Material-Grrrl Nos.6 and No.4 (2023)
Material Grrrlz is a worldwide community of crafters :) We’re obsessed with maximalist DIY fashion, celebrating girlhood and always being the best dressed at the craft store <3
Through a quarterly magazine, online community platform and monthly in-person workshops in London, we aim to equip and empower Gen-Z to engage with fiber art and craft to build community, engage politically, and promote sustainability.
(From author's website)
In this special holiday edition of the mag, we meet material grrrl Destiny Franks, announce an upcoming collab with Särö Studio, and share our complete Material Grrrl Gift GuideLink to Instagram: @materialgrrrlz
Free patterns include a quilted cowgirl boot stocking (sewing) and customizable colorwork mittens (knitting & crochet). (From author's website about No.6)
In issue 4, we’ve got you covered with all the essentials for the perfect material grrrl summer: how to be a bimbo, a meme god, and the best dressed at your next picnic afternoon. Free patterns include a customizable sewn tote to carry any bottle of booze, the perfect crocheted garland decor for any get together, and a knit smock top that you’ll want to wear every day. (From author's website about No.4)
Description:
Link to Artist: futurefantasteek.com
"Reflective Practice was made as part of my MA research into what it takes to successfully learn to draw something, interrogating my own practice and internalised ideals. In it, I explored the social context of my school experience and considered things in my life that had previously disrupted my development, using the framework of Kolb's Learning Cycle." Basil Hutton (2025)
"In June 2024, young people at three secondary schools took part in workshops on the topic of the future of responsible artificial intelligence in education. This work was part of a larger research project on the emerging context of generative AI (GenAI) tools and their implications for education, now and in the future.
This zine is one outcome from these workshops, and it represents the messages young people wanted to share with decision-makers and educators, to urge you to make Responsible AI a reality in education. The young people were creative, thoughtful and imaginative – these materials express their hopes, fears, and personal meaning-making with and about AI. We encourage you to see their images and words as an important act of AI literacy, expressed through creativity, collaboration and reflection.
For the most part, young people are providing you with questions, not answers. We learned and had our assumptions challenged by their work. Please take what they have offered here as a provocation, a confrontation and an opportunity to think expansively about your own values and hopes for education". (from the project's website)
There are some pertinent comments about bias and representation here, the kids absolutely get it. Fascinating reading for anyone researching creativity and AI with education. For example, "Young people highlighted many unknowns regarding the consequences of using or not using GenAI. They wonder if they can trust the tech companies, when they see so many examples of unsolicited ads, bias, censorship and other negative consequences of technology."
“I turned off notifications and refreshed the app every five minutes to see if I got any messages or Likes on my latest post. Sometimes I did this while driving.”The zine is very honest and reflective in tone and exposes a need in us all to be liked and noticed. There is a black humour underpinning the zine with the artist fully aware of the toll Instagram is having on their self-esteem, the front cover has a graphic banner shouting ‘now 300% more negative!’ The artist is aware of this online manipulation but still engages with it, as we share in their frustration.
"A collection of photographs documenting the wide array of a dog poo signs, from the council ones to the homeowners DIY ones. As well as the bins, walls and trees containing bags full of dog waste all contributing to creating a Dirty Old Town!" (from intro page)Photos taken at various locations in England between 2021 and 2024. The zine invites readers to submit their own photos for later issues.
Jac and Lee have just returned from the 15th International Illustration Research Symposium - ‘Apparatus: the role of Technology in Illustration’ at Koç University, Istanbul, where they both got to deliver papers.
Machines, appliances, gizmos, and contraptions have always been a part of illustration, enabling illustrators to transform their thoughts into real-life forms. The machine’s abilities, aesthetics, and impacts on humanity have always been a source of inspiration and concern. With the discussion raging around artificial intelligence as a game-changing technology, and when computers seem to inextricably serve as parts of creation and of our lives, perhaps it is time to take stock and consider the long-established but fluctuating relationship between illustration and the machine. Symposium website (2025)
Symposium Website: https://kuarc.ku.edu.tr/research-symposium/
Sat 11th November was the Nottszinefest @NottsZineFest, in Nottingham Central Library, UK.
Thanks to Matt and Craig from NTU and Raw Print for the invite, it was a pleasure to share some of the wonderful zines we have in our collection. I selected examples to of perzines, collaborative zines, tech zines and mental health zines. Lots to see and do with stalls packed out throughout the day.
