It's been a long time since the Revolutionary Arts Group was founded, based around a group of artists working and exhibiting in an old pottery in Worthing town centre. Back then, Worthing was bleak; there were no other contemporary arts groups in the town, and little opportunity for artists to make and show work.
But right now, Worthing's buzzing. The Revolutionary Arts Group have supported other groups as they've started up, maintained a strong annual Festival, and helped individual artists within the group to grow, too. One of them now runs a boutique, arty hotel that home to live music and regular exhibitions; and the Revolutionary Arts Group have taken over a shop in Warwick Lane. Revolutionary Music stocks CDs, records, books ... and fanzines. Small, independent, self-published magazines are a good cultural indicator, appearing to document an emerging scene but also helping it to grow and reach a wider audience.
And Worthing now has Shed, a cracker of an A5 fanzine.
It carries the strapline 'Creative Culture. This is not Brighton. This is Worthing.' And it's a nice take on the fanzine tradition. It's almost wordless, consisting mainly of drawing, sketches, photographs and digital illustration. It's printed black on coloured paper, and is deliciously lo-fi.
And perhaps most interesting, apart from that strap line it's opinion-free. Most fanzines take a definite stance - 'we're Manic Street Preachers fans' or 'we're anti-capitalism'. Shed follows a tradition started by the legendary i-D, and just documents trends, themes and ideas.
As such, Shed is perfectly placed to document the changes in its hometown, and also lays down a challenge to someone else to produce a more wordy fanzine as a companion. Watch this space...
Shed, and other fanzines including R*E*P*E*A*T and Beat Motel, can be found at Revolutionary Music, 9 Warwick Lane, Worthing, BN11 3DP. The shop also exhibits the work of Revolutionary Arts Group members, with prints by Michelle Dawson, paintings by Melissa Ede and mixed media work by Dan Thompson currently on show. There are also screenprinted posters by Matt Douthwaite, and badges by artists including Mark Pawson and Emmi in the shop.
http://www.artistsandmakers.com/article.php/20080418095505848