a little surprised at my choice of review, considering the occasion, but there is reason to my actions…

Shit Talk is one of those strange things in my universe in that I cannot for the life of me remember when I first saw it. However, I do remember seeing it and thinking that I really wanted to get a copy. Lo and behold, month after that initial discovery and thanks to the generosity of Zine-O-Matic, I have a copy in my hands.

I have had this little gem for a while, but I have a thing about not opening anything until I am totally ready to immerse myself in what I’m doing. And yes, this is a zine that can be ‘opened’ (beyond the opening the cover). That little strip you see on the cover is actually its own piece of paper wrapped around the zine. I’ve finally slid that baby off and enjoyed Shit Talk.

Because they explain it best:

“Bathroom graffiti is done neither for fame nor for profit and is therefore the purest form of art.” Shit Talk is a collaborative bathroom graffiti zine by 5th and B and Double Fur Press. It was created by leaving a blank zine and a pen in a bathroom, and waiting for artists to fill the page.

There’s something utterly fascinating to me about complete strangers creating something together. Yes, there are a lot of references to poop/shit/shat, plenty of swearing and a lot of drawings of dicks and balls. There are the usual trolls saying mean things, but nearly as much as you’d think. (At least, not nearly as much as I’d thought there would be.)

Yet in amongst the multiple drawings of poo and scribbles that are too difficult to read, there are interesting comments and even words that are akin to poetry. All of these people can count having at least one thing in common. Sure, it’s using a toilet, but we have to start somewhere. Hehe. (Come on, I get one ‘hehe’ in all this.

I feel like Shit Talk is a ‘grittier’ alternative to 1000 Journals and other projects like it. It’s something I’ve wanted to do (and failed on a number of occasions). It’s people just being people, shouting to the world in various ways with various attitudes. It’s something that is both ugly and beautiful, lovely and aggravating all at the same time.

People being people, creating something entirely unique when it’s all said and done.

That’s why this zine is the zine I’ve chosen as my final review in 2016.