A zine for music, sex, and DIY culture, Spread was born from an eruption of frustrated creative energy, which initially had no direction. It quickly found a suitable outlet in the very source of its provocation: commercial media.

Drawing inspiration from piles of music magazines, regional and national newspapers, wildlife journals, international political monthlies, furniture assembly instruction manuals, beauty digests, and festival programmes, Spread was cut and pasted on the bed and floor of a bedroom in Dublin’s northside.

On December 22, an art exhibition organised by Sex Workers Alliance Ireland will celebrate an evening of art, prose, performance, music, and creations by sex workers from Ireland and abroad. The event will mark International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Sex Workers, which officially takes place on December 17. SWAI will be hosting a candlelit vigil outside Leinster House on December 17 outside Leinster House to honour sex workers who have lost their lives in Ireland.

Earlier this year, Adeline Berry, a sex worker and artist who works with SWAI, put out a call for artwork by sex workers and over the past number of months SWAI have been gathering and compiling the pieces into an evening of recognition, appreciation, and celebration of the creativity of sex workers. The occasion is also a sombre one, as the memories of those who have been victims of violence – be it violence committed by a person, by stigma, by prejudice, or by the state – will be in the minds of attendees.

Art, Commentary, Critique, Music, Sex – We Make Culture

Spread is published independently by Lazer Guided Reporter and distributed on a quarterly basis at events primarily in Dublin. The editors of Spread are myself, Galway native and music journalist Yvonne Kiely, and artist Mairead Mullan, and together we work to provide a platform for conversations that would not normally be found in mainstream commercial media. Conversations that speak plainly about certain realities in our lives, without dead weight commercial considerations and advertisers. Very much inspired by the punk ethos of zines gone by, Spread‘s identity is centred around the deconsrtuction of the world around us, and its reconstruction in each issue.

Spread has one core message: culture can be anything. It can be rough around the edges, it can be different, critical, it can be poorly written, well written, it can be gross, disgusting, and at odds with the norm.

Spread is new media made out of old media, with new messages and meanings that challenge the ones that are provided to us on newsstands. Just 20 copies of Spread will be available at the exhibition. You can support Spread and reserve your copies through our Patreon page here. Find Spread on Facebook here.

Join us on December 22, 5-8pm, at The Sound House, Dublin.

A call for submissions for Spread Issue Two will launch in January 2020.
Spread features:

• Discussions on media culture, consumerism and DIY cultures
• Music reviews, gig listings, new music
• Industry interviews
• Critiques on gender
• Original artwork
• Interactive DIY elements
• First hand commentary on sex and sex work in Ireland
• Free ad space for those who would benefit from it.

Contact: lgrsounds@gmail.com