zine picks

April zine of the month

Brainscan: Irreconcilable Differences

Perzine, Alex Wrekk, issue 21, $3.00 US, Alex Wrekk, 809 N Shaver St., Portland OR 97227, USA, alex@smallworldbuttons.com

Perzines can be tricky. The author has to figure out which parts of his or her soul would be interesting to a stranger. The best zines in this genre are written on universal themes and cause the reader to relate to the experience of the author. Alex Wrekk does just that in her meditation on the death and destruction of her marriage, mapping out the last throes of a relationship based around power struggle and manipulation. It’s a ragged, honest, searing journey, and may prove to be painful to those that have been there before.

The saving grace of this issue of Brainscan is that it never becomes about condemning Wrekk’s ex outright. She takes the time to analyze his character, to give him the benefit of the doubt, and in the process she illustrates not only how many ways there are to excuse this kind of behaviour, but also how easy it is to fall into it yourself. She goes as far as asking the readers to take a step back and make sure they’re not just as guilty as he was.

Her main misstep is going on for too long and in too great detail. Near the end, when she shares with the reader her psychoanalyst’s brilliant assessment of her trembling lower lip, you may start to wonder if this is simply more personal information than the story needs. This problem aside, Irreconcilable Differences is a searching, haunting and enlightening zine with more than enough truth and pathos to recommend it to everyone, from the hurting to the merely curious.

(J. Blackmore)

March zine of the month

Farming Uncle

zine, Louis Toro, issue 108, $3 USA; $4, Farming Uncle, Box 427, Bronx, NY, 10458

Forty-one years. One hundred and eight issues. Published quarterly, an issue never missed. And yet, you've probably never heard of it. This masterful cut-n-paste affair is packed to the brim with various clippings and odds and ends. The notion of this being an elaborate work of conceptualist outsider art must have died at the 10th issue; as far as I can tell, this is the time-intensive product of Louis Toro, an obscurist and "alternative networker" who has set this zine up as a sort of bulletin board for pen pal solicitations, Native American paraphernalia and frequently acontextual ads and messages. Perhaps the most titillating aspect of this hefty work of art is Toro's "BITS & PIECES!" which collect various anomalous facts and unique humorous tidbits that almost seem to come from another world. Reminiscent of the aesthetic employed by the Church of the SubGenius, Farming Uncle is haphazardly packed to the brim with content; as such, fully digesting it can be an effortful and lengthy task. In a way, Toro's prolific work reminds me a lot of Jandek, evoking a sense of mysterious dedication and anonymity. Like the infamous outsider musician, Toro provides only a PO Box in terms of contact information. Yet, to those willing to delve deeper, there is something undoubtedly artistic and wonderful about all this. You'll have to see it to believe it. (Michael Tau)