Books Are Nice started off as a blog intending to share graphic designer Augusto Mendoza's expanding collection of art and design publications. Since then, he has published four monographs from Miami artists that are held in University of Miami Libraries’ Special Collections. More recently, Books Are Nice helped put together an event at Lester’s to give local book and zine publishers a platform to display their work. The next venture will encourage community engagement.

We will purchase three vending machines, similar to those dispensing temporary tattoos and stickers. Ten local artists will be given the opportunity to work with a graphic designer and create a 16-page zine. Every artist will have 50 copies of their “mini-monograph” available for purchase. Each machine will be featured in different locations and will feature random quantities of that season’s artist’s zines. Consumers can collect all 10 zines by the end of their time at each location.

Books Are Nice wants to make art accessible to those who appreciate it. Throughout the installation, we plan on featuring visual artists, designers, chefs, coders and anyone with interesting aesthetics and ideas. By curating different artists each season, the machine will allow local art patrons to grow their zine collection, while simultaneously giving artists exposure.

The Zine Machine kickoff event will take place during Art Basel, where Books Are Nice will be having a Pop-Up Reading Room in Wynwood to display local publisher’s works. To gain a more widespread exposure after the kickoff, the machines will be placed in a record shop, bookstore and coffee shop in Little Haiti, Coral Gables and Wynwood. The project will be self-sustainable, as each zine will be purchased at a minimal cost that helps fund a future seasonal zine publication. Our hope is to generate enough interest in the publishing process and production to be able to open up a permanent bookstore where the zine machine would be a permanent fixture.