An art exhibit opening this week in East Lansing celebrates Michiganders who have found non-traditional ways to publish books, poetry, art and zines.
Jimmy Coyer owns Lansing print shop Ultra Mega and co-curated the exhibit called Local Sources. He recently organized a festival for zine creators and readers in the area. Zines are handmade, usually small, self-published booklets.
"We've had events that are comics-related or book-related, and people get an opportunity to meet up for brief instances at those events, but otherwise, there aren't a lot of places for these folks to gather," he said.
"I've gotten a lot of great feedback on helping bring those people together and build that community up here."
Coyer explains the challenge in putting together the exhibit called "Local Sources" at the (SCENE) Metrospace gallery was figuring how to bring a DIY and grassroots medium into a more formal space for viewing art.
"We had to rethink how people were going to interact with this traditional gallery space," he said. "A lot of the pieces, we are actually going to be encouraging people to pick up and read through because we want people to see exactly how these zines, how these booklets are constructed"
Coyer hopes this exhibit inspires others to try making their own zines.
"Maybe it feels silly to make a little booklet and just hand it to people on the street, but it really is a very effective way to get those most important ideas out there," Coyer said.
The exhibit Local Sources opens Friday at (SCENE) Metrospace in East Lansing. It runs through October 19.
Interview Highlights
On the items collected for the exhibit
We have a number of zines and books and posters and art prints, some sculptures even, and these have quite a wide range of contents. There's comics, poetry, some personal meditations. I think there's even one republished instruction manual on old print methods from decades ago.
On how visitors should interact with the art and zines
We had to rethink how people were going to interact with this traditional gallery space. So, we're actually creating some distinctions in the pieces that, classically, you should not touch. There's some pieces that, you know, hands off, but a lot of the pieces, we are actually going to be encouraging people to pick up and read through because we want people to see exactly how these zines, how these booklets, are constructed, and get a sense for that.
On what he hopes people take away from the exhibit
We want people to know that there are other ways to get your ideas out there that maybe it feels silly to make a little booklet and just hand it to people on the street, but it really is a very effective way to get those most important ideas out there. We don't always have a lot of control over the publishers that we can work with, or social media algorithms, for instance, but you can always drop a pile of zines at your local bookstore. They're usually pretty friendly to that, so get out there and do it.
Interview Transcript
Sophia Saliby: An art exhibit opening this week in East Lansing celebrates Michiganders who have found non-traditional ways to publish books, poetry, art and zines.
Jimmy Coyer owns Lansing print shop Ultra Mega and co-curated the exhibit called Local Sources, and he joins me now. Thanks for being here.
Coyer: Hi, Sophia.
Saliby: Where did the idea for this exhibit come from?
Coyer: Laurén reached out to me. Laurén is the director of (SCENE) Metrospace. Knowing that I've recently organized a zine fest here in Lansing, I think an exhibit fell through, and we needed something to fit into that slot, so we wanted to work together on showcasing this stuff.
Saliby: And for those who don't know, can you explain what a zine is?
Coyer: A zine is a little self published booklet. Often it's just printed on printer paper at home or at an office and staple-bound, really low to the ground, kind of grassroots publishing.
Saliby: And what does the Greater Lansing area's independent publishing scene look like?
Coyer: In my opinion, it's very siloed. I mean, we've had events that are comics-related or book-related, and people get an opportunity to meet up for brief instances at those events, but otherwise, there aren't a lot of places for these folks to gather.
And as a result, I think there's not a lot of community built up around that. So, I'm really happy, and I've gotten a lot of great feedback on helping bring those people together and build that community up here.
Saliby: And can you give us an idea of the kinds of publications and art you've curated for this exhibit?
Coyer: We have a number of zines and books and posters and art prints, some sculptures even, and these have quite a wide range of contents. There's comics, poetry, some personal meditations. I think there's even one republished instruction manual on old print methods from decades ago. So, there's really quite a lot.
Saliby: Is there something that you learned putting together this exhibit?
Coyer: Well, this is my first time getting to participate in the sort of fine art world, this more traditional gallery stuff, and I'm really pleased for the opportunity. I've had it in my head for some time that I want to take creators like these and showcase them. So, I'm just so thankful to Laurén for giving me this opportunity.
Saliby: You called the exhibit, "Local Sources." Can you talk about how you got to that title?
Coyer: "Local Sources" is just meant to communicate that really, everyone that's included in this exhibit is from an hour or twos drive away from Lansing. These are all things that were made in the area, and they are pretty much all made using incredibly accessible tools. So, our hope is that you see stuff in this exhibit and say, like, oh, man, I could make something just like that.
Saliby: I think it's interesting, because you kind of describe zines as grassroots, very DIY, and then museums or art spaces are kind of more traditional, established.
So, what is the experience been like taking these two things from kind of different sides of the art world and putting them together?
Coyer: Well, we had to rethink how people were going to interact with this traditional gallery space. So, we're actually creating some distinctions in the pieces that, classically, you should not touch. There's some pieces that, you know, hands off, but a lot of the pieces, we are actually going to be encouraging people to pick up and read through because we want people to see exactly how these zines, how these booklets are constructed, and get a sense for that.
Saliby: And what do you want people to take away from this exhibit?
Coyer: We want people to know that there are other ways to get your ideas out there that maybe it feels silly to make a little booklet and just hand it to people on the street, but it really is a very effective way to get those most important ideas out there.
We don't always have a lot of control over the publishers that we can work with or social media algorithms, for instance, but you can always drop a pile of zines at your local bookstore. They're usually pretty friendly to that, so get out there and do it.
Saliby: The exhibit "Local Sources" opens Friday at (SCENE) Metrospace in East Lansing. It runs through the 19th. Jimmy Coyer co-curated the exhibit. Thank you for joining us.
Coyer: Thank you so much for having me.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and conciseness.
