Another day another zine. This time I’ve created an adventure board game tour of Northeast (Nordeast) Minneapolis.
The panoramic city is a ‘theoretical’ (that is, a visual) simulacrum, in short a picture, whose condition of possibility is an oblivion and a misunderstanding of practices. The voyeur-god created by this fiction, who, like Schreber’s God, knows only cadavers, must disentangle himself from the murky intertwining daily behaviors and make himself alien to them.
The Practice of Every Day Life, pg. 93 – Michel de Certeau
A Full Circle Moment
This zine was about 15 years in the making. When I was about 8 or 9 my dad read The Hobbit to me and my siblings (adorable I know). Inspired by the journey crafted by Tolkien, I created a Candyland-style board game walking through the challenges that Bilbo faced. 10 years later, I found myself reading ‘Walking in the City’ in The Practice of Everyday Life by Michel de Certeau in my honors colloquium class. Despite struggling with the dense text as a freshman, the idea of the Wandersmänner or wanderers uncovering the city in their unique ways stuck with me.
Skip forward to summer 2024. After living in Northeast Minneapolis for a year, I’ve fallen in love with the neighborhood’s charm and history. During Art-A-Whirl, I found the highest view I could find from the 5th floor of the California Building. Looking out the window at the expanse of trees, houses, and apartments stretching to the Lowry Bridge made me realize my love for the neighborhood and how much is left to discover.
So I made a zine like I do. Of course, as the opening quote alludes, my representation of NE Minneapolis is only a simulacrum, a bird’s eye view, and it is up to you to become a wandersmänner and explore for yourself.
Creating My Northeast Simulacrum
First I made a Google map of all my favorite places in Northeast. The list quickly became 20+ favorite places without much effort. So I whittled down the list to a little bit of everything. Then after getting a rough outline, I created a Candyland-inspired illustrated version of my neighborhood. Starting at the Welcome to Northeast Mural and ending at the Lowry Bridge, each stop is a place you won’t want to miss.
The coolest part is that the zine lines up pretty close with the actual geography of NE. Ideally this zine could be a whole day of fun following the route IRL!
Make Your Own Zine Or Find Me at Zinefest!
This zine is best printed on beige cardstock for a vintage Indiana Jones feel. Zines are supposed to be accessible which is why I always attach an online version.
Otherwise, if you don’t feel like folding I will have these available at my table at Zinefest! With less than a month left to prep I’m feeling good about my zine-ventory. I’ve got over 100 zines printed, serval coloring sheet designs, and holographic vinyl stickers on the way.
I hope between the zine and the map, you’ll never be bored in NE Minneapolis!
More to Explore
And if you couldn’t find enough fun in NE, I have an entire DB of cool spots across Minnesota here.
If the philosophical quotes were more your thing I have the paper for you. Read more about De Certeau X VR in Player or Played: Deciphering the VR Cityscape in ‘90s Film.
Next Stop: Zineland
Love this zine? Visit my Zineland webpage to find more of my zines and some curated recommendations.
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