Humans Are Weird
Artzine, Issue 1.5, Sarah Thompson, paperinnards.com
Sometimes brevity goes a long way.
Here is a zine that points out the fundamental weirdness in daily life the way Jerry Seinfeld might in one of his “Did you ever notice…?” routines, only Thompson uses the sparseness of line and minimal text instead of a microphone. Points like the absurdity of remarking on the weather, drinking coffee, and pet ownership are laid bare by the sparest of lines, bolstered by handwritten captions such as, “my new brain windows help me swallow the visual bolus” (glasses)” or “I qualify for this position because without income I’ll die” (needing a job)”.
It’s funny and nice-looking, but at 18 pages and only a little bit larger than a teabag wrapper, the zine take less time to read than tea takes to steep. After a moment of amusement you’re left to pass it on to a pal or donate it to a zine library because you know it’s going to get lost in your drawer along with your outdated prescriptions, receipts that you kept but do not need, and keys that don’t open anything anymore. It’s ironic that the zine that joyfully pokes fun at the peculiarities of everyday life ends up being something of an oddity itself. (Chris Landry)