<i>"In a time where it's possible to freely transfer gigabytes of files over a wireless network within a couple of minutes, an archive of sensitive material was brought to us on a USB stick, hidden in a bag which was transported by a human through the air on a 17-hour flight."</i>
In ‘The Art of Zines’ (Factsheet Five #63, 1998) C. Becker gives an examples on how collective binding methods could function: “The publisher invites contributions and from a few people and each of them sends multiple copies of their work to cover the number of copies in that edition. Each zine copy is then collated and bound making (it) unique, and personalized.”
One may wonder if the more we are getting used to reading digital and volatile screen-based content, the more we have the urge for tactile physical formats. Not only to cater to our reading habits, but also for human connection and interaction it creates. The original gestural act of spreading printed content as a conductor of ideas and information*, using the possibilities of collaboration and distribution that the digital realm provides.