Formats.Zine is based on Format.mov which is a short film I made.
The story is about a creature who feels plain and wants to be noticed. He goes on a journey in an imaginary subway, where each stop represents computer formats that are metaphors for each identity. The story discusses whether you should rather be yourself or society's standard in the eyes of others.
And when I finished this movie, an idea came up, what if this character does not exist in the digital world. Not only limited to making art in digtial world, but looked for exciting things in the real world to make art, which can be patterns seen in nature, some illustrations from my archieve library, or some symbols in the programming world. Through these connections, I want to create unseen formats for this character.
Also, when you flip this book quickly, the character is walking!
—Tianying Yu
Softcover, 26 pages, 9 x 3.5 in, Risograph-printed Zine/ Spiral Binding, 2024