Ephemera Festival 

In September 2005, I organized the first Ephemera Festival at DePaul University's Lincoln Park campus.  I subtitled it "a celebration of D.I.Y. culture"  because I wanted to give  independent artists, crafters and writers an opportunity to show their work,  network and educate people about what they do.  The amount of support and involvement I got was amazing.  It was partially sponsored by The Stockyard Institute, a non-profit arts organization.   It was mentioned in The Chicago Reader and Time Out Chicago. There were 30+ vendors displaying their work at tables, and guest speakers, zine readings and other events scheduled throughout the day.   I had a lot of fun planning it and I learned so much about organizing such a large scale event.  I would love to continue doing Ephemera Festival.  Unfortunately, right now so much is up in the air for me now, so I don't have a definite date.  

What is D.I.Y.?  

D.I.Y. (do-it-yourself) culture celebrates the act of making/doing something independently, not for profit but out of passion.  D.I.Y. is about expressing creativity and solving problems without the hindrance of censorship, and without reliance on wealth or power.  People that believe in D.I.Y. would rather promote and organize their own project instead of seeking (and paying for) help from outside sources.  The D.I.Y. political stance can also be applied to everyday life – by refusing to support organizations that are viewed as exploitative or socially irresponsible. This can be something as simple as buying your morning cup of coffee from a independent shop rather than a large corporate chain.

Essentially, D.I.Y. publishing seeks to address fans of a particular cultural phenomenon.  Many believe that D.I.Y culture originated with the science-fiction fanzines of the 1930s.  It was later manifested with the beat culture of the 1960s, the punk movement of 1976/77 and the zine revival of the ‘90s.  Today, online journals (also known as “blogs”) are considered by some to be the new form of D.I.Y. publishing. 

Past Ephemera Events

Keynote Speaker: Prof. Tyler Kahdeman "Zines & Social Justice"     Ty Kahdeman is an educational researcher focusing on urban development and social inequality. His talk will focus on how D.I.Y. publishing can be an oppositional voice to corporate media. He will also discuss how zines can be a liberating voice for those who are excluded from mainstream media outlets. Ty’s talk will briefly elucidate the origins of American D.I.Y. publishing and explain some of the social, historical and educational forces shaping today’s D.I.Y. publishing (including blogging).  There will be a 15 minute Q&A period following.

Xexoxial Editions: “MotionText Ferment” Intermedia presentation with reading, sound, movies and animation. mIEKAL aND & Camille BacoS operate Xexoxial Editions, publishers of        experimental writing and visual verbal literature since 1980. 

Circuit Bending Workshop    The Guild of Acquired Technology (G.O.A.T) will be demonstrating the art of circuit bending with instruments and children’s toys. They will educate the public on the ease of circuit bending and conduct a workshop offering various circuits for the public to re-wire.  

David Powers: D.I.Y. Computer Music Production    Experimental musician and composer David Powers will discuss various techniques and resources for using computers to create music, with an emphasis on exploring software that is open-ended, unusual and inexpensive or free. 

Chicago Zinester Reading    Local independent publishers read their work.  Readers include Aaron Cynic (Diatribe Media), Emerson Dameron (Wherewithall), Grant Schreiber (Judas Goat Quarterly) Christoph Meyer (28 Pages Lovingly Bound with Twine), Abby Glogower, and Matt Fagan (Meniscus).