sample_text
Today I would like to share with you all the wonderful world of [sample_text].
What started as my attempt at a very niche, self made digital zine has now finally found some kind of a home on Instagram. The original inspiration for sample_text of course came from seeing those two beautiful words constantly popping up on video editing software, Photoshop and the many other places online that I'm sure you have encountered also if you happen to use a computer a lot. At first what I wanted to do was prove to myself that I could create an original zine from scratch, with experimental poetry, stories, and equally eccentric art. This all took place during the peak of Luke and I's collaborative efforts in England, so sample_text became a portal into Pollyverse, stories and poems from the very characters of Pollyverse themselves.
I only ever made one volume of it, and it entirely featured pieces by Luke and myself, both as ourselves, and as our characters from Pollyverse stories. I was still dipping my toes into the writing world at that point so making a zine gave me a perfect opportunity to find some kind of a voice and rhythm. I was very much into photoshop at the time as well so I created a lot of digital art to go along with the texts, and so volume one of sample_text came to be. I sent it to a small group of friends who showed interest, and for each copy I created a personalised page for the reader.
Volume one is now available on the sample_text Instagram, I have uploaded it in two parts to flick through as a bit of a museum piece. After the release of volume one though sample_text died, it had served its purpose to me and I was content with what was done. But I couldn't help feeling that there was potential for something more there. After about a year I tried writing, planning, and creating digital art for a new volume. I wanted to involve other writers and artists too but other projects got in the way and I lost the motivation to create it without a clear goal or format. Now though sample_text finally feels like it has a home, among the tragic, beautiful, and dramatic world of Instagram poetry.
[sample_text] is a place where I can sporadically outlet some of my stranger thoughts and creations in a post by post format, somewhat aesthetically of course. This method has made it easier to collaborate with individuals on these singular little posts, where they can platform and share their creativity with a small section of the world, without it even necessarily being attached to their world or name if they so wish. The original ethos of it being a portal to Pollyverse still stands as an aesthetic mantra but really it is just a place where people can have a voice to share something weird and wonderful creatively.
This is [sample_text]. It is still very new in this format and finding its feet, but check it out if Instagram poetry interests you, and please send a message to me over there to collaborate in the future. I am working on a few different posts right now in between writing this novel so keep an eye out. As always, thank you for reading.
