A photography student from the UK sent over some questions about Crummy House for a thesis paper she was working on. It’s good every once in a while to have to answer questions about what you do and why you do it, so I thought I’d share the Q and A.

Here goes:

Why do you create zines, and why did you first decide to make one?

Crummy House started making zines because we were bored with our 9 to 5PM and longer jobs. We decided on a trip to New Mexico to start a new project that’s purpose was to connect with other artists and make something for the hell of it.

How do you go about making them? Is it all done by hand, or do you send them off to be published?

Our zines are made and laid out in our home. Then we go the local copy shop and xerox the editions. Then, we’ll bring them home, staple them and stamp them.

What do you include in your zines, and why?

We include whatever the artist wants to have in the book. It’s up to them to decide the content. We only help make it happen and add a little here and there.

How do you go about distributing them? Do you use any zines distros or review websites, or do you do your own self-marketing?

Right now we’re just sending them out in packages to specific places we think would enjoy our zines. We also have art shows and sell them there and at our local awesome bookstore, Domy Books.

What do zines mean to you? What do you think of zines in general, and the culture surrounding them?

Zines are an easy way to make something in a tangible format. A way to simply catalogue our experiments. It’s also a completely natural way for people to view things, in book form. Everyone knows how to turn a page, so it makes the art that much more accessible.