Contritions of the Phoenix
For every culture there has been a counter-culture.
Many eons ago, there was a movement that popped up in which certain people decided to stop doing the deal the way they were told they should do it. These brave, primitive people established the “DO IT YOURSELF” movement, living by an unwritten creed that said “Hey, my life is not what I see on tv…” These movers and shakers of the underground looked around them and saw beige life: neutral, uninteresting, under-stimulating and completely discouraging self identity. These people took collective knowledge from those who first planted seeds and began refusing to live on automatic; they took the canvas of their lives and added color and PIZAZZ, at times whimsy and at other times intense serious war-like stances to defend their personal ideals and philosophies. Instead of eating at mcdonalds they cooked their own food. Instead of sending their writing to Random House or Harper Publishing, they published their writings to maintain the integrity or to not have to meet deadlines. Bands were starting record companies and pressing their own music. DIY is about freedom, but it is also about responsibility to yourself and to those who may find the ability to be brave enough to live. A very large part of the DIY movement was the zine scene: self made magazines promoting ideas, supporting humanitarian efforts and the arts, breaking molds. Contritions of the Phoenix is intended to incorporate all aspects of DIY culture, counter-culture, grassroots movements in a stimulating way.
So what should one expect when looking at the pages of Contritions of the Phoenix? Everything and Nothing! We are hoping to allow voices to sing songs we have not heard. We are hoping to find fair and open dialogue with different opinions and foundations. We want to inform, entertain and jazzercise the fundamental humanity pumping through all people. Is that possible? Maybe not...but maybe so. The only way to grow as individuals and as a whole is to get a bit uncomfortable, hear some things that hurt and some things that heal. Hopefully, those involved in Contritions of the Phoenix will be brave enough to look at ourselves and each other, thinking and analyzing what and why we feel, behave, believe what we do-self examination can be battlefield surgery without anesthesia but avoiding the pain leads to a life worse than death-blindly following….
Contact Us!!
For more information or to participate in this forum of bad-assery
email us at:: [email protected]
we would love to hear from our readers! we will gladly include any feedback or contributions, but we will not break the principals of our publication. therefore, we have established guidelines for what can be in the contritions of the phoenix zine:
1. name and contact information must be included, but your publication can remain anonymous if you wish
2. work must be original or credit given to the artist/author
3. no hate speech
these guidelines have been put in place to maintain the integrity of this zine. negative feedback is just as necessary as positive feedback, maybe more so. we look for ways to improve our publication in anyway at our disposal.