TONERDUST

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Festival of the Photocopier 2017

by Bec

Sunday 12th February, Melbourne Town Hall

Having now attended three Festival of the Photocopier zine fairs I can predict that my body will respond in a time tested manner. A few hours before I will get a little short of breath and I can’t eat which equates to a minimal breakfast on the morning. As I trudge up to the town hall with my backpack full of zines I see how many people are already waiting in line to get in and set up and I realise how different Melbourne is to Adelaide in sheer number of zinesters. 11am ticks by and my heart beats faster as I scurry in with zine pal George Rex to nab a table and display my zines, hopefully not taking up more than my half. Because I am nervous I then proceed to drink about a litre and a half of water before the crowds roll in at noon and then have to leave poor George to man the table as I zip out to the loo about five times throughout the rest of the day.  

Having said all that it is my actual favourite day of the year. It is pretty much everyone I love in one room. This year seemed to be even busier than last, some tables having a hovering crowd of three people deep, all keen to fill their bags with zines. Not only was I lucky enough to sit next to George who always makes a killing with her great zines, but I made a new table buddy friend in Christian Roux, whose live comic drawing on the day showcased how some people are just bursting with talent.

In my short breaks of whipping around the tables to do some personal shopping I was very pleased to pick up these lovely zines, all which I read within about four hours of getting home.

Five hours goes by quite fast and before you know it you are scoffing down last minute Lord of the Fries then walking up the hill to catch your SkyBus back to the airport. Thank you Sticky Institute for my annual life highlight.

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ZINE ZONE WOW!

by Simon Gray

A Sunday in January hosted the first Zine Zone at Format in 2017. I was invited along, a little bit because of my perceived experience in zinery, providing some veteran clout, & some other senior zine types couldn't make it for that purpose. I was amazed by the turnout. Format had played host to a zine shop in it's early days as a somewhat permanent venue, enjoying a long run on Peel Street & a pop up on Rundle Street. While the current Hindley Street premises does stock some zines, there is an emphasis on it's ground floor cafe space where the retail is now a patsy relegated to one corner. But given this history there are a bunch of old Format fans & page likers that exist because of it's zine associations, & they came out in force for the first Zine Zone. Zine Zone is an unstructured get together for zinesters to work on their projects, or just work with supplied materials to make a zine then & there. It begun as an excuse for organiser Eleanor & her pal Will to work on their zine, but Will didn't turn up for the first Zine Zone. Instead Eleanor was stuck with a big turnout of eager zine fans she didn't know, feeling socially awkward, which is a zine scene in a nutshell. People often prefer the zine medium for it's introverted means of communication, the zine consumer will often enjoy a stack of them at home, away from crowds, removed from more extroverted communicators parading on stages, dazzling & demanding applause. Zines are a means of presenting identities in way that doesn't scream "look at me", merely whispers, with a product that can hide, coyly, in a pocket or backpack. Zine Zone worked as well as it did by providing a space for the zine lovers to meet & greet that didn't have to play second fiddle to a band or an art gallery's winey wankers. I made my own way past the crowded tables & found somewhere quiet in the basement to nut out some writing, then drank cider with Eleanor soaking up the vibrancy. There will be future Zine Zones so get along.

https://www.facebook.com/goodjobformat

Photo: Instagram @format_inc

One of Tonerdust's ambitions was once a zine club for Adelaide the likes of which has been discovered there, so we'll be enjoying zine glory vicariously when we can make it. I'll be trying to find ways to make Tonerdust meetings more like Zine Zone meetings & probably vice versa. Bec will also like me to mention she made a zine called Zine Zone way before it was a club, so there.

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Hello and welcome to Tonerdust! We are an Adelaide based zine distro & zine interest collaborative group dedicated to Australian zines.

2017 is going to be a great year for zines, we can feel it in the air! To begin the year one half of Tonerdust will be heading to Melbourne for the annual pilgrimage to the Festival of the Photocopier. If you like zines about trying badly to learn music and local South Australian celebrities you are in luck.

Mid year will potentially bring the other half of Tonerdust traveling to NSW with a suitcase full of zines for your perusal. It will be great.

In our off time we hope to use this blog to review zines. Make sure to follow us here so you don’t miss out on any of the excitement, and please feel free to email us at [email protected] about any stock enquiries.