COP3 - Anonymous

Whilst undertaking some research into digital technologies, and how this is causing zine formats to change, I came across an interview on Zine Weekly with Karolis Kosas. However, I then went on to experience Karolis' work myself, and headed to the Anonymous-Press website. It claims to be a self publishing platform where you define the topic, but are removed from any other part of the process. I decided to have a go at this, defining my topic as 'dogs in clothing'. It was simple to do, the only thing I had to do throughout the whole process was type three words. Below you can see the results. It is interesting to see how design process has been explored through the removal of the designer themselves, and it's interesting to see how the site continuously gathers new data and work. However, I can't quite decide whether or not this is a step in the right direction for fanzines as print publications. Anonymous Press wants to supposedly remove the 'taboo' of print publishing, and I like how there is in fact this sense of immediacy within the site. It allows for print on demand, for as little as $3, almost like an online photocopier - unique and unusual. 

Zines are coming in all shapes and sizes these days. Some are analogue and some are digital, and some are both. And usually, they are ephemeral. As digital technologies become increasingly ubiquitous, it isn't surprising that that the zine format is likely to morph into something new. Possibly exciting - most certainly different!

It is with this in mind, that I recently got in touch with Karolis Kosas - a Lithuania-born designer, whose   master's thesis in visual communication (in the US), began to explore ideas concerning 'autonomous systems' specifically in relationship to DIY publishing. What emerged out of his research was Anonymous Press - an online random generator taking themed information off of the Internet and producing the more familiar fanzine form virtually. Α–Π not only about the design process, but also about the removal of the designer from the process itself. And, here's the really good bit - you can download each random 'designer-less' creation which has been deposited in an online archive. Karolis' work questions the role of the physical in this new world of the digital whilst at the same time getting us to think differently about zines. With zine titles such as: Fake Los Angeles, SKEUMORPHISM, Ex-Girlfriend and Whitewash...what's not to like? 

An interview with Karolis Kosas: 

1. Tell me a little something about yourself and what brought you to developing 'Anonymous-Press'? 

I was born and raised in Lithuania. Few years ago I came to USA to study for master's degree in visual communication. Pretty much all life I was somehow involved in graphic design. The project started as a part of my thesis investigation on autonomous systems. In the very beginning I was interested to see, how design process would change, if the expert (the designer) were to be replaced by the crowd.

2. How do you square the idea of 'anonymous' in relationship to a desire fanzine producers often intend in the content creation of their zines; e.g. to share something about their personal interests and passions with others?  Do you still feel that this still achieved with A-N;  why or why not?

I believe that Anonymous-Press is fundamentally different to the traditional forms of DIY publishing. The subjective factor of the user (or the publisher) is framed in the 40 characters of  the input box. A user no control over the form and does not take any part in the process of production. The publisher requests and is delivered an end result in a matter of seconds, whereas in traditional publishing the process takes time and consideration. Still, I think that Α–Π is a relevant representation of how culture is perceived in the contemporary society. I feel that the Input Box has become a main medium between us and our desires.

3. Some critics predict a future where we will increasingly be interacting with objects in new and different ways. Where do you see the book/fanzine as 'physical object' in this scenario?  What might this mean for future readers, and importantly, the role of writers and designers in this?

I don't think that such future requires that we throw out all our physical stuff. I really like how Kenneth Goldsmith puts it: 'The twenty-first century is invisible. So we need to live with our books and our old furniture.'

4. Whilst I appreciate you are using A-N as an experimental platform, the implications are interesting enough to consider for the future role of the digital archive. Who are the archivists now? And, what does this mean for documenting popular culture in the future? Any thoughts? 

The search enquiry, still a relatively new phenomenon, has become an almost ubiquitous mode of getting to what we need. Anonymous Press might become a valuable source of anthropological data, as it portrays both the enquiry and the feedback, a slice of the Internet representing our interest at a particular moment. For me, even more exciting is to observe this archive emerge independently without a plan or a coordinator of any kind. 

Dogs In Clothing - a zine by me, but not by me