In 2010 I proposed and facilitated a workshop at the NOLOSE gathering in Oakland, California, where a timeline was collectively produced. This object is now archived at Bildwechsel in Hamburg.Part of the workshop proposal was that I would make a zine of the timeline which would be donated to archives and distributed in an attempt to create conversations about queer and trans fat activist histories.
So I made a zine (for those not in the know, a zine - rhymes with bean - is a homemade publication). It's based on the timeline, includes an explanation, some pictures and the text of the timeline itself.
The paper zine has 34 pages, is A5 format with a gold-coloured cover. It is printed on recycled paper and card. 250 copies were printed and it has now SOLD OUT. However, feel free to download the digital version below, and/or the audio version.
Many thanks to everyone who bought a copy, and especially those who donated extra cash, this enabled me to send the zine to over 60 archives and zine libraries worldwide. Contact me for a list of them. Thanks also to the wonderful artist's residency programme at Villa Magdalena K in Hamburg, for giving me some space in which to make the zine.
A Queer and Trans Fat Activist Timeline zine - digital version
Download the file and feel free to share it under its Creative Commons BY-NC-ND licence.
A Queer and Trans Fat Activist Timeline zine - digital version (.pdf, 6.5mb)
A Queer and Trans Fat Activist Timeline zine - audio version
This features me, Charlotte Cooper, reading the entire zine in English, describing images and the object itself. Please get in touch if you have other access requirements.
A Queer and Trans Fat Activist Timeline Zine - audio version (.mp3, approx 52 mins, 24mb)
Tiny film of the original timeline
A little movie of the original Queer Fat Trans Timeline, laid out on the floor of my room at Villa Magdalena K in Hamburg (.mp4, 98mb).
Academic paper about the project
Here's the reference and abstract for a paper I wrote about the project. Drop me a line if you have trouble getting a copy of this work.
A Queer and Trans Fat Activist Timeline is a project located in multiple spaces that began as an attempt to co-create a snapshot of community history. The timeline began as a conference workshop, became an object produced by that workshop, and then transformed into other entities: something that could be discussed and remodelled into multiple forms, on- and offline, and into archival objects. It originated as a fat activist dialogue with community histories and memory, but has moved beyond its original intent. The content of this particular fat activist project is not under discussion here: the process of fat activism and the cultures within which it takes place are the areas with which I wish to engage in this article. However, I encourage readers to downloaded digital copies of the zine from my blog, obesitytimebomb.blogspot.com.
Cooper, C. (2012) 'A Queer and Trans Fat Activist Timeline: Queering Fat Activist Nationality and Cultural Imperialism', Fat Studies: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Body Weight and Society 1: 1, 61-74.
Questions? Comments? Send them to mail@charlottecooper.net
