Atticus
Zine, Corinne Phillips, 22 pgs
This full-colour, richly collaged mini-zine is a touching tribute to a real-life friend, Atticus, and a rendering as fable of Atticus’s coming out and transitional journey. Printed on moderately weighted paper and handbound with stiff black thread, it has vibrantly coloured matte finished images. Corinne Phillips, the artist and writer, dedicates the work to Atticus, “who is now legally who he always has been.” The zine is densely illustrated, with each page thoroughly filled with repurposed pictures, figures and let-tering from external sources. Phillip’s precise, flowing, cut-and-paste collage work creates a coherent visual narra-tive to accompany the fairy tale-like story itself.
Our hero, Atticus, appears through-out as cut-and-paste images of classical sculptures, like Michelangelo’s David, inhabiting collaged landscapes and interiors and interacting with other collaged characters. These include the closed-minded riff-raff who will not accept Atticus as Atticus, who appear as stiff business wear figures with the heads of giraffes or fungi. Phillips very capably composes these collages in ways that carry the story visually: of Atticus roaming the woods to find his voice, striving to find and speak his own name. Collaged flowers burst from his head when the realization finally comes: “I am Atticus.” And when the giraffe- and mushroom-heads deny Atticus his name and identity, we find ourselves in the marbled halls of the courts, where Atticus legally prevails.
Though not locatable online for purchase at this time, the zine was originally issued with an invitation to donate toward the costs of gender-affirming surgery for Atticus via Venmo (@AAPropst). The zine is a heartwarming expression of love between real-life friends and a beautiful affirmation of awakening to, becoming and claiming oneself.