Annah Anti-Palindrome, a UC Berkeley multimedia artist, hand-crafted her name in 2007 and starting a life dedicated to “genre-f***ing” ensued.
She was born without an “h” at the end of her name, but her decision to change it had nothing to do with resentment for palindromes, as her name might suggest, she wrote on her website, annahantipalindrome.com.
She changed it in 2007 after her mother died of a heroin overdose, an action that symbolizes her rejection of a violent legacy.
“While the patterns we learn may define us, we are also defined by our processes of unpacking, analyzing and defying those legacies as well,” she said. “The concept of resisting palindromes has held space for me to challenge the stagnancy I associate with identifying by a given name I no longer relate to.”
Annah will be performing her electronic art this Sunday, day three of the Albuquerque Zine Fest. It is part of “Dirty … Nasty … Filthy … ,” a zine reading at Winning Coffee. The event website advises it as not suitable for young audiences.
In addition to personal obstacles, she said she supports anything that challenges institutionalized barriers, such as capitalism, patriarchy, white supremacy and corporate media. Challenges dating back to her upbringing also serve as inspiration for the unconventional art she produces.
“When playing songs about my mother, I often make the percussion by clinking whiskey bottles together, because she drank a lot when we were kids,” she said. “Without visualizing that component, a lot of meaning is potentially lost on (the) audience. Either way, though, it’s like a secret message to myself when I’m playing, whether or not anyone else gets it.”
The hand-crafted multimedia experience she creates is like a zine in this respect, she said.
“I consider my album to be an audio-zine, a form of DIY literature set to the tones and nuances of an aural experience,” she said.
“My performance, then, is a type of ‘optical sound,’ wherein the objects I’m using to generate the piece become just as important as the sounds themselves,”
Her toolbox boasts media like a Line 6 DL4 looping system, kitchen utensils, gas-masks, raw eggs, blood pressure cuffs, found objects and her body.
“I think zine culture is an art/literary movement that has been able to maintain autonomy from the vectors of corporate, mainstream media,” she said. “It’s accessible to folks who don’t have access to the resources one might need to publish and (distribute) a book.”
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She said zines are an uncensored and uncompromising function of DIY punk-ethics, taking power from capitalist means of production and giving it to the people.
“We live in a society where people with money and power get to archive their stories, ideas, histories and beliefs,” she said.
“Though these are not necessarily the representative sentiments of the masses, they are often all we see when we’re given access to published, historical literature.”
