Karen Goldsum’s Creations

This is a collection of my newest art and zines

Mass Appeel: The Bananas History of Art

Most people have heard of the banana duct taped to a wall that sold for $150,000. But did you know the other ways that this fruit has been used as a counter cultural symbol? This zine traces the use of bananas in contemporary art

Dimensions: 8.5” x 5.5”
Pages: 56

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes: The Phylogenesis (Evolution) of the Tyrannosaurs

This zine details how tyrannosaurs evolved over 100 million years from human-size predators (they could have easily walked through your front door) to the apex colossals that we adore.

Dimensions: 5.5” x 3.4”
Pages: 64

Women Creating Spaces: Gender Disparities at the Blanton and in the Greater Art World

The art world espouses progressive values and pays lip service to the idea of diversity. The reality is far different both nationally and here in Austin at the Blanton Museum of Art, where only 16% of the artworks on the walls is by women artists.

Dimensions: 5.5” x 3.4”
Pages: 64

The Nutritional Value of Boogers

The Nutritional Value of Boogers discusses the mechanics of smell, how mucus facilitates olfaction, dips into the evolution of smelling, and examines how some creatives are incorporating smells into their art.

The Terror of Texas: Acrocanthosaurus

113 million years ago, Acrocanthosaurus trekked across Texas terrifying its dinosaur and mammalian neighbors. This zine discusses its ancestral heritage, the features that distinguish it from other animals, and where you can find its trackways.

Colorful torture devices: Why stepping on Legos hurts so damn much

Colorful torture devices: Why stepping on Legos hurts so damn much delves into Lego’s sordid past, the physics of stepping on a brick, and ways to avoid this onerous fate.

A Middle Finger to Negativity: How Everything Everywhere All At Once Subverts Tropes

EEAAO subverts many traditional messages in cinema. EEAAO establishes itself as different through the way queerness is portrayed, in how it center on the Asian people, and through its focus on kindness and empathy.

Dimensions: 5.5” x 3.4”
Pages: 44

Why short People are Awesome.

This zine outlines the many ways short people are superior to lanky humans. It also includes famous diminutive people throughout history.

Dimensions: 5.5” x 3.4”
Pages: 16

100 zine ideas 2024 edition

Rank the saddest vegetables 🐠 What is the point of that little flap on the backs of dogs’s ears? When I asked my vet, he told me no one knows. Prove him wrong. 🐠 In every city, there are a cadre of people who restore tombstones in cemeteries. Volunteer with them and write about your experience. 🐠 Dream assassins who hunt and kill nightmares. 🐠 Share the story of that one time at your uncle’s funeral when your head got stuck in railings and you have to be rescued by firemen 🐠 A new god destroys all the followers of an old death god changing how death works—the laws and ground rules that the previous god had created. What happens? 🐠 History of trousers. i think they were originally just two sheaths that one pulled up each leg and tied around their middle. 🐠 write a R L Stine or Kris Tingle-esque story 🐠 Cultural empathy versus cultural humility. what are they? when are they appropriate? how do you fit these concepts into your life? 🐠 Many food crops (for example peaches) need a certain number of hours below freezing in order to flower. Discuss how climate change is disrupting plants’s ability to flower and what impact that might have on humanity and the planet 🐠 write a series of personal essays on an Austin artwork 🐠 “right sized opportunities” 🐠 roller skates on alligators 🐠 women and people of marginalized genders who deserve a Judy Chicago dinner plate 🐠 Cultural history of glitter. where it is sourced? How has the production of glitter changed over time? Why some (terrible) people hate glitter. your own thoughts on glitter. 🐠 If you were a octopus and you could taste w your skin, what flavor would your pillow be? Mine would probably be cotton candy flavored. 🐠 As far as I know there are no paleontological lawyer, but if there were, what would they need specialties in? I am thinking international law, geology… 🐠 A day in the life of a mobile bantha pet grooming business. 🐠 We need more Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the world. Which ones would you invent? 🐠 What are your wins this week? 🐠 Would you rather be in space for a year or in a trench in the deep ocean? 🐠 Moo Deng the pygmy hippopotamus 🐠 Spaghetti dentist 🐠 what triggers you personally? what do you think about trigger warnings? 🐠 Those stuffed animals in science museums are creepy. are they past their prime? Can scientists still use those old specimens for science? 🐠 "A farrago of lies" is an expression that means a confused mixture of lies. The word "farrago" is a noun that means a disorganized mix of things that don't fit together. For example, you might describe a paper as a farrago of thoughts if it's a disorganized mix of ideas.  🐠 Recently I was introduced to the idea that American movies are military propaganda. What are your thoughts on this? 🐠 Someone who inspires you. 🐠 Your favorite slutty male musicians 🐠 Ads that might appear in zines 🐠 Research has found thinking about death can make us happier, but it can also lead us to judge others who do not share our same worldviews more harshly. Should we think about death then? 🐠 How many chickens would it take to kill an elephant? 🐠 I need stupid silly things 🐠 “Family values” 🐠 There’s no way to opt out of complicity with harm in modern life 🐠 The prefix Mc as in McMansion or MacGuffin. 🐠 Boudoir originally meant the pouting or sulking room. 🐠 I’m sorry you have bad taste 🐠 Wills: if you had a Series of wills throughout your life how would they change. 🐠 Isle Royale in Michigan 🐠 Plan your funeral: Music, who will attend, slideshow, mandatory dance, eulogy…. 🐠 Ivan shishkin’s Oak tree painting 🐠 Is there such a thing as “poorly written?” Or has it simply not been adequately edited yet? 🐠 Your relationship (or not) with god(s). What gods do we need in the modern age? 🐠 Should I quit_____? People don’t quit soon enough. 🐠 Doublethink. George Orwell coined the term doublethink to indicate when one holds different beliefs that are true but that in reality contradict each other. this happens through indoctrination. note what instances of doublethink you see in media. 🐠 Grunge Songbirds of the Internet 🐠 What is an everyday joy that delights you? 🐠 Consider the rituals of your childhood. which ones would you like to keep? which ones should you overhaul? 🐠 Most of the statues in front of the Texas State capitol are war memorials. What statues would you like to have instead? What would you like to glorify and hold up? 🐠 Bullying ghosts. This idea makes me giggle. 🐠 Diatribe about how one doesn’t have to forgive people 🐠 would you go to Mars? 🐠 If you were a care bear, what symbol would be on your tummy? 🐠 It’s easier to build up expectations than deliver 🐠 Artists in PJs 🐠 Please write faster. love letters to your favorite writers. Mine would be: Becky Chambers and Richard Osman. 🐠 who would you hunt for sport? 🐠 when do you think the first murder in outer space will occur? Or has it already happened. RIP Laika 🐠 What is the most unhinged note (or photo) you have in your notes app . 🐠 What would you be the patron saint of? . 🐠 What is a job you would do after the revolution for no pay whatsoever simply because it satisfies your soul and you enjoy doing it 🐠 Being romanced by me: what it feels like when I turn on the romance. 🐠 Congratulations you are old/my old lady habits. 🐠 those little incandescent moments. they don’t make your day, but they make your day better. 🐠 why is staring into a fire so mesmerizing? 🐠 if a dog were to get a college degree what would it be in and why? No cute answers. Serious answers only. 🐠 If you could choose one book as a mandatory read for all HS students, which book would you pick? 🐠 Why are plants green? Seriously. The bandwidth of light that we get the most of here on Earth is green. Why do plants deflect this light rather than use it? 🐠 The craft magazine for witches 🐠 if animals could talk, which one would be the rudest? 🐠 Time-travel shenanigans. 🐠 Which is the best dragon? Create a bracket. Ask your friends and neighbors. 🐠 What’s your favorite piece of random trivia? 🐠 The Good Place. Outline the different branches of philosophy and thought experiments that the television show explores. Despite being from Senegal, Anagonye only seems familiar with Western philosophers…This seems wrong to me. Which philosophies are missing? 🐠 If you were a cannibal Apple, what would apples taste like to you? Like apples? Like chicken? 🐠 What innocuous animal are you afraid of? I’m afraid of geese. 🐠 Santa starts doing cocaine, starts trading drugs, gets in w the wrong lot, loses a lot of money, and gets desperate and starts holding up homes instead of giving presents 🐠 Moo Deng the pygmy hippopotamus 🐠 how much sawdust can you put in rice crispy treats before people start to notice? One time I accidentally replaced salt for sugar in cookies that I made for my granddad… 🐠 “hearts starve, as well as bodies / Give us bread, but give us roses” Judy Collins 🐠 What tasks should be added to taskmaster? 🐠 Night auditor 🐠 Dead and breakfast: Halloween B&B 🐠 Institute of napkins of importance. You know how people write down flashes of inspiration on cocktail napkins. Make a visual museum for them 🐠 Study how authoritarian governments use the media. 🐠 A nosy sweets dealer who both sells candy to children and admonishes them for eating it. 🐠 If you could ask a stegosaurus five questions, what would you ask? 🐠 Ala Howl’s Moving Castle: If you had a magical house w four magical doors that lead anywhere, where would they go? Only people who live there can go through the doors 🐠 Does Stanley Milgram’s research support Hannah Arendt theory of Banality of Evil? 🐠 If you were a tiny elephant assassin what would be your primary method of killing be? You get to decide if you kill tiny elephants or if you yourself are a tiny elephant. 🐠 What small act of kindness were you once shown that you will never forget? 🐠 no one knows what they are doing 🐠 movies that delight me 🐠 Instant phd. what would it be? 🐠 Seven wonders of the world. The Seven Wonders of the World were a group of places around the globe that were considered to be of great importance. It included the Taj Mahal, Petra, and the Great Wall of China. What are the modern seven wonders of the world? which ones have you experienced? 🐠 Teddy bear school and the whispers of madness 🐠 Top 5 Science Fiction Podcasts 🐠 If you were stuck in a lift with a sentient jar of pickles that claimed to be your long-lost brother, would you believe him? And if so, would you risk tasting his briny essence to confirm his identity or would you prefer to remain a cucumber coward? 🐠 Archeological sites throughout Texas. explore them. describe your favorite ones. provide a map 🐠 Write about something that was absent from your childhood.