3-Week Class limited to 10 people, taught online via Zoom

Tuesdays, October 18 - November 1
7-9 PM ET (NYC TIME)
$80 (Patreon Members $5/mo and above) / $95 (Regular Admission)

Please note: because class size is limited and community is important, This Class Will NOT Be Recorded. Some lecture portions will be recorded for students to return to for inspiration.

The workshop draws inspiration from Ars Moriendi - pocket-sized, pictorial guides to dying widely distributed in plague-era Europe. Ars Moriendi books feature a series of images depicting challenges commonly faced during the process of dying and how to overcome them. Pocket sized, widely disseminated, and often hand copied and hand colored, the format and subject translates well to ‘zines, self-published works mixing words and pictures.

In this class, we will explore classic and contemporary imagery around death and dying, create our own images, and compile them into book format. In tandem to our exploration of blockbooks, chapbooks, and ‘zines, we will explore imagery and history of life support technologies, including pacemakers, which have blurred our definition of when death occurs.

We will create our own zines moriendi. At the end of the course, each student will receive a complete printed portfolio of these original works.

COURSE OVERVIEW/SYLLABUS:

Class 1: Imagery and Inspiration
Materials needed: Student’s favorite art supplies; sketchbook or copy paper.

• Welcome to the class, introduction of Instructors and Students

• Mini-lecture: What is a Zine? Brief introduction of the ‘Zine schematic.

• Lecture: Ars Moriendi and Dance of Death (note: in addition to the class lecture, further online materials will be made available to the students)

• Warm up exercise: 20 second drawings drawing of skeletons (ala Lynda Barry’s Bare Bones exercise). Pick one 20 second drawing as inspiration and fill a whole page with skeletons

• Intro to resources: introduction to digital fair use image/Inspiration library, discussion Creative Commons license and free online digital tools: Canva, Gimp, etc.

• Homework: Draw/Paint/Gather images for next class. Think about your theme. At the beginning of Class 2, each student will make a brief presentation of their ideas.

Class 2: Workshopping our theme, creating our ‘Zine
Materials needed: Homework from Class 1; several sheets of 11x17 copy/printer paper and scissor or x-acto to make a mockup.

• Presentation: Each participant will have 3 minutes to present their ideas/themes/works in progress - and get feedback from instructors and classmates.

• Lecture: History of ‘Zines (note: in addition to the class lecture, further online materials will be made available to the students).

• Activity: Make a zine template from a blank piece of office paper. Take your images from Class 1 homework and begin applying them to your zine template. Discuss spreads, covers, crossovers, multiple signatures, etc.

• Homework: Using the work you began in class, continue work on your ‘zine. Upload an image of your ‘zine or work in progress into the class Google slide show before the next class begins.

Class 3: Finishing your ‘Zine, and beyond!
Materials needed: Homework from Class 2; printout of your ‘zine in progress and/or access to your digital homework file as well as access to the free digital tools introduced in class, if using, plus any preferred art materials.

• Review: of students projects so far, group discussion of imagery/ideas/inspiration

• Lecture: Making modifications: using digital tools with hand drawn images; using hand techniques on digital images. Incorporating color toning, collage, chine colle, rubbings, rubber stamp, etc.

• Discussion/Activity: Make a zombie version of your Zine Moriendi!

• Tutorial: How to document your work.

• Homework: Send in your images by (7 days after class) for inclusion in the portfolio.

Kris and Alison will print and collate our student’s awesome ‘zines into a folio for snail mail distribution to the class.

NOTE: Digital image manipulation know-how is encouraged but not required for the class. Students can use the free digital tools introduced during class lectures if they prefer, alone or in combination with their favorite IRL media - drawings, painting, stamping, stitching, etc.

Kris Dikeman is a graphic designer and artist who has been making ‘zines since the ‘90s. She teaches at FIT and manages an advertising studio. NYC. She is a founding member of the writing group Altered Fluid. She makes dolls, books, prints and weird art, and is currently pursuing a certificate in botanical drawing.

Alison Dell, Ph.D. is a molecular biologist and artist who recently traced every monster in the Ars Moriendi during a print residency at the Frans Masareel Center in Belgium. She teaches biodesign at the University of Pennsylvania, and all kinds of biology at St. Francis College where she is chair of the biology department. In 2015 she co-founded Art in the Lab, an ongoing series of workshops mixing drawing and lab work.