Canberra Zine vending machine being unveiled for the You Are Here festival with artists Nat Clark and Chiara Grassia who are behind the project. Photo: Jay Cronan
Insert a two-dollar coin. Receive pocket-sized stories about Canberra, its people, its dreams and culture.
This is the Canberra zine vending machine, part of the You Are Here arts festival, which starts this weekend. It dispenses zines for $2 at the Money Bin, two doors down from Smoque in City Walk.
The vending machine is the brainchild of Chiara Grassia and Nat Clark, who run the Canberra Zine Emporium.
One of the zines, by Pete Hewitt, delves into the "straight edge" scene in Canberra, whose members are hardcore punk fans who abstain from alcohol, drugs and casual sex.
There are "perzines", or personal zines, such as the one produced by Zoe Anderson - a map of her own, personal Canberra that you unfold. And there's an origami artwork, a zine folded into the shape of a boat in a response to Australia's boat people policy.
Ms Grassia and Ms Clark say they came up with the idea for the vending machine because there were so few places to buy zines in Canberra.
They received funding from ArtsACT for the project late last year and have been "pimping up" an old vending machine, previously used for chocolates and cigarettes, that Ms Clark bought on eBay.
They contacted Canberra zine producers and came up with a list of about 13 titles to go into the vending machine. New titles will be rotated into the machine during the six months that it will be on display around the city after You Are Here ends.
The zines have to be PG-rated because they are being sold in public.
"The point of zines is that there's no censorship, you are your own editor, you can write about essentially anything and have anything in your zines," Ms Grassia said. ''So we did read every one and not censored them, but made sure a 10-year-old could pick them up and read them.''
Ms Grassia and Ms Clark will also run a zine fair during You Are Here at Gorman House Arts Centre on March 23, featuring zines from across Australia and overseas. Ms Grassia will also take part in a panel discussion, ''Canberra: We Make Our Own Fun''.
The pair agreed zines had an intimate quality that endured in the internet age.
"I like the substantial quality to it," Ms Grassia said. ''I like to have them in my bag and pass them round to friends. You can take them and read them. I also love the mail culture of zine - I met a lot of friends at zine fairs, as penpals and through swapping zines.''
Ms Clark said: "There's a limited print run [for zines] and that practitioner has put their heart and soul into [them]."
■ The Canberra zine vending machine will be at the Money Bin in City Walk (near Smoque) during the You Are Here festival. See youareherecanberra.com.au
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