The Need for Absurdity and One of those Long Staplers: Lathe Zine

Tell us a little about yourselves; what makes you tick and what makes your publications
tick?
We are Architecture students that like absurd things and anarchist spirits. Our publication stems from frustration over the twice-baked potatoes of over developed architecture. We needed a new creative and intuitive outlet for our angst, and something that wasn’t so goddamn intentional it starts to blister.

What drew you to creating, publishing, editing and presenting your projects?
There was a need among architecture and design students to make things with no rules or standards that could be elevated regardless of standards and rules. People needed a prompt and an outlet where they could feel creative and that their creativity was appreciated.

Can you tell us about your creative, editorial, and collaborative process?
We decide on a prompt by listing several absurd and relevant/irreverent prompts, then discussing them. Then we call for submissions by yelling aggressively, digitally and literally, at unwitting passersby. We then continue to extend the deadlines with more yelling until we have about 50 pages of material, a good 25% of which is our own.

How did you get into working with small press publishing?
Eve said one day “Hey Fin, you wanna make a zine”, and Fin said, “I’ve always wanted to make a zine!”

What advice would you give to someone starting a small press or publishing project?
Make it 2 to 5 drafts. Don’t underestimate the importance of other people’s feedback. Get one of those long staplers.

What would you have told your younger self about what you are doing? and What do you
hope your older self might tell the you of today?
You’re clearly a lesbian, and it’s ok, calm down—was this not the question?

Publishing can be one of the most fulfilling things you ever do, even if you do it with other people’s stolen printing allowances in your school library.

Other than your own projects, what are some other presses and publications that inspire you
to keep reading and supporting the small press community?
Sam Alden
Lauren Cardenas- Pie Crust
Lauren R. Weinstein
Operations Manual
Shitty River Comics
Suehiro Maruo
Little Lit
Pioneers press (sell us, plz)
Printed Matter, Inc. (sell us, plz)

Anything else you want to say?
We are truly honored to be a part of this!