Free Zine-Making Workshop with 8-Ball Community

Over the course of two weekends Lele Saveri, founder of 8-Ball Community, taught two free zine-making workshops. The first session, held on June 15, was reserved for students (ages 15 –24) and the second session, held on June 22, welcomed all ages. During both sessions, Saveri spent the first half of the workshop introducing participants to the history of zines and how they were an integral part of the punk era. At the time, using Xerox machines was an affordable way to create small print publications that could be shared and reprinted multiple times. Writers were able to use zines to self-publish writing about music, which often helped to promote bands. Visual artists also used zines to publish work without a publisher. Saveri explained that in the last five years, there has been an increased interest in and demand for publishing, and because of this, both zine and book fairs are making a comeback.

The remainder of the workshop was dedicated to participants developing, assembling, and printing their own zines. Some participants used their own photographs, while others used found images—some taken from past issues of Aperture magazine. Saveri walked participants through various binding techniques and how to lay out spreads, and demonstrated how to make copies of zines using a large photocopier. Some zines were strictly photo-based while others used collage techniques to combine images and text; each of the zines reflected the artistic craft of the individual. At the end of each session, participants traded their zines with one another, and both 8-Ball and Aperture kept copies that will live in both institutions’ archives.

Aperture Foundation’s public programs are supported, in part, by generous donations from our Board of Trustees, our Members and other individuals, private foundations including the Grace Jones Richardson Trust, and public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council.