In order to gain knowledge and further understanding for mine and Jack's Telegraph brief, we were told that a talk by Teal Triggs, a professor at the RCA, would be useful. The talk was in reference to women and self publishing, particularly the development of independent feminist zines throughout the 70s-90s. There was a clear theme throughout a lot of the fan zines, of aggression which promoted the new wave feminist movement. Women then were understandably tired and frustrated because of the situations they were in, and the inequality they faced, and obviously their anger was channelled through creative publishing.
Zines such as Riot Grrrl, girl is transformed to 'grrrl' to represent a phonetic growling noise linked to anger in the animal kingdom, and Vaginal Teeth - referring to the vagina as an animal that can cause damage, all present women in a very aggressive and radical tone, which could have been the most effective way of gaining publicity and a voice back then, and an alternative method of bringing a particular community together.
A lot of the zines featured hand rendered elements, including the humanisation regarding hand lettering. This was because zines were commonly done by hand, then copies were made and distributed.
I found this talk particularly interesting to me because of my consistant passion for feminism, plus I have my own experience with feminist zines myself. It was great to see the alternative methods used to connect people and bring about change, and Teal Triggs delivered a very engaging talk which is what you would expect from a professional. It would be amazing to actually show her my own zine and get her opinion in the future.
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