Event details: Friday – Sunday,
27 – 29 January 2023, 12– 8pm
Temasek Polytechnic
[Originally posted on instagram on 31 January 2023]
That's it for #CutCopyPaste2023! Everything came together so late for us that there wasn’t time to make a proper post ahead of it – even this was meant to go out on Sunday morning, but here we are, such is life.
Thanks to the trust and openness of Thing Books (@thingbooks.shop) and Shrub (@shrub.0128), we got a rare invitation to bring a selection of zines and other printed matter out to share at this first edition of the spun-off zine fair. Pitched as “a little otherwise”, it was a modest intervention into a hectic marketplace that often seems to only say “everything's fine”, presenting dwelling place to read, rest, or be challenged. Hopefully it demonstrates in a small way varied potentials of print and self-publishing, and how that intersects with autonomous, liberatory networks for collective learning, healing, organising, joy, care, action, and much more.
Aside from this browsable showcase flanked by radioriotgrrrl's (@radioriotgrrrl) very cute DIY mini-zine-making kiosk, we also had a table with things available at sliding scale pricing – stickers, prints, and publications, including a new anonymous zine, “Repeal and Rage”, Black Book Assembly newsletters, and poetry zines by Steph Dogfoot (@stephdogfoot).
These settings can be overwhelming, yet in this space of so many creative threads converging, there is a beautiful chaos, some generative possibility, maybe even new friendships and affinities to be found. It was wonderful to see familiar faces of visitors, supporters, and friends, and to meet new folks who shared such great excitement and curiosity in encounter – that was energising, helping overcome some rough slumps during the fair. Yes, we’re here, and it’s possible to find each other. Thank you all for having said hello, for chatting, listening, helping, and hanging out!
Everything's now back at the infoshop, and between rest, reinstating the library, and stock-taking, you’re welcome to visit starting right from this weekend. If we do this again, we'd love to involve more of you with your presence, works, thoughts, and energies, and with plans to start distro-ing printworks, that may happen soon. Enjoy these pictures, see you around, and let's stay connected!
Support our space and work: patreon.com/wares
The below texts were written for the fair to help introduce folks to the wide variety of printed matter we were presenting, in particular to guide those who are unfamiliar with either the form or such content. Each new heading was on a separate panel, printed and displayed around the makeshift "stand" to accompany our showcase.
wares infoshop library presents:
a little otherwise
Hello! We’ve brought part of our collection out here to share with you as a little library, a little otherwise of worlds less encountered, a browsable showcase of what we think are cool stuff. Hopefully in a small way this modest selection of materials demonstrates varied potentials of print and self-publishing, and how that can intersect with informal, autonomous, liberatory networks for collective learning, healing, organising, joy, care, action, and much more.
Gathered over the course of multiple years, these texts and art from across borders and different contexts cover a wide range of topics, taking on many forms, scales, approaches, and possibilities.
Make some time to dwell and read, rest, dream, or be challenged, against this often dreadful world we inhabit. We hope this can offer a generative breather from the relentless pressures of a marketplace that tells us “everything is fine”, when it very much isn’t.
Though not for sale or lending, some zines here might have a URL or PDF that we can pass you, or even make a print from when you visit the infoshop.
Read on for a few important notes, and enjoy browsing!
Please be gentle when handling
these printed matter
Remember these are from a community library. Be mindful of the next person and those after them who may be holding the same object, travelling through the same pages – making sure others can enjoy these means practicing care and respect too, help us keep sharing possible!
Use slow motions when picking up or placing zines down (wood will dent and bend paper!) or back on the suspended strings: turn to the middle spread, and lay it down gently onto the string; do not tug on the string. And please, do not throw pages or whole zines around. You will be asked to pay for damage.
While their construction or materials may seem “cheap”, it doesn't mean they’re not precious to us! They can be fragile and many were in fact gifts that would be difficult to replace. It may be invisible labour, but it takes time and money to source for and/or print these. Part of our project is about cultivating different values – free is not worthless, expensive is not good by default. What else can be done outside the profit motive?
If you really like something you’ve read, just let us know, we can tell you more about it and maybe how to get a copy. Photography of print material is completely fine, share about them with your friends!
A quick but important
note on content
Some print works in this selection touch on accountable communities and support for survivors of abuse and violence, and may describe harmful situations. Please take care when browsing.
More generally, these materials may also reflect counter-normative perspectives critiquing racist, ableist, cisheterosexist, capitalist violence of dominant society.
Disagreement and conflict are to be expected, and the challenge of discomfort can lead to growth. We encourage taking time to sit with these ideas and what they’re saying, and consider what might frame and drive a desire to complain to someone in a position of authority. Alternatively, moving on is an option, there is a lot to see in this fair.
As a showcase, effort has been made to offer an overview of what’s possible with the zine form, thus there is a breadth and depth to what’s included. We may not necessarily be aware of or agree with every detail of what’s being shared. If there is something you find inconsistent with an anti-authoritarian liberatory ethos, please let us know and we will review its inclusion in our library.
That’s not all!
Visit our space for more
There’s still a substantial collection of zines, books, and other publications to explore back at the infoshop library, a new space we just reopened last October after leaving Geylang, and it’s nothing without people using and inhabiting the space. Located just west of the city core, it’s small and cosy, suitable for quiet study and work, but also able to host groups for intentional gatherings.
Pick up a flyer for more information, get connected, check for hours on our website or instagram, and make an appointment to visit!
wares.noblogs.org
@waresinfoshop
linktr.ee/wares
If you’ve found this
helpful or generative,
Help support our
space and work
Check out our table (T13) for some things we have for available for you to take home, including stickers, posters, prints, and publications. We welcome sliding scale pricing.
If you are in a position to contribute, we also have a Patreon page for recurring monthly support. Our immediate goal is to alleviate the major burden that is rent, which would let us devote more time to keeping the infoshop open as a resource, develop new ways of sharing the ideas held within the library's material and between ourselves, and better understand how it all fits in our local context.
patreon.com/wares
Tips are welcome, via the jar or the payment QRs.
You could also help us by getting involved, donating materials, or just telling your friends! Find affinities, start something with each other, connect up, and let’s build a liveable future.