ABBY LOWENSTEIN
“CYBER QUEER” IS A PRINTED ZINE WHICH EXPLORES THE IMPACT AND INFLUENCES OF ONLINE QUEER COMMUNITIES ONTO THE OFFLINE LIVES OF THEIR MEMBERS. THE PROJECT SERVES AS AN ARCHIVE OF QUEER LIFE ON THE BURGEONING INTERNET PLATFORMS OF THE 1990S THROUGH THE 2010S.
The zine features first-person accounts and interviews from contributors among the first generation of “digital natives.” A term which refers to individuals raised during the information age wherein digital technologies have become an engrained, integral way of life and accepted extension of our identities beyond physical form.
Lowenstein created Cyber Queer in 2020 as the culmination of a year-long research project into methods of communication and queer community building during the pre-internet era. Among those were zines, inexpensive DIY literary works whose relative ease-of-access facilitated the distribution of counter-cultural perspectives and resources into the hands of diverse, oftentimes isolated communities. Cyber Queer contains numerous images reproduced from queer-topic zines of the ‘80s and ‘90s as an homage to these invaluable communication methods which preceded present-day digital spaces.
THIS IS CYBER QUEER
Abby Lowenstein is a Midwest designer and creative director whose practice centers the interplay between design and culture. Lowenstein received their BS in Design from the University of Cincinnati’s College of Design, Architecture, Art, and Planning.
More of their work can be found on their website, abbylowenstein.com, or Instagram, @abbylowenstein.