By far, one of the most exciting things about attending university is the unique opportunity it presents for fostering communities. From the broad to the highly niche, it’s a great place to voice one’s opinion and start discourse.
One such manifestation of this phenomena, which certainly deserves mention, is that of student-run publications. From highly produced news publications such as the “City on a Hill Press,” to black-and-white hand-stapled zines, or even our very own chapter of "The Odyssey Online," UCSC certainly has its share of student-centered platforms.
In a situation like this however, I believe it’s always the more the merrier.
This week I sat down with Anneliese Hartling and Armando Herrera, two of the four founders currently seeking funding for their new student publication, “Fruitcake.”
Q: What is Fruitcake?
Hartling: “It’s a brand new comic illustration and humorous fiction publication. So, what it will look like hopefully is a thirty-two-page full-color magazine of artwork and writings done by UCSC students, for UCSC students.”
Herrera: “It’s a really exciting project, both at the administration level for us learning how to deal with an organization and run meetings and stuff like that, but also—it’s fun, creating spaces for people.”
Q: Why Should Fruitcake Exist?
Herrera: “I just, I don’t feel like comic illustration is a medium that’s really explored on this campus, it’s mainly a literary focus.”
Both seem confident that “Fruitcake” will give a voice to a medium that’s been somewhat neglected on campus.
Hartling: “Or stuff like technical art, like really well-drawn illustrations—those are included in other publications on campus. As far as more like, gritty doodles and stuff like that, this is a brand new space where you can actually submit that type of thing.”
Herrera: “The goal is to find worth in those things deemed worthless.”
Hartling: “For submitters, I think it’s a space to share their art, that maybe they would be self-conscious about sharing to other spaces that are a little bit more exclusive, or have higher standards. We’re kind of about breaking down those standards. For readers, I guess we hope to inspire them to submit their own art, and appreciate everyone’s art and thoughts… It can be really anything, we want all styles.”
Herrera: “And, I don’t know, it’s really fun as a theoretical project—exploring formats, seeing how you can express an idea, or a concept, or a narrative by not adhering to standards of what ‘good art’ is, or what ‘narrative’ is, or whether it ‘should’ exist or not. It’s exciting, and allowing for that space to exist is, I feel, important.”
Hartling: “Yeah, I feel like standards about art and writing are so ingrained in us, about what’s good and stuff like that. And maybe, sometimes, that means to some people [art] has to be dramatic, or serious. I feel like ["Fruitcake'"] can prove that art is maybe just something you have a physical or sensorial reaction to. If something makes you laugh really loud, maybe that can hit just as hard as something really dramatic, serious, and ‘well done.’”
Q: Is There Anything Else You’d Like to Say?
Hartling: “I’d just like to encourage people to come to the meetings.”
Herrera: “So we can interact with them, and create a physical community as well as a published magazine space.”
Hartling: “Because it’s hella fun to draw with people, or even just to bounce ideas off of them, and write with people. We should start seeing those things as more communal, because right now it’s typically very solitary.”
Speaking to Herrera and Hartling, it’s extremely clear that they are coming from a very honest place, and genuinely seek only to increase the amount of students heard throughout campus publication. I, personally, will be very excited to watch them procure funding, and I imagine following the progress of the magazine will be fun in its own right.
You can like the Fruitcake Facebook page here for updates.
Weekly meetings for the publication are held in Porter, Room D241 @ 8 PM on Mondays.
Everyone at UCSC is invited.
Submissions, open and encouraged to everyone regardless of meeting attendance or college affiliation, can be sent directly to fruitcakesc@gmail.com.
