Abstract

Pamphlet Day: A Political Protest Pamphlet and Zine Event focused around the occupation of Loughborough Public Library, Granby Street, Loughborough, LE11 3DZ, UK.

ABSTRACT
“Throughout the 20th Century artists have engaged provocatively with text, images and performance, publishing writings, pamphlets, and manifestos that challenge the status quo.” (1) Loughborough Echo, May 2017
https://www.loughboroughecho.net/whats-on/arts-culture-news/pamphlet-art-feature-events-13038989

A situationist International inspired occupation of Loughborough Town Library formed the basis of a one day, political protest, public zine making event on Saturday 27th May 2017. Phil Eastwood, Chris Dunne and Stephen Fowler were invited to collaborate in the design and delivery of a Protest Zine Making Event, organised by LU Arts* as part of it RADAR events programme. The focus of the event was the creation of multiple collage based illustrations, plus supporting text to contextualise the imagery. The illustrations created by Eastwood, Dunne and Fowler were then combined with material produced by participating members of the public in the layout of a limited edition of 50 hand printed and bound zines – titled: MADE UP. A subsequent second impression of an additional 50 copies was produced for public distribution by LU Arts at various RADAR events throughout the summer of 2017. The protest zine making event attracted over 200 visitors – some of which participated in the creation of the work. The event was documented by LU Arts and reviews of the activities of Eastwood, Dunne and Fowler appeared in The Quietus and other online publications.

*LU Arts is Loughborough University's arts programme. It organises a wide range of arts activities in a variety of venues. Radar is a programme of contemporary art commissions, talks and films themed around the research activity of the University. Events provide staff, students and the wider community access to a range of cultural activities.

“For and Against brings the dissemination of ideas through experimental platforms and connects it with the value of civic space. These are found in the halls, libraries, and museums that support and foster social history and the exchange of ideas. Places that give space to the articulation of the ideas and cultural expression of a wider public.” (2)

“On Saturday 27 May, the event takes over Loughborough’s Queen’s Park, museum and library. Highlights include:
1. Protest Zine making Event with Phil Eastwood and Chris Dunne, of the Little Riot Press working in collaboration with Rubber Stamp artist Stephen Fowler.
2. The launch of ‘For & Against! The Art of the Pamphlet’, an exhibition of political pamphlets
3. ‘Off Message’ - a creative workshop with Turner Prize-nominated artist Ciara Phillips where participants can print wearable slogans
A new performance piece by Rory Pilgrim working with Reba Maybury, writer and founder of the radical interdependent publishing house Wet Satin Press.” (3)

Published Reviews
“This day-long event took place across sites including Charnwood Museum, Loughborough Library, Queens Park, and Loughborough's award-winning market. Involving live performative elements by artists commissioned by Radar where public participation in the making of new pamphlets, zines and protest paraphernalia was actively encouraged.” (4) http://www.arts.lboro.ac.uk/radar/project/for_against_art_politics_and_the_pamphlet/

“The radical roots of the pamphlet and art: For Orwell, the pamphlet is a polemical provocation. Protest and dissent, as demonstrated in performative and/or visual polemical forms are typified by the tradition of the pamphlet. The pamphlet thereby provides a means to examine possibilities for advocacy, protest and prefiguration shared by different disciplinary fields.” (5)
Gillian Whiteley, http://www.arts.lboro.ac.uk/radar/project/for_against_art_politics_and_the_pamphlet/

“The Little Riot Press (Eastwood, Dunne & Fowler) had spent the day in occupation in a Loughborough Library, one of the few remaining civic spaces where you don’t need to buy an endless stream of beverages to levy your time spent in the building. A wealth of laminated signs in the window were gaining new layers through the insertion of political propaganda. Tables were placed for the public to come and work alongside the press in the building of a new work. Here, the pamphlet was open to the visitor. Here, the building of a publication could be undertaken with an independent spirit. On the table were piles of images, cuttings from the Morning Star, and a photocopied stack of Guardian articles that documented Brexit, Farage’s visit to Julian Assange in the Ecuadorian Embassy, and Cambridge Analytica. A dense thicket of political networks was available to cut and conflate into oppositional forms through zine-making. On a nearby pillar, an informally-sited image of Donald Trump biliously peeked over at those engaged.” (6)

“Throughout the 20th century, artists have worked and acted provocatively using text, images, and performance, publishing writings and producing pamphlets and manifestos. The last decade has seen art’s increased engagement with political and social issues, and a preoccupation with revolutionary movements and global politics. The event responds to research into this field by the Radical Aesthetics-Radical Art (RaRa) project which was initiated in 2009 at Loughborough University under the auspices of the Politicized Practice Research Group by Dr Jane Tormey and Dr Gillian Whiteley. ‘For & Against: is part of Radar, Loughborough University’s contemporary arts programme that engages with academic research.” (7)

NOTES
1. Loughborough Echo, May 2017 https://www.loughboroughecho.net/whats-on/arts-culture-news/pamphlet-art-feature-events-13038989
2. LU Arts, http://www.lboro.ac.uk/news-events/news/2017/april/festival-explores-art-politics/
3. LU Arts, Ibid.
4. LU Arts, Ibid.
5. Whiteley, Gillian, http://www.arts.lboro.ac.uk/radar/project/for_against_art_politics_and_the_pamphlet/
6. Wade, Cathy, http://thequietus.com/articles/22602-radar-loughborough-university-for-and-against-art-politics-and-the-pamphlet-review
7. LU Arts, Op cit.
8. https://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/2017/07/07/stephen-fowler-printmaking-with-rubber-stamps/
IMPACT
Public engagement
Over 200 members of the Public were actively engaged in the event that resulted in the creation of multiple new collage based illustrations with supporting text. The illustrations were used to create a hand printed and hand bound limited edition of 100 zines. The zines were distributed to the public via LU Arts at various RADAR events throughout the summer of 2017. Samples of the publication are reproduced online at: https://twitter.com/littleriotpress?lang=en

Exposure
100 Copies of MADE UP were displayed and distributed to the public by LU Arts.
Online platforms have been used to record, archive and disseminate the activity and artefact with the intention of promoting national and international exposure:
https://twitter.com/littleriotpress?lang=en
http://performanceprintsituation.tumblr.com
The Little Riot Press Twitter feed is regularly updated and has upwards of 400 followers.

Publication
MADE UP – A limited edition of 100 hand printed and bound zines. Distributed by LU Arts, Loughborough. Publication date: 27/05/2017

Collaboration
The workshop was a creative collaboration between Phil Eastwood, Chris Dunne and Rubber Stamp specialist Stephen Fowler. Both Eastwood https://staff.lincoln.ac.uk/473cd80c-766b-4a3c-8d4d-aaf50f44db18 and Dunne https://staff.lincoln.ac.uk/b152e6ec-d6f0-4bb4-91d2-fd808d4f51f7 are senior lecturers at the university of Lincoln, UK. “Stephen Fowler is an artist and illustrator specialising in primitive DIY printmaking with both rubber stamps and roller printing technologies. His work is held and exhibited in galleries and museum collections across the UK, Europe and North America. Stephen Fowler’s art practice has focussed on rubber stamping and DIY printmaking for the past 15 years. Stephen specialises in public engagement using life drawing, book making, printmaking and rubber stamp making and he has run collaborative and experiential workshops at the Whitechapel Art Gallery, Birmingham Library, the V&A, the Wallace Collection, Hayward Gallery’s Wide Open School, and Margate’s Turner Contemporary. He is a lecturer on Worcester University’s Illustration degree course, a visiting lecturer at UWE’s MA print course and runs master classes in the summer months at the University’s Centre for Fine Print Research. Stephen has worked with many UK/International galleries and artists, including Jeremy Deller for The Strawberry Thief exhibition at the Fine Art Society in 2011. Stephen’s zines and artist books are held in collections around the world including the Tate Gallery and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, White Columns in New York, and Arnolfini in Bristol.” (8)
https://www.jacksonsart.com/blog/2017/07/07/stephen-fowler-printmaking-with-rubber-stamps/

External Partners
LU Arts RADAR
Loughborough Public Library