Jon Dunbar is a copy editor at The Korea Times, as well as editor of the Foreign Community page and curator of the Korea Times Archive. If you have suggestions for possible articles, or wish to contribute articles yourself, contact jdunbar@koreatimes.co.kr.
Crazy Multiply hosts zine exhibition
A group of people attend a Crazy Multiply event in this file photo. Courtesy of Crazy Multiply
By Jon Dunbar
By Hallie Bradley
Crazy Multiply, a local art collective that promotes contemporary and Korean artists, is hosting their next exhibition soon in downtown Seoul's Euljiro district and they're doing it in what might be considered the “new normal” for art museums and exhibitions.
The exhibition is titled
“Yeokseunghwan: A Zine Exhibition”
which is a play on the Korean-language words of their one-day zine market, “Transfer Station” and a nod to the name of the gallery Gasamrojieul which is Euljirosamga, the nearest subway station, with its five syllables in reverse order.
Euljiro 3-ga is one of the remaining historic commercial neighborhoods in Seoul known for print and hardware shops, and in recent years a new wave of young artists and gallery owners has dispersed in the area. As Euljiro 3-ga sits at the center of a creative, business and cultural hub, the curators of Crazy Multiply landed on the name “Transfer Station” in honor of the exchange of ideas, cultures and perspectives in this unique part of Seoul.
The collective's previous “Transfer Station” event was postponed due to COVID-19 and rather than hosting an event for just one day and drawing a crowd, this event will be week-long so that visitors can come at various times throughout the week and still practice social distancing while getting out.
Like many groups, organizations and vendors around the country, Crazy Multiply is adapting to the new normal and ensuring that life does move forward and that people can go out. Safety and responsibility is key. They will be providing hand sanitizer, disposable gloves and trash receptacles as a safety precaution. Crazy Multiply's eight curators ask, and will remind visitors throughout the exhibition, that guests wear disposable gloves while handling the zines to avoid spreading any infection and to wear masks when visiting as well.
This exhibition is an opportunity to experience zines in a gallery or archive-like setting and will feature seven local zine makers and the personal zine collection of Crazy Multiply members which patrons can read through and interact with. A zine is a book in its simplest form and an ode to do-it-yourself (DIY) culture.
A collection of zines at Crazy Multiply / Courtesy of Crazy Multiply
Appearing in the 1930s in the U.S., the zine was originally a small art magazine made by teenage science-fiction fans creating and distributing their own stories by stapling handwritten photocopied sheets together. Zines don't require much money to produce which has made them especially useful for underground, cultural and political movements. They were often used in the punk movement which gave the zine a rebellious and chaotic aesthetic. Zines are self-published and devoid of commercial purpose. They provide a free space for liberty and encourage a sense of community outside the mainstream.
Crazy Multiply hopes to promote the spirit of the zine movement here in Korea and aims to encourage artists to appropriate the form of the zine without any constraints of theme or medium. Zine formats can range from simple collages and black-and-white photocopied booklets, to newspapers or glossy magazines, to foldable concertina style, to hand- or screen-printed, or to a newsletter presented in an envelope. Inside, zines can hold personal anecdotes, interviews, essays, visuals, poetry, recipes or instructions.
“Yeokseunghwan: A Zine Exhibition” will be held from April 19 to 26. Throughout the exhibition, a custom soundtrack provided by Seoul-based record label Extra Noir will be playing. The soundtrack represents the sounds of the genesis of punk and the DIY movement. Patrons can visit from 1 p.m. to 8 p.m. any day of the week and after perusing the zines on hand they have the opportunity to create their own collage-style zine at a zine workstation.
Visit
or
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for more information about the collective or this exhibition.
Hallie Bradley is a writer based in Seoul and runs the popular site?
thesoulofseoul.net.