Autozine is a surrealist zine exploring illustrated automatic writing in English, French and Japanese, created with an intoxicating dose of wit and sarcasm by Christina Chu, Satoru Teshima, and myself.
Pioneered in the 1920s by the French writer and poet André Breton, founder of the surrealist movement, automatic writing consists of writing one’s thoughts without any control exercised by reason and exempt from any aesthetic or moral concern.
The illustrations were created in the same spirit, providing an equally spontaneous and improvised visual representation of these abstract thoughts.
- Collaborators: Christina Chu, Satoru Teshima
- Type: Personal
- Year: 2016
Geometric flamingo
The flamingo was so hexagonal that it went from a passive sneeze to an overarching hit and run in a matter of seconds. Never before had we seen an optical delusion make itself so gastric, despite the rodent’s hypochondriac symptoms. It was a caucasian mess, a colourful prank bringing joy like a neatly trimmed moustache. May the ceremony never end, even after the chorus has been cut short with a hatchet. Bringing your future-proof demagogy into the mix will only exacerbate the magic up to the point where all the hyphens turn into em dashes. The flamingo is now cubic.
Dépendant de yaourtine
Bondir dans les roseaux à pieds joints, poignets liés, sans nuire au tourniquet assoupi n’est pas chose facile à en croire la vivacité des fétichistes dépendant de yaourtine. C’est une pensée hasardeuse que de s’imaginer dresser un oursin afin qu’il puisse s’adonner au croquis en dehors de son calfeutrage embryonnaire. Pensez-vous qu’il soit judicieux de n’apporter aux fauves que des têtes de linotte déjà radicalisées ? Voyons ! Sortons de notre nid féodal et partons à la rencontre de nos intervalles irréguliers. L’époque du clavecin nuisible est révolue.
Layman hysteria
Trespasser of mirrors, vanguard of the apocalypse, his mind is a beautiful rant nurturing his sick obsession with candy. In a deafening drum roll before the next slap on the wrist, he remains bespoke until the caveat is postponed; it makes the audience anxious. Angst is a normal reaction to a freed up horizon, the only reaction as long as the typhoon keeps whispering the five sacred words of mahogany. Is there an equal to his dumbfounded pride? An elixir to his not so fancy manners? It is too early to tell, so keep on walking in the opposite direction of the layman, for his terms only ridicule the unspoken.
Odeur d’iceberg
Effrayé par une source de lumière s’échappant d’un scaphandrier au retour d’une tentative d’extorsion de fonds, l’ephèbe peine à se définir parmis les nombreuses majuscules en manque d’hameçon. A moins de graviter plus vite qu’un joule jaloux, il sera difficile de se débarrasser de cette forte odeur d’iceberg. Alors, à quoi bon se remplir les oripeaux de cramias. Entend-on le sifflement du presse-papier au loin ? Ce doit être une ville-étape. Partons chercher de l’aide.
Unicorn row
As if smoke rings had a pre-determined fate, a unicorn with several STDs flew by and asked about the “depraved congas player with the twisted antennas”, so I told her it was too early to let the death flower blossom, and that she should find the closest analog veteran and write a ransom note on his forehead with a pitchfork to prove that the bell is not made of copper from Uzbekistan. She turned herself in without resistance, not even collecting the ransom. They lived happily ever after in a castle of frozen vanity, close to their exuberance. December had lipstick on again.
Process
The zine was entirely hand-crafted—not just because we were on a tight budget, but also to achieve the handmade feel we were aiming for and because it’s simply more fun. Printed on a mix of newsprint and kenran paper at a community centre in downtown Tokyo, the RISO printer gave the pages their distinctive rough finish. The pages and covers—available in three colours—were then painstakingly cut and, after recovering from finger cramps, bound together with string. Et voilà!
