Zine Dreams

Before the days of Tumblr, those with a love for postmodern aesthetic and oversharing of feelings had to turn to real-life media. Before the Internet was such a big thing, if you were a creative kid with passion to burn and a knack for stealing photocopies from Office Depot (um, or not), you turned to publishing a zine. (That’s pronounced zeen, short for magazine.) These totally do-it-yourself publications were unapologetically tactile. Ink would rub off on readers’ hands, or sometimes the envelope in which they were mailed would be absurdly stuffed with glitter or stickers. Subjects and professionalism ranged the gamut, with a zine spanning anything from handwritten tortured poetry to cleanly typeset tomes that mimicked newsstand fare. The beauty of it all was that there were no rules, and getting a zine usually involved some kind of personal contact, whether by writing a letter or participating in a face-to-face swap. It’s this spirit that fuels “Enter the Nineties,” a new exhibit on view at the main branch of the Miami-Dade Public Library through September 13. For its annual summer art show, the library created an original zine called Poetry and Power and invited cultural producers from throughout the city to make their own and swap. The resulting, and ever-growing, products — along with old classics donated to the library’s collection — will be on display and available for reading. Check it out for free, and get inspired to create your own. Vinyl records and other older, warmer media are enjoying a resurgence, so why not zines too?
Mondays-Sundays, 9 a.m. Starts: June 27. Continues through Sept. 13, 2011