{"id":270466,"date":"2025-11-27T16:00:43","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T05:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.russh.com\/?p=270466"},"modified":"2025-12-02T09:14:38","modified_gmt":"2025-12-01T22:14:38","slug":"behind-the-zine-revival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.russh.com\/behind-the-zine-revival\/","title":{"rendered":"Zines are reclaiming their territory on the coffee table"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whilst digital burnout isn’t a novel sentiment, it seems to be at a tipping point. As a result, the consumption of physical media has never been more coveted: opening a book up to that all-too-familiar musty <\/span>perfume<\/span><\/a>, flicking over a chalky page with your fingertips, and folding down the edge as a place marker for your next perusal.<\/span><\/p>\n

We are not only reviving the consumption of physical media, but also its production. A form that has remained steadfast, yet is particularly having a moment now, is the intimate artefact of the zine. We are enamoured by all things DIY currently, in the hope of grounding ourselves in the analog \u2013 and zines are a tangible testament to that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sitting somewhere between a coffee table book and a glossy mag, zines have been championing youth culture on paper for decades now, stemming from punk scenes in the \u201870s, to feminist movements in the \u201880s, to their mark on Riot grrrl in the \u201890s.<\/span><\/p>\n

Zines have always been a dogma for the anarchist youth by documenting undercurrents of subcultures, providing a space for their preservation on paper, and serving as a counter-current to digital consumption. Offering up a space to simultaneously disconnect and connect, the ethos of zines serves as a touchstone for youth and is rooted in community.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A post shared by Fiend (@fiendbookshop)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

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Odessa Mykytowycz, owner of Melbourne-based book purveyor, Fiend, stresses the importance of preserving print and tangible forms of media. \u201cThere\u2019s so much constantly pulling us back into our devices, and it\u2019s exhausting; it breaks your presence in the world. I think it\u2019s the tactility that makes print different. You hold it with your hands, you can make it with your hands, and it has the same kind of visual level as the rest of the world. Screens tire your eyes, but I always find reading print media leaves mine feeling rejuvenated.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Ranging between skateboarding scenes and streetwear, to queer nightlife and underground music circles, zines function as archives of lived experience exploring identity, sexuality, politics and rebellion. The power in zines is that they offer creative freedom due to their self-published nature, which allows for an outlet that doesn\u2019t demand perfection.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cZines are such an accessible way of disseminating and consuming ideas that are cheap to make and cheap to consume. At the end of the day, they\u2019re just another print media format, and as with other print media like books, while there can be a lot of white noise in how prolifically new publications come out, there\u2019ll always be something that can cut through that noise and gain traction. Ultimately, I guess the ideal is that a strong underground resistance will eventually rise to the topsoil and influence mainstream culture,\u201d Odessa tells <\/span>RUSSH<\/span><\/i>.<\/span><\/p>\n

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A post shared by Fiend (@fiendbookshop)<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n