Recently I tabled at the online Queer Zest Zine Fest. It was great to take part in another online zine fest. My table is still on the website
I didn’t have any new zines for sale, but I am hoping to have something new by the end of the year and for when zine fests happen in person again.
For the past few months I have been working on a new short animated documentary with the Scottish Documentary Institute. The title is Prosopagnosia and will have its Premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival this weekend. The trailer is below along with a synopsis.
Synopsis – Prosopagnosia is a story of identity that uses expressive animation to investigate intimacy, communication and memory.
Prosopagnosia is face-blindness and as a means of understanding this neurodiverse behaviour, the contents of a memory box are explored. Sketchbooks, photographs and diaries are intricately unraveled to tell a unique and personal story.
I am taking part in Fanzineist Vienna Art Book & Zine Fair – Online Edition
I have my own page on the website with some info on my zines and comics – https://fanzineist.com/exhibition-2021/steven-fraser-do-it-theatre/
There is also a virtual exhibition at the festival with artwork and information on exhibitors. I am in Hall 5- https://fanzineist.com/ve-hall5/
I’ll be at the Hackney Comic + ZineFair 2021 (online!).
I’ll have zines and comics for sale. The online event is on from 4 – 30 September 2021 – I will post up more information on the digital event – but below is an old photo of my table at another comic fest.
I am taking part in the Tokyo Virtual Art Book Fair.
Unfortunately I wont be there in person, but the fair takes place online form 16-23 November.
I will be selling zines and badges. I will post up more info closer to the event.
I have created 3 new online Private Plays for Mainspring Arts.
http://www.mainspringarts.org.uk/private-plays
The first one launched on 26 October and is called Faces.
The next two follow on 2 November and 9 November respectively.
They can be read here on the above dates.
Some extra info on the project can be read below, but please visit the Mainspring Private Plays website for full info and details –
Private Plays are intimate performance encounters that take place in unusual settings. These three exciting new plays have been created exclusively for Mainspring Arts by writer, artist and animator Steven Fraser, who is also founder of Do It Theatre.
Private Plays are designed specially for autistic people – although you don’t need to be autistic to read and enjoy them. These three plays – Faces, Touch and Talking – all take place in your home.
I have created a new online Private Play for Disability Arts Online.
It is called Stay Together and is available now.
The idea is to download the digital zine and read it on your phone.
Full info can be read below and you can download the zine here.
Private plays are intimate performance encounters where the audience read illustrated performance scripts that are presented in a zine. Zines are self-published booklets that cover a wide variety of topics and tend to be made by marginalised people.
With Stay Together, the idea is that you read the script, follow the instructions and act out your own performance. Private Plays usually occur in strange and atypical settings, where the location acts as a stage or set. Stay Together happens in the home of the reader. The zine is digital and can be read on a mobile device or smartphone.
I created Private Plays as I wanted to present experimental and unusual performances in a format that was comfortable to me, as an autistic and queer person. I decided to create text-based performances that people could read and act out by themselves. I felt that this was more of an autistic considered approach to experimental and intimate performance. Uncomfortable stimuli associated with busy and unwelcoming performance spaces are removed. All that is left is the text and the reader.
In the past I have presented Private Plays in different formats. I have created art installations that work as a set. I would leave objects, puppets, props and items in the installation space that people could interact with. This format of working takes up a lot of space and requires a lot of time, planning and also some funding. It also requires acceptance and interest from venues and festivals who look to programme more experimental and inclusive autistic led work.
I have a DIY approach to my art. I am drawn to self-starters, self-publishers and people who create art with very little time and resources. I am drawn to creating zines, as zine makers produce work outside of traditional publishing. Zines feel more inclusive and exciting to me.
During a time of self-isolation, social distancing, quarantine and COVID-19, I feel that the Private Plays approach to performance has a wider appeal.
This is also a time of activism, inclusion and conversation. With Stay Together, I wanted to create something intimate, personal and something that recognises the need for human connection. I feel that these things are important now more than ever.
How To Deal With Rejection is a new Zine/Comic/Poetry series and a scruched up ball of paper with a badge. There will new issues every few months. How To Deal With Rejection – Issue 3 is available now. More information on the zine is below.
This is a comic zine that deals with the topic of rejection in an interesting and different way.
The zine is a scrunched up ball of paper. On one side is a comic, on the other is a poem.
The zine covers themes of rejection and is scrunched up into a ball to reflect this. The ball is unfurled and the zine can be read.
Each issue comes with a Weird Proud – Pin Badge Button (38mm (1.5inches) in size).
This is issue 3 of an ongoing series.
How To Deal With Rejection is a new Zine/Comic/Poetry series and a scruched up ball of paper with a badge. There will new issues every few months. How To Deal With Rejection – Issue 2 is available now. More information on the zine is below.
This is a comic zine that deals with the topic of rejection in an interesting and different way.
The zine is a scrunched up ball of paper. On one side is a comic, on the other is a poem.
The zine covers themes of rejection and is scrunched up into a ball to reflect this. The ball is unfurled and the zine can be read.
Each issue comes with a Smile – Pin Badge Button (38mm (1.5inches) in size).
This is issue 2 of an ongoing series.
How To Deal With Rejection is a new Zine/Comic/Poetry series and a scruched up ball of paper with a badge. There will new issues every few months. How To Deal With Rejection – Issue 1 is available now. More information on the zine is below.
This is a comic zine that deals with the topic of rejection in an interesting and different way.
The zine is a scrunched up ball of paper. On one side is a comic, on the other is a poem.
The zine covers themes of rejection and is scrunched up into a ball to reflect this. The ball is unfurled and the zine can be read.
Each issue comes with a You Have Anxiety – Pin Badge Button (38mm (1.5inches) in size).
This is issue 1 of an ongoing series.
Do It Theatre 