ABOUT
LACUNA LAGUNA is an independent publication based in Barcelona. It is edited and produced by Jake Mahr, a doctoral candidate at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF). Jake's research focuses on the rhetorical strategies used in zines (pronounced like magazine) by non-binary individuals (genderfluid, intersex, multiracial, queer...) to represent their identities in a world that demands adherence to strict labels through relentless pressures to conform.
Zines are a DIY, anti-copyright (or copyleft), non-corporate, independent, and personal media form. They offer the perfect landscape for alternative identity representations as they resist most mainstream means of creation/production/editing (means that are often steeped in hierarchy and maintain a long history of erasing such identities). The zine form is accessible, both to the creator in its ease of production, and to the reader in its colloquial nature and affordability.
LACUNA LAGUNA hopes to pay homage to these identities and to this unique media form. By acting as a means to disseminate information on Jake's research, LACUNA LAGUNA aims to confuse our notions of knowledge production and blur the boundaries between the academic and the everyday.
Although zines originated as a printed media form, many modern zinesters (zine authors) have turned to digital forms of publication. There is, however, debate as to whether or not these e-zines truly capture the unique nature of their printed ancestors. LACUNA LAGUNA does not necessarily claim to be a zine or an e-zine, through it shares many similarities with both forms. It is printed and quaintly distributed around Barcelona. The decision to add an online component to LACUNA LAGUNA stemmed from the fact that Jake's zine sample contains zines from all over the world. It seemed only right to allow the information of this publication to be distributed to those communities as well.