Zineopolis: Authorial curation and artzine collection with aggregating blog
- Submitting institution
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University of Portsmouth
- Unit of assessment
- 32 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
- Output identifier
- 26321857
- Type
- T - Other
- DOI
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- Location
- -
- Brief description of type
- A multi-component output with supporting media via USB, consisting of an art-zine collection (2014–2020), a digital platform and two academic articles directly related to the research processes of the zine collection.
- Open access status
- -
- Month
- July
- Year
- 2019
- URL
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- Supplementary information
-
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- Request cross-referral to
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- Output has been delayed by COVID-19
- No
- COVID-19 affected output statement
- -
- Forensic science
- No
- Criminology
- No
- Interdisciplinary
- No
- Number of additional authors
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0
- Research group(s)
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- Proposed double-weighted
- Yes
- Double-weighted statement
- This project represents 14+ years research into the identification, classification and collection of art-zines. Batey’s substantial practice as leading art-zine maker led to establishment of Zineopolis, a physical archive repository at the University of Portsmouth of over 500 independently published, sole-authored zines. From this, Batey developed Zineopolis into a digital platform (137,416 visits to date). Batey continues to spend approximately seven weeks each year to curate, produce editorial research content and to continuously update the platform through the aggregating blog function. This project led to two journal articles addressing the capacity of art-zines to explore mental health and social commentary.
- Reserve for an output with double weighting
- No
- Additional information
- This research is submitted as a MULTI-COMPONENT output with contextual information via USB and can be requested from the REF archive. It consists of an art-zine collection (2014-2020), the Zineopolis digital platform and two academic articles related to the research processes of Zineopolis collection.
This practice-based research brings together action-method ‘autocuratorial’ research in the definition, collection and dissemination of art-zines. It draws upon Jackie Batey’s own eminent art-zine practice and builds upon experience gained from her curation of Zineopolis (University of Portsmouth’s extensive physical art-zine collection).
This collection identified the need for consolidating disparate sources of art-zines in order to make visible an ‘underground’ genre that explores and celebrates independent publications by creatives. In the collecting process, research questions were raised regarding the specificity of the art-zine format - how do they differ from artists’ books, comics, graphic novels or small-print magazines? What specific expressive forms do they afford? Who are the creators/audiences/collectors of this ‘ephemeral’ mode of contemporary visual expression?
Through the digital platform/blog, Zineopolis interrogated the genre of art-zines: while offering a unique repository, classification boundaries are discussed and new definitions for existing and emergent art-zines are articulated for and with its audiences. Via engagement with collecting strategies, Zineopolis led to further identification and clarification of the taxonomy of art-zines. Notably, the freedom of expression within art-zines is identified as highly valued, articulating views and opinions that normally have no other mainstream outlet. With Zineopolis, the curator specifically sought to focus on art-zines that use visual expression for social commentary on a variety of themes - authorial, political, gender/sexuality and environmental. This led to two journal articles addressing the capacity of art-zines to explore mental health and social commentary. The research has been disseminated at invited talks and consultancies in UK universities and the British Library.
- Author contribution statement
- -
- Non-English
- No
- English abstract
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