‘Out Of The Grid’. Italian zines 1978—2006 is a 450 pages volume made in 1000 copies and imagined to be a rhizomatic mapping of independent realities that…

…from the end of the 70s to the first decade of the 2000s, expressed themselves on the Italian territory through self-publishing fanzines (short for Fan Magazine). With a selection of 100 projects, the publication highlights the polyphonic character of a broad intergenerational movement defined by a plurality of aesthetics, stylistic and imaginary approaches. The research and cataloging work returns an unprecedented work, tight together by the same passion for underground scenes and the desire to seek (and create) alternative paths through music – punk, dark, metal, new wave, hip hop, HC, reggae, mod, garage -, social movements – skate, queer, rrriot – and creative expressions of the period – art, photography, sci-fi literature, role-playing games and hybrid formats such as mail art, floppy disks and multimedia audio-zines.

Titles included are: Harpo’s Bulletin (Bologna), Mazquerade (Perugia), Megawave (Naples), T.V.O.R. (Como), Drynamil (Milan), Rebel Soul (Bari), Skate or Sucks! (Vercelli), Trance (Pisa), CROM! (Grosseto), Gommina (Alessandria), Tribe (Milan), Tendencies (Siena), Adenoidi (Perugia), Neoclima (Turin), Aelle (Genova), GOSH! (Bologna), Trap (Milan/Treviso), Bad Attitude (Turin), Zap (Catania), Link Project (Bologna), Clit Rocket (Rome), Speed Demon (Milan), Equilibrio Precario (Trento), Codici Immaginari (Rome), TRAX (Forte dei Marmi), Xerox (Milan).

“Post-movimento” and “pre-web3.0″ are the terms chosen to outline the book’s time frame of reference and to underline the evolution of self-produced publishing in relation to internet and the devices that allow its consultation, considering as a critical moment the spread of the tumblr format, social networks and integrated e-commerce. To give shape to an effective consultation and archive tool, each individual zines has in-depth information sheets accompanied by original materials scans, while the themes and contexts are explored in depth in an intersectional way by a series of interviews with key personalities of the respective scenes: Giulia Vallicelli and Dafne Boggeri (queer/riot and the Compulsive Archive experience), Pietro Rivasi and Fabiola Naldi (hip hop), Stefano Gilardino and Glezös (punk and underground), Lorenza Pignatti and Gianuizzi Gino (art and subcultures). A precious tool in which desires, expectations, failures, confirmations and goals emerge, tracing the past, the present and the future of a territory. ‘Out Of The Grid. Italian Zines 1978—2006′ will be launched and presented in Italy and abroad in the form of exhibitions, presentations and displays: SPRINT – Independent Publishers and Artists’ Books Salon 2023 (Milan), Assedio (Modena), Pinacoteca Agnelli (Turin), Centro per l’ Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci (Prato), Pamflett / Bergen Art Book Fair 2024 (Bergen), MACTE Museum (Termoli), Libros Mutantes Madrid Art Book Fair 2024 (Madrid), Museion (Bolzano), Yvon Lambert (Paris), Mambo (Bologna).

‘Out Of The Grid. Italian Zines 1978-2006′
Curated by artist Dafne Boggeri
For SPRINT, O’ associazione non profit
Published by and distributed by Les presses du réel
Language: ENG [some contents will be available online in Italian]
Pages: 450

Dafne Boggeri is a multidisciplinary artist whose training and practice has crossed and crosses various subcultural dimensions. From the hip hop community [1990-2000] to the first italian queer collective [2000-2004], to the current Tomboys Don’t Cry experience [2011-ongoing]. Since 2013 she curates SPRINT’s platform. Created in 2013, SPRINT is an artist-led non-profit platform dedicated to investigating the multiple ways in which contents, media and languages emerge in independent and artist publishing.

SPRINT Independent Publishers & Artists’ Books Salon is the annual fair hosted at Spazio Maiocchi [Milan]. O’ is a non-profit organization for the promotion of artistic research, founded in Milan in 2001 by Sara Serighelli and Angelo Colombo. This project was realized as part of the Italian Council grant, 11th edition 2022 @mic_italia
Contacts: sprint@sprintmilano.org @sprintmilano