MOUNT ZINE 2

HAPPENINGText: Yu Miyakoshi

Following the successful launch in March at the Sunday Issue, “Mount Zine” took place again for a second time. The event aims to offer an occasion to enjoy the zines, a zine employs different media, from photography to illustration covering diverse genres, which are assembled together for exhibition. The pieces are submitted by the public with each and every one available for purchase. The room in Ikejiri Institute of Design quickly filled up with people full of enthusiasm for making, viewing, and purchasing zine.

MOUNT ZINE 2

In total there were 190 zines. It is incredible to believe that the gathered works of art, which were all submitted by members of the public, were put on display without being selected by a judge. Every piece was presented to a substantially high quality, so much so that Shintaro Uchinuma, a book coordinator, commented “I’ve never sweated this much just by looking at zines.” It’s not an easy job to explore so many zines at once, and visitors could be heard uttering, “It’s impossible to look through everything!” Even so, they enjoyed their time searching and selecting their favourite works.

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What was unique about this event is the system of ‘One drink one zine’ which encouraged visitors to take home their favourite piece. With the entrance price of 1000 yen, a one drink token and a 500 yen voucher, for redemption towards the cost of a zine, were included.

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“the GAZE” inspired by the photograph magazine “GRAIN” produced by Kouzou Miyoshi during the 70s in his seminar at Nihon University.

When the event organiser Bunsho Baba was asked about what makes a zine so appealing, he answered, “zine itself is an artwork.” In pointed difference to normal publication, the zine maker prints and binds using their own methods, and for this reason they can only publish certain amounts. As everything is hand-made, every piece possesses attractive unevenness and unique features. Anyone can launch their art, show it to their friends, or present it as a gift to someone. The people who applied to exhibit for Mount Zine consisted of both professionals and amateurs, though, everyone held the same desire to express themselves. In fact this is the best thing about zine, it is a media where you can freely express yourself.

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On the first day, a Book and Idea rebel ‘numabooks‘ representative Shintaro Uchinuma, photographer Taisuke Koyama, and G/P gallery director Sachiko Fukai, were invited for a talk show. Each of them personally selected zines; Koyama commented about the presentation of photography, while Uchinuma talked on how amateurs can produce and showcase zine. The talk was both enjoyable and practical.

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SAYONARA ATOM‘s “Paper Troche”, a book spreading anti-nuke ideas with a bit of cuteness.

Those people who are wondering how the zines are made should try to produce one in their own method, as there is no one way to make them. For those who haven’t figured out how to approach this challenge would surely start to feel that it’s feasible just by imitation, this way it is possible to observe the details close at hand and gradually develop a personal style.

Mount Zine will be taking place twice a year. Why not challenge yourself for the next one?

MOUNT ZINE 2
Date: 15th & 16th October, 2011
Place: Ikejiri Institute of Design 1F Multiple space
Address: 2-4-5 Ikejiri, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo
Tel: 03-5481-9011
Addmition: 1000 yen (including one-drink ticket and 500 yen token for zine)
Organised by FFLLAATT / BAMBA BOOKS
http://ffllaatt.com/mountzine/

Text: Yu Miyakoshi
Translation: Yuri Yoshioka

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