Paolo Cardinali
Fugazine Curator & Funzilla co-organizer
reading time: 3′
ITA | ENG
One of the variations that a fanzine can undergo is to become the conveyor of small manias.
I would dare to say it is a real field of productions where the focus is printing either the obsessions or the joyful fascinations of the author.
I have a real fascination with these types of editions because they perfectly embody the spirit of making a fanzine: spontaneity, freedom of expression and a good deal of anarchic creativity.
From my fanzines collection I’ve selected three small gems, lopsided catalogues that do nothing but fulfil the designated role of declaring a kind obsession.
Let’s start.
Jacopo Benassi, Talkinass / 03
Antibtomic Publishing
I won’t stop gushing over anything that comes out from Jacopo Benassi: a real volcano of creativity. Artist from La Spezia, he has gone through all the stages of bottom-up and antagonist cultural education until he gets to the more than deserved international acknowledgements for his works.
Editor – among the very first ones- of photo zines with his Talkinass Publishing, cultural agitator thanks to his experience at Btomic Club, music promoter but also carpenter and mechanic. Those who know a little of his biography, they also know he has a fascination with slippers!
For the record, vintage leather slippers and Adidas Adilette slippers.
About his collection he says, that at a certain point, he found a foot fetishist to whom he sold all his pairs of slippers in bulk in order to be able to pay the rent of his flat in Milan.
However, before giving them away, he photographed them, and he made a fanzine.
Giorgina Rossetti, Ho una bici
Aalphabet
If it is true that over the last years fanzines have carved out a space in the world of photo publishing, the credit of having anticipated trends should definitely go to Nicola Albertin.
Already in 2007, together with his friend Paolo Bazzana, when webzines were a real trend, he founded a small independent publishing house that used to print free–press and photo zines.
Aalphabet has been a small victory in the history of DIY and, with a totally unconventional spirit, Nicola decided to interrupt its activity less than a year ago when the phenomenon of photo zines started to carve out its niche space.
I have a bike is a simple story: Nicola finds the photos that his mother took when he started learning how to ride a bike, he is a two-wheel enthusiast and he makes fanzines: end of the story.
There is plenty enough to print a delightful edition that makes you happy and where many people could see themselves.
Cunegatti & Venerandi, Impossible seats
self publishing
When Elisabetta and Alessandro make their urban incursions together, they turn into the Cunegatti & Venerardi duet.
This is how I met them at Funzilla Rome Photozine Fest, an event they regularly attend as guests and main participants.
In their practice as die-hard ziners, candid photography and creative writing intersect one with the other.
Elisabetta seems to be master the right hemisphere of this shared brain: she is an indefatigable photographer, an urban poetess who loves the city and foreign languages. Whereas the more rational sphere, I take a wild guess, seems be reserved to Alessandro, he is an urban photographer and a tireless traveller who “always keeps his eyes and his camera shutter wide open”.
At this point, I don’t know precisely what lies behind this apparent fascination with chairs, but the fact is that among their multiple functions, my interest has been drawn by “Impossible seats”, unveiling somehow my inclination to sedentary pursuits.
translation by Natalia Mandelli
