Photo: Courtesy of Clutter: On The T
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — You don’t need to be an artist to make art. That’s the message behind a new, Boston-based art zine, Clutter: On The T.
“We want a place where people to be able to make art without an actual purpose,” Emerson junior, Cambria Cook, told WBZ NewsRadio.
Cook and fellow classmate, Emmy Portnoy, are co-founders of Clutter, an eight-page pamphlet featuring a variety of artworks that they hide in plain sight throughout the MBTA.
“I think folks don’t make things unless they’re good at it anymore,” Cook continued. “So, we wanted this to be a very safe space to make anything that you could ever want and do it imperfectly.”
Zines, pronounced “zeens,” are small, foldable mini-magazines, typically self-published in small batches. Historically, zines were a popular form of armature press. The content can be anything from social activism and cultural digest to promotions and, of course, art.
“I love it when there’s a resurgence of art, especially in times when we need it,” Portnoy said.
Zines slowly faded away after the emergence of the internet. However, this form of lost art has been making a refreshing comeback amid this current social media era.
In Brooklyn, New York, a museum dedicated an exhibit to the origin and impact of zines in 2023, and a Black Zine Fair showcased dozens of independent publishers around the city.
“What is old is new again,” Cook said. “I think that’s a common trend that we are seeing with many things these days, and zines are no exception.”
With their own zine, each issue of Clutter features a variety of different artworks, like collages, sketches, photographs and more.
“One of our friends made a coloring sheet and it was really cute, and I love how it was interactive,” Portnoy said.
Photo: Courtesy of Clutter: On The T
Photo: Courtesy of Clutter: On The T
Clutter published its debut issue earlier this year, and the duo said response has been very encouraging for the team of 20 people working behind the scenes to make each drop happen.
Cook added that they don’t necessarily look for a particular theme of artworks.
“It’s anything that’s submitted to us or that we see we like to share with the world and hope to inspire other people to create something similar,” she added.
And that’s the motto they try to embody with Clutter— to make art for the sake of making art.
“Art isn’t something that should be sold even though it has to be for living purposes,” Portnoy said. “Art is just art, and that’s what we want to do.”
They are currently in the process of expanding their zine to feature creatives from all over Boston or just anybody who wants to share their works.
“It doesn’t have to be art, it can be clutter,” Cook said.
They only print around a hundred copies per issue to distribute them at T stations and on the trains.
“Anywhere that you’d see an advertisement for anywhere else or anything else, you’ll probably find a Clutter tucked in the corner,” Cook said.
Pro-tip, the best place to find a copy of Clutter: On The T is on the Green Line.
WBZ NewsRadio’s Stina Chang reports.