The makers of Sex Zine is Marcelina (21) and Izabella (20). They met each other last year on their illustration course and one day they were talking about upcoming projects and from our conversation they realized that they both had the same idea to create erotic zine, based on their separate previous works.
They met in London but it turned out that they’re both Polish, and their experiences and backgrounds of growing up in catholic country shaped our anxiety and curiosity about sexuality which is still big taboo.
Besides the zine they both work on different projects, using mixed media, animation, photography especially analog in a form of an every day diary, painting.
Marcelina: I like doing stuff which are pretty simillar to my dreams, mix of memories from childhood with sexual fantasies and some weird fears.
Sometimes my work is a bit chaotic and maybe no one understand it but whatever. I just like to record my chaotic floating thoughts and moods.
I was always amazed with my own imagination when i was a child, its not that great anymore but i try to keep that adolescent point of view in
myself for as long as i can.
Iza : I am girl and I like sex. What I am doing is exploring it and playing around with my thoughts/feelings on that (not only on THAT). Doing that project also allows me to distance myself from our crazy schizophrenic generation, find my own way of dealing with that crazy world and interpretate it.
Besides that I work in the bar (refreshing when you work in ‘creative’ industry all the time’) and I have the rat. Apart from living life, sleeping, eating, I read books, listen to music and dreaming.
TOURIST magazine: Does pornographic images become less intrusive and provocative when illustrated as opposed to an image?
M&I: We think these are two different things, and its about context. Pornography’s purpose is only to excite and satisfy sexual needs – which is superficial from begining – as it is abstract excitement. It deformes natural’s human sexuality and does not profane anything – it kind of knocks at empty doors. What we try to do is opposite as we try to interpretate our real sexual imaginations/fantasy, and it is based on our feelings and subconciousness rather than just physical activity. This project is relying on our ‘inner’ side, and pornography is only about outer perception. We would like to avoid being too serious, but rather look at it with some distance and play around with imaginery.
TM: Are the illustrations drawn from fantasy or memory or a photograph?
M&I: The works mainly are fantasies and memories, some of them surely visually inspired by photographs, paintings, other people’s works but in wide context – films we saw, music, videoclips, books we read, conversations with people we had (and still having).
TM: Do you hope to provoce a reaction with your zine?
M&I: Making this zine, we wanted to make a comment on taboos and myths about sex. When i was making my illustration for zine i didnt read them as controversial i thought
they are natural and in a way very inoccent, but some people reaction kind of suprise me. People find it even offensive, but that make us even more sure that people are scared and ashamed when it comes to sex (Marcelina).
What really was fascinating for me is that it is not us who are ashamed, but them who perceive. Also having tutorial with one of our teachers, who is very religious I was suprised how embarasssed she was when explaining her our idea – about sex, which is so natural. It is nothing new to say, but we need to admit that it is huge paradox to compare what really happens in church (as an institution) and how those people react for just imaginary. (izabela)
www.marcelinaamelia.com
www.izabellaallebazi.blogspot.com
