zine review:
Absent-Cause: Duality
Often I get zines that I feel kind of under-qualified to review. A lot of people make zines for an audience of their friends or those in their community, and when they end up in my hands, context-less, I end up feeling like I’m missing something. I don’t think I’m part of Absent-Cause’s target demographic (which, if I’m judging solely by the cover, consists of bipolar, punk rock, S&M enthusiast zombies), so I think I miss a lot of the resonance certain pieces in here might have for other people. The zine uses a bunch of contributors and the subject matter varies widely–there are articles about body image issues, cockfighting, multiple personality disorder, Lupus and the Maoist movement in China. There’s fiction and zine reviews and a lot of centred poetry. There’s art, most of which is vividly sexual and kind of creepy. There are some really good interviews (all by Redguard, the zine’s creator) with Amanda Palmer of the Dresden Dolls, writer Laura-Marie Taylor, activist Walaa Quisay, and the Chinese punk band Breaking To Top. The interviews are the standout pieces of the zine–all the people are fascinating, and Redguard knows his stuff. The majority of the essays and articles in Absent-Cause are pretty good, actually, which is rare for a zine with so many contributors. That said, Absent-Cause’s problem is that it’s too all over the place; it’s hard to figure out who it’s for, exactly. With a little more focus (and a little less art) Absent-Cause could be a really interesting zine. (Emma Healey)
zine, Absent Cause, PO Box 1568, New York, NY, 10276, uSA, [email protected], $3 or trade