Sherylynne Carriveau is the creator and publisher of the regular-by-subscription zine, The Gleaner (to be reviewed separately), and if this one-shot is any indication of her regular work, I'm going to be the first in line every quarter to get ahold of that one.

Altered Alice is actually just one piece of paper -- poster-sized and folded down to a standard half-size in strange twists and turns. Much like the story of Alice in Wonderland, which is the basis for this work, there are hidden parts and things to pull from rabbit holes and from behind closed doors, and much of it seems to be like a very strange acid trip, possibly after having ingested a bottle clearly marked "drink me."

As the zine/artist's book unfolds, it becomes clear that each issue of this zine will be entirely different than the last -- it is composed of a base of altered book pages from Carroll's work, and includes 3-D mazes, popouts and text in vellum over the existing images.

If you're the type who looks for a great deal of content in a zine, you won't find it here. The content is primarily visual, however, and if you're a visual person, you can get lost in here for hours. The construction is solid, even with the delicate pieces, but I wouldn't give it to a child to play with, due to the small moving parts included.

No price is listed, but I know that in my own case, I'd gladly pay out the nose for an artzine that could fascinate me visually for this long. It's an incredible work of art. E-mail papercollage@aol.com for more information.

[ by Elizabeth Badurina ]
Rambles: 21 December 2002