Underground Melbourne

There’s nowhere in Melbourne like Sticky!  You’ll find this den of Zine-soaked creativity hidden in the Flinders Street Underpass known as the Campbell Arcade (along with a number of other alt.cult.artisan.shopping essential stops – to be detailed another time), which you access either by getting off the train and using the centre stairs or from Flinders Street near Degraves Lane OR from Degraves Lane where the Baguette and Waffle stand is.

It’s a tiny shop next to the-barber-time-forgot (he insists that the magazines in his window are new… come on, now, really), crammed with badges, zines, some cds and odd paraphernalia, all small-run and many local.  Sticky is a fantastic supporter of local visual expression and run on a very humble budget with lots of volunteer assistance – here’s their manifesto, straight from their website.  Do take a look, as they’re running their FESTIVAL OF THE PHOTOCOPIER in February 08- a most intriguing paen to the art work of the humble office machine.

ABOUT STICKY INSTITUTE

Sticky Institute is an Incorporated Association and is a volunteer run, not for profit Artist Run Initiative housed in Degraves Street Subway under Flinders Street, Melbourne. Sticky was originally conceived as a not for profit retail ‘side project’ in 2001 within Platform Artist Group who operate artist exhibition spaces in the subway and nearby lanes.

The three day a week shop-front idea, ‘Sticky’ began with ten artist publications for sale in the Platform office in April 2001. Since then, Sticky has stocked thousands of titles from around Australia and overseas, and has established itself as a nationally and internationally recognised specialty zine and artist book shop.

In 2007 Sticky became an Artist Run Intitiative in its own right, as Sticky Institute Inc. Sticky continues to share Platform’s office space, its shop front, but is separately administered by Coordinators Luke Sinclair (Sticky’s founder and former Platform Coordinator) and Eloise Peace. The shop is manned by Luke, Eloise and its dedicated team of volunteers.

The principal purposes for which the Association is established are:

To strengthen, serve, represent and appropriately promote innovative creative expression that explores and challenges popular perceptions through Melbourne’s zine culture which encompasses visual arts, crafts, literature and design;

To encourage and facilitate self-identity, self-expression and creation of communities through the provision of space and personalised access to practical and artistic resources as part of a broader independent ‘Do It Yourself’ ethic which celebrates self-empowerment and cultural diversity;

To operate a dynamic, accessible not for profit retail outlet with public exposure in a retail environment with a simple submission process that enables anyone to stock their work and become involved in Melbourne’s zine culture, and ensuring that we charge a minimal sales commission (20%) in the retail operation, the emphasis being on returning as much of the retail price as possible back to those involved in the product’s creation.

Sticky values the vital role and contribution of volunteers to the organisation both past and present.

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Sticky encourage you to get involved, so get onto their website or pay them a visit and make/talk/buy/read/think!!!