On her way to watch The Memories perform at The Smell in downtown Los Angeles, fourth-year English and fine art student Ariel Kusby popped into The Last Bookstore and was stopped at the store’s bag check area. When the attendant asked if she had any books in her bag, Kusby said she had zines called “Nothing New.”
Now, a few months later, one of the world’s largest independent bookstores will be adding to its collection of zines the undergraduate experimental zine, “Nothing New.”
“A zine is a self-published booklet; it’s short for magazine and it’s really a medium for individual self-expression,” Kusby said. “It’s very do-it-yourself and there’s no middleman – you’re the one who’s producing it and distributing it and writing it.”
“Nothing New” is a zine published every full moon by a group of seven UCLA undergraduate students. Recently, the zine collective held its first zine-making workshop at Powell Library on Feb. 12. This week, the staff is holding another free zine-making workshop at The Last Bookstore on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Kusby said the “Nothing New” staff accepts submissions of writing, poetry, prose, essays, art, photography, recipes, confessions and manifestos from people both in the UCLA community and around the world.
On Saturday, “Nothing New” celebrated its first anniversary – the first issue of the zine was published on Feb. 14, 2014. Third-year geography student and staff member Eleanor Hodgson said the first issue only included the work of the staff, and it wasn’t until the second issue that the staff started accepting outside submissions, now from places as far as Germany and Spain.
Nikki Ochoa, a fourth-year English student with a creative writing concentration and “Nothing New” staff member, said Kusby asked each of the current staff members to join the collective last year.
“We just started meeting every week at different cafes and diners and tried to get our ideas organized,” Kusby said. “(Ochoa’s) dad works for a print shop so he really facilitated us being able to print the zines.”
Kusby said she and the other staff members were dissatisfied with the creative publications already established at UCLA and began “Nothing New” to create a space that was more open to artists’ experimental works.
Gracia Amos, a fourth-year English student with a creative writing concentration and “Nothing New” staff member, said she sees the zine’s job as mixing art and people to see how they can work together and interact in the same space.
“I would consider (what we do) as curation – what we’re doing isn’t necessarily deciding if something is good or bad,” Amos said.
Amos said “Nothing New” has a lunar theme that has served as a guiding principle for the zine throughout its development, including the staff’s decision to publish on the day of the full moon.
“We’re revolving around that idea of having a monthly publication and then also a publication that showcases all sorts of different talents – anything under the moon basically,” Amos said.
Second-year philosophy and neuroscience student Austin Beltrand has had his work featured in several “Nothing New” issues. Beltrand said he liked how he was able to submit illustrations to accompany his poems as well as the anything-goes attitude of the zine.
“I posted poetry about my mother one week, and then next quarter I posted poetry about sex in a completely different style,” Beltrand said. “(The zine) is a great platform for emerging artists to get the word out, but also for people who aren’t English majors themselves, like me, but who want to express themselves nonetheless.”
In addition to being available on the zine’s Facebook page and website, “Nothing New” issues have been sold in bookstores in places like London, Berlin, Georgia and Philadelphia. The staff consigns the zines for either $3 or $5 at the bookstores.
“We all are pretty big travelers, so whenever we go anywhere we try to put zines in bookstores,” Kusby said.
While “Nothing New” doesn’t have a steady circulation, those who want to receive a physical copy of the zine can request one from the staff through email. The staff usually asks for a donation of $1 to $5, but sometimes gives the zines out for free.
The Last Bookstore’s event coordinator Liska Jacobs said she wanted to host an event in relation to zines because of L.A. Zine Fest, which was held last Sunday, and because the bookstore sells zines.
“Whenever there’s a community event like this, or like L.A. Zine Fest, I think it’s an important moment for that community to come together and meet each other and also inspire each other,” Jacobs said.
Kusby said, at the end of the year, the staff hopes to hold an event at a gallery where it can sell zines, bands can play music and everyone can have fun under the full moon.
“One of the reasons that it’s really important for us to keep control of (the zine) is because we want to continue it for as long as possible,” Kusby said. “We have really big dreams of someday opening a “Nothing New” space or a pizza shop and zine store.”