Q
a u
R
an
Zi
Ne
a collection of work from inside the lockdown
a mankyy x mother marx production
contributors • éilis mahon • cian mcguirk • eva griffin • scenes • danielle jackson • sam mullan-galvin • numbertheory • kels fitzgerald • ifeoma nnewuihe • cormac walsh • NITS & jinx lennon • mike mcgrath-bryan • ellen dillon • eamon ivri • mankyy • laura o'loughlin • mother marx • scrbl crypt • nrthrd • gavin davinci • jessica ryan • jack o'donnell • jack brolly • thérèse tynan • kelly doherty • becks coad • gavin lawless • rachael drennan • aoife o'toole (dj egg) • kevin moyles • paul williams • john ahern
foreword by mother marx
on our first date, myself and mankyy talked about making a zine together. i knew after that first meeting that, regardless of the outcome of my impressions, i wanted to make art with him. every day i feel like the luckiest person that i get to make art with someone i love. before lockdown, we wanted to make a zine together, of collaborative collages. but after the restrictions set in, and we were no longer able to see each other, making together became increasingly difficult, if not almost impossible. quaranzine was borne out of the mantra that if you make art with your friends, everything will be alright. regardless of restrictions, we wanted to celebrate the work of the people that we admire and love very dearly, that is so often inspiring and uplifting. and through bringing this zine into the world, we hope that you are inspired to make and create, and come together with your loved ones in new ways. what i loved about selecting pieces with mankyy for this zine was his way of looking at the world unlike anyone else. he sees all the negative space, all the tiny insignificances of things, the things that don't often fit together as one, and he makes you notice and appreciate them. every day, he reminds me through his very observant eyes that it is not always about the full picture, but sometimes it is the very differences in all the parts that make something truly whole. for me, i think the work that it is quaranzine encapsulates that: nothing is fluid or matches up neatly - stylistically, thematically, the mediums used - but altogether it is a celebration of making and doing, and an archive of feelings that you will feel too. the artists featured in this collection all pull something from us - whether that is a smile, a sigh, or a moment of sadness - and bring together a sense of coalition in quarantine. i am so thankful to all the artists for donating their time to submissions, and letting quaranzine be the home for their work. and a special thank you to Ormston House for their generous support of this zine. Mary, Niamh and Caiman - we are indebted to you for all that you have done in fostering a sense of community through art and space. Ormston House always feels like home because of you.Â
all proceeds from the print edition will go directly to MASI, but we encourage all online readers to donate to help end direct provision.
ĂŠilis mahon
e g a m i
d e v a s
Consider us, pre-everything, with light resting on our tongues; the sun heating and sweat that
interlocked hands the sweat
binds,
between palms, the
the chirp
of our skin when
pressed together, released. Now that I hold onto nothing, I save pictures of clasped hands to my phone and scroll.
eva grifffin
ĂŠilis mahon and cian mcguirk
yyknam
fragment kevin
moyles
I hear a small tuck of displaced air, and the latch click from the bedroom. The air carries your scent, the texture of your movement. I imagine you as air softly returning across my small apartment. From the cool light of the bedroom I imagine your face peeking past my door. This morning I needed to see beauty and to not be bored: urgently and without context. I wanted your face, your neck, your shoulders, your frame. You needed to leave and I did not hear you prepare to go. You had collected your shirt, your dark purple corduroys, your wool jumper and your coat which made you feel momentarily so ample when we embraced. I don’t know what you felt and I feel so precarious now. Last night before we left the bar to walk home, you drew on my arm with your finger and spoke about your fastidiousness. How much energy it took from you to present yourself to others. How each item of clothing had memories and connections, how each new choice changed everything chosen before and how there didn’t seem to be any little choices. It seemed to me you were looking for a precise picture with descriptors that might remove you from some gaze. You wanted to be met as honestly as you knew, but also to have elasticity in this. You wanted both sides of the conversation. I didn’t say this. I just felt your finger make lines on my forearm, curved and straight: each rounded corner with a generous radius.
You wrote from my wrist to my elbow a few times and when I could focus I thought about how your handwriting seemed to suit you. When I looked to you, your face had a query so fleeting that I didn’t know what to say. Something you saw in me that was so likely to disappear. On the walk home we spent dizzy from the beers we shared and we bathed in long silences. We held hands shyly a few times and each was a tiny, memorable event. When I feared the silences were becoming dull I stopped to kiss you. After a few minutes when I receive a text, I climb from the bed and root for my phone in my trousers. I find a message from you that tells me you had a great time, that you were sorry you had to go without saying goodbye and that you hope I have a nice weekend. I climb back into bed. I slip my head under the pillow and assume a position with my face deep in the mattress. I don’t know how you felt. I don’t know how different you are from your clothes, I know how much you can hide from in a text, I know that you drag meaning with a pen and how different a note is from a text, and I know how abstract language is from feeling.
Who is to say how you might have liked me.
danielle jackson
connection, it’s something that becomes very important when you’ve emigrated, as many Irish people will know. connection with those you’ve left at home and connection with the country you’ve emigrated to.
at the best of times, it can be hard. between time zones, work schedules and life in general, it sometimes feels like the connection s l i p s there’s nobody at fault and eventually the messages of “i’m sorry, i was up the walls with work”
or “i completely forgot to reply, i’m so sorry” s t o p
then COVID-19 happened.
in beijing, i’ve been on semi lockdown and practicing social distancing for
63 days watching the situation play out at home has been, at times, absolutely anxiety inducing.
i worry every night going to bed,
thinking about waking up to bad news. every day I think about my family and my friends, knowing if anything happens
I
c a n ’ t
g o
h o m e .
One great thing has happened though, the connection I feel with my friends and family is stronger than it’s been since I left. While everyone is anxious and worried, we’ve come together regardless of geography and time zones or work schedules. With each call, I laugh, I feel love and I hate to be a cliche but I feel hopeful.
and I feel connected.
words and photos by kels fitzgerald
thÊrèse tynan
skyscraper A transparency of bodies, suspended mid-solution and mapped across the soul. Skyward mobile, avert your gaze from the ground up All glass everything naked honesty supposed, shown as the robe slips off and the mighty Roman physique dazzles all. Our souls are stacked against his, and slowed to a stop the map has shrunk Suspended in the glass enclave and solidified; we are future fossils, points with no amber glow. These positions are mapped across the body, and the soul fixed data sculptures from the ground up.
eamon ivri
R E OTH Pushed to shore by the tides And lapping gently in amid the foam
With the taste of air on a salted tongue I feel it move along the shore and past my wading
And I let myself get thrown around in it For the mere idea of momentum
mike mcgrath-bryan
sam mullan galvin words from 'the war horse' by eavan boland
But we, we are safe, our unformed fear
Of fierce commitment gone; why should we care
If a rose, a hedge, a crocus are uprooted Â
Like corpses, remote, crushed, mutilated?
KAVANAGH A furrow well-ploughed Emptiness lurches absent Then simply grey As night to pallor No solace to be taken Or escape to be made The ink slips and gives way A wide berth, given to clichĂŠ Emptiness lurching absent Noise to be heard mike mcgrath-bryan
ii d n a i e cn iecs
n a rt
laura o'loughlin
nreha nhoj yb sotohp
le pizza boom with paul o'connor buc cisum desivorpmi KL
rachael drennan
家庭保健
Home Fitness/
In the midst of the COVID-19 breakout in China, us DJs and producers were stuck. Of course, we missed our passions DJing, dancing, going out, and sharing music.
We also wondered about what we could do to help. The group of Beijing-based DJs behind DCYY decided to use the free time everyone had stuck at home to help those fighting the virus.
I was proud to be contacted by Beijing DJ Slowcook to provide a track for a very special compilation. The compilation, entitled Home Fitness, would raise money for frontline medical staff in Wuhan - the epicentre of the virus.
数论
words by numbertheory / cover design by Wang Moshi/
王墨⽯
20 artists within and outside of China banded together and made a fantastic album showcasing the range of electronic music heard across the country. We were very proud to present Home Fitness and it has, and will continue to, provide just that little bit more help to the heroes in Wuhan and Hubei province. Head to https://dcyy.bandcamp.com/ to support.
becks coad
s k i tn o
s k i n
brown bodies against the softness of cotton jackets flung to the floor my bed is a playground, a holy ground yellow nail polish on my toes, too chipped now, too old to be beautiful i curl them away from your sight
your breath tickles my ear, i turn to you and say“why does the cloud sneeze and cause such wet havoc?� What we want is a day of just touchingthe cloud grumbles and we daydream about the loveliness of palm against taut skin this loving may kill us but we have died many times before. it is now familiar territory. we love, we die and then we come alive againit is an experiment on growing the cloud groans. it sneezes & we anticipate what our bodies will do to each other the curtains are drawn and we are here now, bodies wanting touch hearts wanting something ordinarylike tender smiles and friendly eyes and a lover who holds you till morning
ifeoma nnewuihe
rx a m r e th o m
words and artwork by ash mccallion
tpyrc lbrcs
AN INTERVIEW
WITH JACK BROLLY
jack brolly is one of our favourite people, and i don't know a single person who has not been touched by jack's presence in their lives. mother marx's 2km radius ends on the street that he lives on, and getting to see him and chat to him through the window of his lovely yellow house has been a saving grace for them in these hard times. for those who are not lucky enough to see him during lockdown, we give you a glimpse into the world of the wonderful human that is JB.
Who is your greatest inspiration?
Albert Twomey, hands down. I’ve told him this many times while drunk as well. I don’t think I even knew that anyone ever really worked behind the scenes for gigs until I started buying records and CDs in Plugd when I was 17. Albert would tell me about upcoming gigs he had booked with bands I had never heard of and he would simultaneously try to sell me music I had never heard of, which I would buy because I would be both nervous and in awe. It’s very handy because I basically decided the first person I met in the real world who knew anything about music was gonna be my inspiration.
Do you think growing up in a small town that had a venue big enough to host Eurovision had any influence on you getting into promotion?
Probably a lot more than I think. I’ve never really thought about it too much. For anyone that doesn’t know, the town I’m from hosted the Eurovision as well as Disney on Ice, UB40, The Prodigy (apparently, this is one that people from Cork always tell me about but I’ve never actually hear anyone from Millstreet mention), Scooter, Westlife and loads of other stuff. It’s mainly used for showjumping and expos now. I remember when I went to see Westlife there when I was about 13. I really didn’t want to go because I didn’t like Westlife but by the end I was shouting “ENCORE!” with everyone else. I’m very excitable and I get caught up in other people’s whims. Also, I’ve just realised that I haven’t answered the question, so to answer: who knows?
Do you have any advice for people (when all this blows over) about running gigs? My advice is to keep doing it wrong until you start doing it right.
What is your favourite thing about Limerick? The fairly tight-knit cross-disciplinary community of legends.
Can you give any recommendations of music to listen to during the lockdown? Start listening to specialist radio shows and mixes. The best thing you can do is just find someone who’s taste you like or, I don’t know, look at the boomkat homepage or something. This is the best way to be able to find your own new music consistently. There’s plenty of music to be found yourself. Elaine Howley’s Cosmosis show is always good and Elena Colombi’s on NTS was one I’ve enjoyed in the past.
What are you reading at the moment? And what is your favourite book? I’m reading Neuromancer at the moment. I haven’t read a book like that in ages and I’m enjoying it. My favourite books are the books about Connemara that Tim Robinson wrote. I’d encourage everyone to give them a read.
What were your overall impressions of seeing Toy Story on Ice at the Green Glens Arena in Millstreet circa 2002? Fucking loved every minute of it. There were lads jumping over barrels on ice skates and everything. My cousin still has a little alien cup from that Disney on Ice.
Who are you heroes of Ireland? James Connolly, League of Ireland Fan, and Socky the Sockmonster..
Who is your celebrity crush? Donagh Sugrue.
If your celebrity crush isn’t him, then do you think Donagh Sugrue is cute? See my last answer.
What are some parting words of wisdom that you could give to readers? Listen to other people. Be kind.
gavin lawless
t h e n e e d t o k n e a d recipe by cormac walsh
flour, 3 cups active dry yeast, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon water, 1.25 cup
When me and my housemates come home from work we often eat bread while making dinner, like a starter course for the evening. It's either one I've made or one someone has bought on the way home. It's one of our favorite points of the day, the wind down and the start of forgetting the day earlier. The breaking of bread, to talk and wind down. Only newly living in a house with people you are just getting to know, we find common ground in the dough.
The no knead method of making bread is one of the simplest ways of making bread. There are loads of different ways of going about it but they all work the same way. Loosely mix the ingredients together. Wait for half an hour, give another loose mix with a wet hand until fully combined and put in the fridge. Wait overnight or 24 hours, form into a ball loosely. Preheat the oven to as high as it goes, throw the dough into a preheated container (I do it in a glass pyrex dish turned upside down). Bake for 30 minutes, take off the lid and bake for another 15 to finish it off and brown it up. Wait until fully cooled before slicing, it will smell great but it's worth the wait. Doing the ‘no knead’ method is a good starting point. The ingredients are simple, they needn't be exact either (maybe the first time). Start off with following the amounts and method exactly and after a while slowly try and do it from memory. Getting the feel and practice for bread has become a form of meditation. Add more or less water, feel how the dough should feel, how you think it should feel.
fold it, stretch it, let it rest, repeat. practice makes perfect.
Sarah Jane Thompson
paul
neetnac
williams
i’ve got one foot in the grave and another in a different grave but these are not holes in the ground. quite the opposite, they are the himalayas and the andes and ships pass between my legs. i want to kick them out of the water but i know if i lift a limb i will fall.
jess ryan
jack o'donnell
Definite article (the bee/ the refuge) Invariable in person and number; not usually used before proper nouns, seasons or months.
maids
more men
drink wine
for heat
brag
is a better
maids
more men
drink wine
for heat of no trade
glide away tresses gay hand in hand
a fairy ring
if you can put or keep a hand in another hand you can (in theory) create infinite recursion on a first date or while crossing the road with a small child. i’m eschewing capitals right now as a tribute to my beloved 2nd years who eschew them everywhere except in random midsentence Words beginning With double u. this is fine, i think. double you creates splitting, the opposite of recursion. i think. recursion nests the possibilities that doubling you splinters and sets off on separate paths. the road not taken sure spins into a messy prestige novel when you give a timeline to each indecisive new england poet-friend. we tried that one Wednesday morning as a thought experiment. textual prestidigitation. results inconclusive.
ellen dillon
gge jd
I need Noise so I can’t hear my thoughts Nauseating beats that split my chest Drinks and movement, strangers met And stories to tell in the morning
And when it all goes away I fall I fall to the arms of the girl I wrestle every single night She strokes my hair and whispers in my ear I was always right She drags me to weighing scales and off licence queues, And shows me old screenshots that I won’t delete She tears at my back and bites at my neck Until I’m too tired and sick to scream She scrawls across my bedroom walls One hundred reasons I don’t deserve to breathe She stuffs a rag in my mouth when she’s finished Holding down, pushing forward until I can no longer see
ytrehod yllek
I need Love so I can love myself Living proof that I have something to offer Duties to carry out, support to proffer Eyes and a smile that make everything still
KNIHT T'NOD I OS SGNIHT DEEN I KNIHT T'NOD I OS SGNIHT DEEN I KNIHT T'NOD I OS SGNIHT DEEN I
I need Things so I don’t think Friends with well-defined points of view On sounds and stories and breaking news That laugh and touch and say that I’m okay
Then I wake up, dry-mouthed and aching, a headache from the night beforeI brush my teeth, change my clothes, and I try to keep up with routine.
scrbl crypt
nrthrd
quaranzine sounds with restrictions in place that seem like they might last forever, we have been incredibly lucky that many of our friends have continued to create and bring us joy through their music, whether its new releases, digital radio shows, or live-streaming gigs from their own homes. we are incredibly honoured to have music from Jinx Lennon & NITS, Scenes and Gavin DaVinci for this project.
NITS Dundalk noise-maker, performer and artist NITS has been pumping the internet full of lovely warped expressions in various formats for a while now. as well as the surreal drawing you saw a few pages back (Sarah Jane Thompson), they’ve also blessed us with a very special collaboration with Jinx Lennon to be part of the physical release. Infectious will also be accompanied with a music video created by the brilliant Graham Patterson. NITS’ sweet expulsions can be found over on Instagram @nitsloveyou and on Bandcamp at https://nitsloveyou.bandcamp.com
quaranzine sounds
JINX LENNON Jinx Lennon is arguably Ireland's greatest songwriter, and never was there a time that his music was more apt. his entire back catalogue forces us to be introspective and critical about the true perversities and maladies of Irish society. if there was ever a soundtrack to a revolution, it would be Jinx - and there is no better time to listen to his music than in a world that can never go back to 'normal'. you can get Jinx's entire back catalogue at https://jinxlennon1.bandcamp.com/
SCENES PJ Galvin is a world-renowned wholesome man. currently all the way in new zealand, the DIY LK expat is still warming our hearts through his deeply heartfelt bedroom pop. I'm Not Gone Away That Far, Not Really is a tune that perfectly captures the feeling of longing that has come with quarantine. but it is not one of complete and utter sadness - there is wholly a feeling of optimism that we will all be together very soon. you can listen to all of the beautiful music by Scenes over on spotify.
quaranzine sounds
GAVIN DAVINCI it is not superfluous to say that Gavin DaVinci is the best rapper in Ireland. a phenomenal beatmaker as well as a superb lyricist, Gavin is an expert at combining raw honesty with beats that stick with you for days on end. Gavin's talent is boundless, and with each new release, there is an ever-morphing sound that highlights the multiplicity of who he is, and what he can be. one of the best things about his music is the refusal to be defined there is resistance in having a conclusive genre, there is no singular voice or flow, and there is no one sound that can pin Gavin down. you can find all of Gavin DaVinci's tunes at https://gavindoylemusic.bandcamp.com/.
all purchases of print zines (via donations to MASI) will receive a zip folder of the submitted tunes.
quaranzine sounds bandcamp directory
we are lucky enough to have several artists featured in the zine' who also make great tunes. you can find their wonderful and far ranging musics below. ICEBEAR: https://icebear99.bandcamp.com/ NRTHRD: https://nrthrd.bandcamp.com/ GADGET AND THE CLOUD: https://gadgetandthecloud.bandcamp.com/ UNSCENE: (for Naive Ted, Clerk 5, mankyy, and more): https://unscenemusic.bandcamp.com/ HEY RUSTY: https://heyrusty.bandcamp.com/ CRUISER: https://cruiser69.bandcamp.com/ HIS FATHER'S VOICE: https://hisfathersvoice.bandcamp.com/ LIGHGHT: https://lighghtmusic.bandcamp.com/ DJ EGG: https://soundcloud.com/eggeggie
quaranzine sounds bandcamp directory
...lockdown releases from friends of the zine... THE FLORIAN BROTHERS: https://florianbrothers.bandcamp.com/ DENISE CHAILA: https://denisechaila.bandcamp.com THE ALTERED HOURS (in aid of the Simon Community): https://thealteredhours.bandcamp.com/album/immediate-believer-ep DECLAN SYNNOTT (in aid of MASI): https://declansynnott.bandcamp.com/album/old-lavender PX MUSIC (for Citrus Fresh, Hazey Haze, Aswell, and more): https://pxmusic061.bandcamp.com/ THESE ARE ATOMS: https://theseareatoms.bandcamp.com/album/bless-you-thank-you-xx JAYNE: https://jaynemusic.bandcamp.com/ RISING DAMP: https://wherethetimegoes.bandcamp.com/album/petrol-factory DIY LK (in aid of Doras LuimnÃ): https://diylk.bandcamp.com/ FIXITY: https://fixity.bandcamp.com/ POST-PUNK PODGE AND THE TECHNOHIPPIES: https://postpunkpodgeandthetechnohippies.bandcamp.com/
ALL POWER TO JOY WHICH WILL REMAKE THE WORLD. Diane di Prima
cover design by mankyy