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A Subterranean Celebration

After surviving their first year in independent publishing, the ZIGZAG crew had a reason to celebrate. Storming the exhibition hall with underground flare, ZIGZAG Magazine hosted the first multi-media festival to hit the Ringling College of Art and Design.

The impetus for the Subterranean Celebration was Van Jazmin and Brett J. Lindstrom's shared need to wake up the campus to Sarasota's eclectic art and music scene. Ringling, known to be more formal and conservative when compared to other art schools, would be forced to break the quietude and get loose for one night of creative jubilee.

Looking to turn away from the idea of the campus being isolated and confined by its borders with the community, ZIGZAG used the familiar Ringling campus to attract unfamiliar characters.

As a symbol of duality and unity, the showcase split into halves. On the light side, exhibiting artists displayed, traded, and painted away vendors set up shop.

Here, local sponsors showcased their services, like the Madeby Gallery which consigns with student artists. Others sold their hand-made wares, including the Jewelry Fountain and Clothesline Tees.

Other vendors were non-profits and community organizations looking for outreach to younger crowds; Planned Parenthood, Noise Ordinance and Rising Tide International to name a few.

UPRISE Arts Collective, a fellow representative of underground art in SRQ, set up a booth with several of their multi-talented artists.

Those who wandered into the dark side were met with a video installation by MANA, another collective looking to unite artists of every type to work on collaborative film projects (check out their blog Here.)

The film featured a mash-up by Jabari Anderson, Devin Hughes and Ted Weber.

The on the opposing end of the dark side, Kirk Hughes performed a piece entitled "The Unraveling". The performance sought to shed a light on appearances in society, and the delineation rational vs. irrational thought.

Outside, a stage reverberated with powerful speeches and musical acts. Combining funk, punk, garage and sprinkled with jazz, Nomads of the Nook opened the stage show with an awesome and eclectic sound that was par for the course of symbolism thus far in the celebration.

Sarasota favorite Fancy Rat hit the stage with their quirky stage presence and clever wordplay in their lyrics. (Writers note: I am completely in love with this band. When asked to describe their sound, I always say "It sounds like if The Shins and Modest Mouse had a baby, and that baby grew up to have a masters degree in english and philosophy and then had a child with the Cold War Kids, that child would be Fancy Rat)

Another gem of the Sarasota music scene, The Equines came out dressed in full costume. The band appealed to the crowd with the unusual mix of xylophone and the sweltering vocals of Erin Murphy.

Sons Of Hippies headlined that night, and most certainly did not disappoint. Their electric sound emanated through the whole campus, drawing in zombies out from the computer labs to witness an experiment in trance inspired rock music

John Lichtenstein closed out the night with an unforgettable performance in the courtyard, matched by two drummers playing in syncopation. The bass shook so heavy that at the end of the set, a lamp and the cab it sat on were both destroyed.

During the pinnacle of the event, the founders of ZIGZAG, Van Jazmin and Brett Lindstrom, took the stand.

Van spoke with subtle wisdom. In his speech, he suggested that fear is natural, but so is the ability to expel fear from your mind and body. Advising that we all embrace the fearlessness that we all can achieve, he went on to support the creativity that we all have inside of us.

Introduced as a "force of mind to be reckoned with", Brett Lindstrom then took up the mic with a passion that could only come from seeing a dream come to fruition. Urging the crowd to take advantage of all of their capabilities to make a better future for themselves and for one another, you could feel that this was not some meant to be a shallow suggestion. Even in the face of personal struggles, the creative community should remain in unity, and collectively rise to overcome anything seeking to circumvent its growth and progression.

In essence, this was the purpose of the Subterranean Celebration: Since its start one year ago, ZIGZAG hoped to dispel the idea of a "creative community" to simply make it synonymous with just "community". With help from many sponsors, vendors, artists, musicians, creators, film-makers, and other visionaries, Zigzag helped progress this point to the community of Sarasota: Zigzag means business, and it wants to show everyone in the world that you do too.

-J.S.

(photo credits: Colin Bright, Karen Arango, and Van Jazmin)

SRQ Scene

SRQ = Sarasota, Florida. :::: Now for a bit about the hometown of ZIGZAG...

Sarasota may be small, but it shall emerge as a juicer of concentrated creativity. Upon a first impression, Sarasota looks to be a quiet condo-colony to spend a season ogling at shiny baubles and seashell statues. On a double-take, it may seem like a big facade - a storefront of luxury distracting from urban sprawl and desperation. After a year of living in Sarasota as a student, my initial judgments have been crumpled and tossed in favor of positive foresight. For artists and entrepreneurs, this place will soon be ripe for the pickin'. Here are five reasons why Sarasota is fruitful:

5. The recession/depression is breaking down the tourism-based economy, encouraging resourceful innovation. The gift shops may suffer, but enterprises offering affordable goods and practical services will prosper. Think cheap food, live entertainment, thrift shops, printing, and art supplies.


4. Downtown Sarasota is compact and chock full of media outlets. I like to cruise down the Boulevard of the Arts and pass by hot spots like the HuB, SRQ Magazine, WSLR, Sarasota Film Festival, and Burns Court Cinemas. All we need is an Infoshop.

3. A prevalent underground of street art and hip hop is about to boil to the top. In the spring, SRQ will see its first youth culture festival: The Take Over. Simutaneously, there will be another Noise Ordinance showcase/concert as well as a highly anticipated Vinyl Music Festival.



2. New investors in art and entertainment, such as Sanborn Studios LLC, are moving in and are ready to produce television and film in Sarasota. Also, a new art museum is in the works. Once SMOA (Sarasota Museum of Art) opens to the public, Downtown will be wedged between two major art museums. In the mean time, there are more galleries here to peruse than I care to count.

1. There will always be talented people shipping in from around the world because of Ringling College of Art & Design. The college receives millions of dollars in support of its film and computer animation departments. There are students graduating every year ready to be employed as art directors, illustrators, photographers, curators, animators, interior designers, etc. Any studios that move in can count on Ringling to recruit the best of the beast.

It might be a nice place to die, but its an even better place to live. It's the time for Sarasota to transform once again. Let's make it happen!

Photographs by Van Jazmin

A Piece of Clay

Clay Barclay is a poet and a regular contributor to ZIGZAG since the first issue. His first feature was titled "Los Nuevos Pecados,"inspired by David Byrne's public art piece The New Sins. "The new sins are what we often mistakenly consider virtues: Beauty, Ambiton, Temperence, Contentment, Charity, Cleanliness, Honesty, and Hope." The first sin is juxtaposed with a still of Bill Murray as Raleigh St. Clair: "Our ambitions are a sin, the need to be better / and impress / just made us abandon our family and friends."

In the second issue, Clay returned with a pseudo existentialist journal entry on, "what is real?" written for public access of the school board. Concluding mockingly, "The answer is irrelevant. The chair is real enough for you to still sit on it and smoke out of your bong." Needless to say, he earned a D+ in his composition class.

Then on a hot hazy night in April 2009, Clay Barclay's steering wheel turned into shatters and he lost control at 90 miles per hour on an empty street. He survived the seven rolls in a crunched geep and the concussive wait for help, miles away from civilization.

After rehabilitating with all of his teeth intact and a metal implant in his ankle, Clay sent in two new poems for the 3rd issue of ZIGZAG. The first called "BONES BREAK" from the point of view of a soul suspended above a crash site, "I'm not the only one / Who's felt like they're in the wrong place." The second poem, "GRINNING SKULL" produces the image of a man who feels outside himself in a different way, inhabiting a space of inner solitude, a dead man's party. The narrator in Barclay's poems seems to be half man and half memory, appearing and disappearing in front of his own reflection.

How did the accident impact you as an artist?
I guess I wrote a poem about it.


Did you write while you were in the hospital?
No, I was to busy flirting with the nurses. I got a body rub out of one. Forgive me for not wanting to mention that he was an overweight black man.


Who do you admire in literature?
Most of the authors a young man should read while growing up. I'm mainly into modern works. To contradict what I just said I've been focusing on German literature such as Hesse and Goethe. They both have an incredible relevant feel to them. I don't know if many would count this as literature but I think that comics are a very underrated form of art. Each time I open up a new series I'm equally surprised to how much thought is put into them.

What compels you to write?
Sometimes I can't feel anything at all, and other times I feel way too much. I write during my period of emotion to celebrate my passion in my own way. CARPE DIEM! SEIZE THE DAY MOTHERFUCKER!!.


I understand you've intermingled at Ringling and in creative circles in Sarasota. Has that exposure had an impact on you, or have you met any artists along the way who've been inspirational?
Any relationship I've had with anyone was inspirational, of course.

What does ZIGZAG need more of?
New contributors! The last issue was amazing!

If you could choose who to illustrate a book of your poems, who would you choose? And what would you call it?
A very creative artist named Van Jazmin comes to mind. It would be called Sad Bones or Sad Boners, depending on how I'm feeling.

Where do you see yourself in 2012?
A place called Kokomo.


Who is N.O. Moriar?
N.O Moriar isn't real.

Read more works by Clay Barclay here at Sad Bones.

Back Issues

If you're curious to see how Zigzag started, here's your chance. I just uploaded PDF versions of the back issues to our server. A big wet thanks to Corey Ryan for the subdomain.
Click to preview or rightclick to download (each is about 30mb):

ZIGZAG #1

ZIGZAG #2

ZIGZAG #3

The first issue came out in April of 2010. We agreed to print anything people sent to us (with the exception of the proverbial MS PAINT dongs) and ended up with a few gems. Karen Arango was proudly featured in the centerfold. This was the debut of N.O. Moriar (a mystery to this day) and Clay Barclay. The release of Zigzag #1 required a cardboard sign made out of a PBR box. Suffice to say, the campus security guards were not amused.

With the three of us meeting in the graphic design labs on a regular basis, it became apparent we were serious about producing our own 'zine. About a month later, Zigzag #2 went to print. The design was tighter and the content was fairly cohesive. This second issue continued to feature a mix of poems, drawings, photographs, and single page comics. The contributors were predominantly Ringling students from various majors. Fine artist Matt Coombs had a re-occurring spot, as well as alumni Joey Heart, whose artwork floods the cover and the inside spread.

Zigzag #3 was a summer project. After painstakingly assembling a record 500 copies, we were ready to release it with a bang. The release show was a celebration of creative potential in a small city. Most notably, the third issue features photographs by Kenneth Sterling, short science fiction stories by Brett Bonnet (Nomads of the Nook), and comics by Danielle McDonough. The cover illustration is based on my experience at Jointcollective shows in Sarasota.

My Mom Digs My Sh**

THE RETROSPECTIVE IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUR EYEBALL PLEASURE AT THIS WONDERFUL SISTERBLOG


The Zigzag Crew: left to right/top to bottom: Van Jazmin, Jack Quack, Cameron Cottril, Michael Bailey, and Brett Lindstrom. On the scene of the our first independent exhibition in Sarasota. The show, titled My Mom Digs My Sh**, featured paintings by Brett J. Lindstrom, Matt Coombs, and Walter Matthews. Please take a moment to check out their works, because these guys are ready to take off to another planet.

Even though I coordinated the event, I didn't see the paintings until the opening. It was an impressive sight. Imagine dynamic street colors, enigmatic layered pictures, and revelations of dark worlds contained in window-like canvases. All of this inside of a quaint church built in the late 1800s. What a pleasure it must have been to discover such subterranean mystique around the corner. Most art openings in Sarasota are targeted at the ritz or the pits, but this was a wonderful mix. Inter-generational. Not to mention there were many beautiful women drinking wine. Success!

Click here to see more photos from the exhibition. (courtesy of Ted Weber and Bob the Elder)

Love or Hate

Zigzag Magazine began as an idea planted in a pile of loose sketches, scribbled lists on graph paper, and a collective need for expansion. Each of the first four issues improved on the last, and each gradually has grown further beyond the college campus where it was hewn. ZigZag now features artists from throughout the nation, packaging the voices of new artists and writers into a user friendly creative showcase for the world to gawk at.

The first release party was a packed open mic slam with freestyle beat-boxing and live painting. Sarasota's subterranean scene had come out of the woodwork. The message of the night's speeches would carry on, "Do what you love. Live in the present. Be yourself and be remembered."

Upcoming issues will feature a higher more selective quality of work from students, amateurs, and professional artists as well as full color printed pages. The hope is to maintain an entertaining medium of free expression, while also managing to be a respected resource for new talent and inspiration.

Next issue and how to contribute:
The next issue has a theme, LOVE/HATE. One side of the 'zine features art or writing that deals with LOVE, and the flip-side deals in HATE. Each piece should be either LOVE OR HATE, not both. We are accepting color and B/W entries for this issue! If you would like to be featured in the love/hate issue, please email a high quality image or document to ZIGZAGCREW@GMAIL.COM

October Release Installation

Giddy with sticky fingers, we hauled this unwieldy hunk of metal through the back door of the coffee shop. It was Peter Carlson and I, slapping high fives and talking excitedly around midnight. The long awaited NEWZBOX found a home at Big E's Coffee House, Zigzag's first installation location (Sarasota FL). The employees of the shop even looked away from their Tekken match to stare at it, and ask about its origins. "Oh we got it off the black market."

The box (located at 2805 N. Tamiami Trail) holds ZIGZAG #4. This issue has the most striking cover image yet, and holds together with Lindstrom's solid design. There are fewer artists involved in this particular issue. Nevertheless, it features multiple illustrations by Ringling students William Inman, Scott Prather, and Rob Chandler -- as well as a must-read article by Ben Turk, revolutionary playwright and producer of Insurgent Theater. This issue is meant to not only showcase upcoming creativity; it should also inspire action.

CLICK HERE to preview this issue online!

Raising the Bar

These are exciting times for us all. Zigzag magazine has expanded to include artists and writers across the map. As if the pool of Ringling students were not diverse enough, there will be an amazing convergence of styles in these upcoming issues...a better reflection of what is happening in art everywhere.

Ringling students: this will be your chance to be published with not only the obscure treasures, but popular peeps as well! And for those of you who already realize the potential for Zigzag, know that we are currently recruiting a STREET TEAM. Contact us for more info on how you can help Zigzag fuel the fire (we need printers, promoters, and color copy donors).

Not only that, we are preparing to launch a website and soon we will install a newzbox at our first local distribution hub. Big E's Sweets & Gourmet is a ramshackle coffee house across from Ringling College. People who read political texts and play chess tend to congregate there. I once met a guy at Big E's who told me about how he learned to survive in the desert without food for a week.

(In the photo: Brett Lindstrom and the late nite graffiti crew.)

Release at Rico's

For those of you who weren't there, I will describe a night of true synchronicity. But first, Imagine that feeling you get when you are doing something that's enjoyable, righteous, and fun. Isn't there a sense of now, of focus and exhilaration that keeps you loving the present? You transcend your expectations and fears about the past or future, and find yourself back in the ongoing WOW that's happening right NOW. Imagine: shaking hands with everyone you wanted to meet, dancing to music by your best friend, watching colors appear, giving applause to someone you're proud of, and knowing there is more to come.

Well, that is how I felt on September 10th, 2010. As promoter for Zig Zag, I kept busy buzzing around the campus, the neighborhood, the smokers' paradise, around tables and along stairwells. When I saw a friendly face, I threw light on the night's festivites. "This is no ordinary party, you see. There will be an important message, and I'd like to see you there." In some cases, I had to mention, "There's beer and pizza and all your friends will be there, bro!" Meanwhile, Brett Lindstrom (mad designer of Zig Zag) wrestled words with authority to get his seven foot high poster hung over a balcony, and was successful.



Many phone calls and check lists later, we rolled out to the joint. Rico's Pizzeria is not one-of-a-kind. Indeed, it has all the elements of a bar cross with a pizza restaurant - spicy smelling hot air, checkered plastic table clothes, neon beer signs, and your finest silly-faced wandering locals enjoying a late dinner. The proud owner, who smiled when I called him Rico, was happy to help us set the stage. Then Jack Price (creative editor of the 'zine) arrived in a denim vest with "ZIG" on one breast and "ZAG" on the other. Once the three of us were on location, the presence of Zig Zag established, we witnessed a gathering of bright minds and voices to be reckoned with.

Wherever I looked, there were ambitious faces, note-takers, personal journalists, photographers, film students, poets, actors, listeners, talkers, seekers, and good-hearted hedonists. Some heard music and walked across the street, and others carpooled from boring towns to catch a glimpse of the Sarasota scene. The show began with a word from writer and street performer Jordon Stone, who introduced the importance of creativity and giving voice to unpopular ideas. On one side, William Inman sat at his easel capturing each moment in swift blue paint strokes. At the same time, Darcy Little prepared her canvas for an intense dance of red and yellow. Live art framed the imaginary stage, as the audience became the attraction.

Backed by Pat the DJ, Brett J. Lindstrom took up the mic and demanded enthusiasm. He spit relentless rhymes and was the first to freestyle. The tokin' folks outside could feel the beat, the insiders heard the flow, and the standing floor connected to the source began to expand. When Ricki Rishi and Jha Fa came out of nowhere and delivered a two-man verbal explosion of beatboxing and free rhymes, there was encore. Half Dub played a fresh set worth a skank and showed their versatility by switching instruments. Finally, the floor opened for the headlining band, Speak Nothing About Project Mayhem. SNAPM, as always, slammed the crowd with funkin' grooves and left 'em with something to think about. In the end, the message was clear: do what you love, be a part of something, go out and see what's happening now, express yourself freely and you shall be remembered.


Thanks again to everyone who made the event possible, especially you delightful people who showed up without an excuse. Look forward to another Zig Zag hosted slam later in the year. If you'd like to help arrange or perform in at the next big release, please let us know. Contact us at zigzagcrew@gmail.com

Click here for more photos of the event.