This'll be a quick one, no dilly dallying here, I just want to archive this project because its cool.
I have a number of zines and publications that I always want to share with others, but that moment of "ooh, wait a minute, I want to show you something" is just a little stifled when I have to go digging through manilla folders in the depths of my cupboard. I wanted to create something more accessible and excited for those I get to share ideas with.
I didn't want to use this project to procrastinate by adding complexity or detail, hence for my first attempt I tried making it in one evening. This was to its downfall.
I thought that the recycled core-flute and tape would embody the DIY 'make with what you got' attitude of zines but it didn't translate like I wanted it to. Structurally is also didn't work and as the shelves began to sag, started throwing zines onto the hallway floor. Not a great start for a shelf.
I wasn't too bothered that revision 1 didn't work out, it was a great proof of concept that I liked the form. Seeing my zine library out on display was very motivating to give this project more time and effort on the second go.
So I had another crack at it, using materials I was slightly more comfortable with (scrap ply and scrap metal).
All through making the final version, I was fearful that for my efforts it wouldn't come out to be a particularly nice object but it was simply a matter of trusting the process and backing my skills and experience in specifically this genre of making.
I am particularly proud of the DIY hinges made from brackets that I pulled off my cargo bike after they sliced my leg open about 1.5 inches deep (thats another story). The hinges are pretty jank and relatively weak, but absolutely perfect for this application and captures exactly what I wanted from storage for such a DIY medium.
Anyway, I think it has come out rather nice, especially when covered in bright and exciting zines, those details I was stressing fall away into the background.
I hosted my first gathering since I built it, and no word of a lie, the very first person to walk through the door walked directly to it and started flicking through. You best believe at the end of the party I sent her home with a whole pile of zines and sat looking pretty chuffed at my new shelf.