Independent Publishing Resource Center

Come to the IPRC tonight at 7 PM to hear Luke You of the free, anonymous zine “You” talk about Australian zines, the Sticky Institute, and other exciting things!

See you there!

Tonight the IPRC is pleased to host the opening of Alyson Provax’s solo exhibit including two of her projects, ‘The Time Wasting Experiments’ and ‘Duration.’ The show begins at 6 PM and continues until 8. Hope to see you there!

My name is Natalie and I am the IPRC’s newest foster child (I’ll be interning here for the next 6 weeks)! I’m a literature and theatre student from Bennington College in Vermont (via California) and a longtime proponent of zinemaking.

Although this is only officially my second day at work here, it’s obvious to me that this organization- and likely Portland as a whole- is built off a profound respect for accessibility, in art and even personal relationships. That being said, I plan on posting here regularly to recount any madcap happenings and to give you a fresh glimpse of the IPRC world!

My first project here was to assemble the January/February catalogue. Amanda, resident intern extroardinaire, introduced me to Stan II and Stella, resident temperamental couple/copiers. All of the volunteers I met were quick to show me the ropes as well, and after much copying, folding, and stapling, the zine was completed. Phew.

I’m excited to attend the art opening tomorrow night and will hopefully meet more great people there! If you see a young woman wandering around, occasionally toddling over to Justin or A.M. for a job/joke/reassurance, feel free to introduce yourself and share something about Portland that I should know!

Later,

Natalie

Come on by and pick up a new catalog/zine featuring a cover by January’s exhibiting artist Alyson Provax.

“B is for Beard” by BT Livermore

BT will present pages from his new book, “B is for Beard,” a fully-illustrated, alphabet guide to the wonders of facial hair and the variety of people throughout history who have chosen to wear it. From Annie Jones, a bearded woman who worked with PT Barnum, all the way to the magnificent facial follicles of ZZ Top, “B is for Beard” has it all. Everyone is welcome, even the clean-shaven.

Yes, we’ve joined the craze.  Now you can keep up with the latest news at the IPRC by following our Twitter page.  We’ll be posting upcoming events, new zines and more!

This summer’s first Print Camp was a huge success. Each participant learned Letterpress, Relief Printing, Altered Books and Mimeograph.

We are hoping to offer a Book Arts Camp in the fall with a focus on creative zine binding. Stay tuned in to find out more.

Thanks to Debbie, Dan, Jake, Katie and Ashley for being awesome print resources!

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Copyright lawyer  Kohel Haver stopped by tonight to talk us through the zine he made with his daughter, “The Law and the Zine Artist: Free Speech and Copyright.”

“I want to teach you how to protect what’s good and also the value of stealing everything in sight,” he said, launching into the basics of what’s legal and what’s not when it comes to pilfering others’ work for your own art. The law bascially comes down to protecting intellectual property but also protecting the right to free speech by allowing zinesters and others to reprint people’s work if they’re making some sort of scholarly commentary about it. The most fantastic song of my 6th grade year, for example, ws Aqua’s “Barbie Girl” which later won a copyright lawsuit filed by Mattel because their use of Barbie and Ken had been pure satire.

Haver also spelled out that you can use only as much of copyrighted material as you need to prove your point – including a picture of Mickey Mouse to talk about musophobia in modern society is fair game, but including an entire old Mickey comic in your zine would be pushing it.

To those that disparage copyright law as one of the many evils of capitalism, Haver acknowledged that some people and businesses exploit the system but that there are many benefits to copywriting your work – it’s insurance that someone (say, Disney) doesn’t rip off your brilliant idea. And a lot of brilliant ideas start small. “Giving people the tools to make zines is an important part of what makes this country work. Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was a zine,” noted Haver.

Stop by the library to read Haver’s little zine in full. As a quick copyright primer for those of you too lazy to read, Haver points to this creative cut-and-paste video a Fair(y) Use Tale.