Cut - glue

The operation is cleaner than ever, festivals are being organized, extensive archives are being built, and black metal artists and art school students are printing them, while death has long since been pronounced. Fanzines were born in the 1930s in science fiction fan circles, but later they have far outgrown them. The zine DIYers made do with scissors, glue and a cheap printer. In an original Czech study, media theorist Miloš Hroch examines the functioning of these small-circulation publications and unofficial magazines in the post-digital age, when we are returning to analogue media, saturated with virtuality. His work brings radical concepts to media studies and presents a new materiality of media in which touch is as important as information. The book shows the determination of the zine scene and recapitulates the consequences of the digital revolution and cyberpunk dreams. While the creative cut-and-paste method used to be a necessity, today it is a strategy and a choice that offers the promise of unpredictable experiences in a culture dominated by algorithms.

Miloš Hroch's book is an original Czech study based on the concepts presented in the #POPs edition. Based on almost two dozen interviews and ethnographic research, it introduces the Prague zine scene, where a black metal fan, an illustrator from UMPRUM, anarcho-feminists and art school students work side by side. In several reports he takes the reader to zine festivals, printing workshops, galleries and apartments where such zines are created.