KUTT: The Cult Lesbian Zine Rediscovered and Celebrated

The resurgence of KUTT, a pioneering lesbian zine that blazed a trail between 2002 and 2003, is being met with significant interest and acclaim. IDEA, an independent publisher known for its preservation of influential cultural artifacts, has released a facsimile compendium of all three original issues. This reissue marks a significant moment for those who missed the zine’s initial, fleeting run, and for a new generation seeking to understand its profound impact on queer visual culture and representation.

Genesis of a Groundbreaking Publication

The inception of KUTT was as spontaneous and uninhibited as the content it would later showcase. Jessica Gysel, one of the zine’s co-creators, recounts its origin during a conversation in a bar in 2002. Alongside Jop van Bennekom and Gert Jonkers, the editors who had recently launched the successful gay male magazine BUTT, the idea for a lesbian counterpart emerged. "It was really this drunk bar moment where you’re making plans, and are like: oh my god, let’s make a lesbian version of this, more as a joke," Gysel recalls, speaking from her studio in Brussels. However, what began as a jest quickly materialized into a tangible project, leading to the creation of KUTT.

BUTT had rapidly ascended to prominence, celebrated for its candid, humorous, and sexually explicit portrayal of gay male life. KUTT was conceived to fill a similar void for lesbians, posing the straightforward question: "Why isn’t [there] all that also for lesbians?" This fundamental query underscored the limited visibility and often sanitized representation of lesbian identity in mainstream media at the time.

A Comet-Like Run: Three Issues, Lasting Impact

Despite its brief lifespan of just three issues between 2002 and 2003, KUTT managed to feature a remarkable roster of cultural figures. The zine’s pages showcased the burgeoning queer scene through contributions from influential artists, writers, and performers. Among its notable features were actress Chloë Sevigny, acclaimed writer and activist Eileen Myles, experimental filmmaker K8 Hardy, and the iconic feminist queer performer Peaches.

The visual language of KUTT was as distinctive as its content. Its signature lilac pages were adorned with striking photography from a curated selection of artists, including Ryan McGinley, Collier Schorr, Viviane Sassen, and Martien Mulder, among others. This photographic approach aimed to capture a raw, unvarnished reality, moving away from highly produced or stylized imagery. According to Eileen Myles, KUTT served as "evidence of how cool the new generation of lesbians who were around at that time were." The zine captured a specific moment, a palpable energy within the queer community that was eager for authentic representation.

The Rarity and the Reprint: Preserving a Cultural Artifact

In the years following its initial publication, KUTT became a highly sought-after collector’s item. Its rarity made it inaccessible to many who wished to engage with its content. David Owen, co-founder of IDEA, highlighted this demand: "Most people who want them cannot afford them. Of all the rare and out-of-print books and magazines IDEA has written about, KUTT is the most popular." This immense popularity and scarcity underscored the cultural significance of the zine, prompting IDEA to undertake the project of reissuing its entirety in facsimile. The compendium aims to make these seminal issues accessible to a wider audience, allowing for a comprehensive appreciation of the zine’s pioneering work.

Visual Language: Authenticity Over Artifice

Jessica Gysel’s interest in photography during the early 2000s was rooted in a desire for authenticity. "Around that time, I started to discover photographers who photographed real things," she explains. This inclination aligned with the visual ethos of KUTT, which drew inspiration from the direct and unembellished styles of photographers like Nan Goldin and Corinne Day. "I am really more interested in this kind of photography than the high-end, highly produced and elaborate," Gysel stated.

The resulting imagery was characterized by its unstaged, reportage-driven quality, prioritizing an authentic representation of its subjects. Martien Mulder, a contributor to the zine, elaborated on this approach, describing it as a combination of instinct and circumstance. "I was at the very beginning of my career," Mulder shared. "I didn’t know how to do it differently. I didn’t even know how big shoots worked… So, that was just me and a camera, meeting people." This unpolished aesthetic contributed to the zine’s raw and intimate feel, fostering a sense of genuine connection with its audience.

The Power of Print in a Changing Media Landscape

Chloë Sevigny, who graced one of KUTT‘s covers, reflected on the magazine’s emergence within a dynamic period for print media. "Magazines kind of ruled," she told Dazed. "Everyone was trying to reshape what a magazine was, every photo shoot was trying to one-up the last one and redesign the wheel." She noted the impact of BUTT‘s arrival: "When BUTT came out in its starkness and text-heavy form that was not about fashion, per se, it was arresting, and everybody took notice." This context highlights how KUTT, as a parallel project, was part of a broader movement to challenge conventional magazine formats and explore new avenues of representation.

Intimate Portrayals and Social Connections

The collaborative nature of KUTT‘s creation extended to its photographic content. Mulder observed that often, the subjects "already had a relationship with a photographer." This meant that shoots were less about external commissioning and more about tapping into existing social networks. "It was always in the family, or inside the friend circle," she explained. This organic approach fostered a relaxed and authentic atmosphere for the shoots.

A notable example of this is Ryan McGinley’s photo series, Lizzy the Lezzy, which featured singer and model Lissy Trullie. McGinley described Trullie as "one of the most angelic gay girls downtown" and highlighted their shared experiences within the vibrant queer nightlife of New York City. "We went to college together, we are still close two decades later," McGinley stated. "We were the artsy, fashionable queer kids who loved New York nightlife." He recounted a specific instance where he and Trullie set up a mini trampoline in a bar bathroom, leading to a series of playful images that captured Trullie’s effervescent spirit. "Lissy jumped for about an hour under the fluorescent lights, against the tagged-up astronaut wallpaper. The photos ended up in KUTT a few months later, and she garnered lesbian worldwide fame in the before-internet-times." This anecdote exemplifies how KUTT provided a platform for emergent queer identities and fostered a sense of community through shared experiences and creative expression.

Collier Schorr’s contribution, the series My Girlfriend’s Cousin Karin, also stemmed from personal connections. The photographs, taken over a summer in Germany, documented her girlfriend’s niece and her burgeoning relationship. Schorr remarked on the intimacy of the process: "Her niece started dating the girl from across the street. It was beautiful to see and share and support, and I was always photographing them." She acknowledged the complex emotional legacy of such personal projects, noting, "Photography is a strange brew… Years later, family pressures created rifts. The pictures are a treasure, but maybe also led to some stress." This sentiment underscores the deeply personal and sometimes challenging nature of documenting intimate lives, even within a supportive creative context.

The "Mattress Series" and Challenging the Male Gaze

Martien Mulder’s Mattress Series for KUTT is particularly noteworthy for its erotic, rather than pornographic, depiction of intimacy. The initial images featured Mulder and her then-girlfriend in bed, captured through intimate Polaroids taken during a holiday. This self-created context reframed the images, shifting them away from the objectifying potential of the male gaze. By presenting the images through the lens of lovers, the headless bodies felt "alive again," imbued with a sense of agency and shared experience. This approach directly challenged prevalent media portrayals of female sexuality, offering a more nuanced and empowered perspective.

Filling a Void: Lesbian Visibility and Lived Experience

In an era with limited lesbian visibility in mainstream media, KUTT played a crucial role in filling a significant gap. Gysel emphasized that much of the zine’s content was about "talking from a lived experience." It sought to address fundamental aspects of lesbian identity, such as navigating relationships, dealing with ex-partners, and the process of coming out. Gysel was particularly interested in highlighting lives "outside of the spotlight," recognizing the vital contributions of lesbians that often went unnoticed. She referenced the AIDS crisis, noting the extensive work done by lesbians that remained largely undocumented.

The zine aimed to portray queer lives as ordinary and multifaceted, showcasing women who loved, worked, socialized, created, and engaged in sexual relationships. This focus on everyday experiences was a deliberate effort to normalize and validate lesbian existence, countering stereotypes and presenting a more comprehensive and relatable picture of the community.

The Pursuit of Honesty and Connection

Mulder articulated a core tenet of the project: a desire to be "as honest as possible." This impulse resonated with Gysel, who found a similar authenticity in the writing of Eileen Myles. Gysel described Myles’s work as "an honest story of their struggles; the alcohol, drug problems," adding, "I was also not very sober in those days, so I could click." The shared experiences and candid reflections fostered a deep connection between the creators and contributors.

Eileen Myles offered a concise summation of KUTT‘s enduring appeal: "honesty is the most attractive quality in a living thing." Like Myles’s writing, KUTT was characterized by its directness, avoiding pretense or artifice. The zine’s ability to communicate with such candor made it a powerful tool for connection and self-recognition within the lesbian community.

The Role of Zines in Queer Culture and Community

Myles also underscored the broader cultural significance of publications like KUTT within queer communities. She described them as "cult ways of sharing information – conversations, pictures, drawings… most importantly, they are cause for a party." In the absence of widespread queer spaces and events, particularly in the decades preceding widespread internet adoption, zines and associated gatherings served as vital hubs for community building, celebration, and the dissemination of information. These events provided crucial opportunities for queer individuals to connect, express themselves, and forge solidarities.

The Considerations of Closure

The decision to cease publication of KUTT in 2003 was not arbitrary but a considered one, stemming from a recognition of the magazine’s evolving position. Van Bennekom reflected that the team felt the magazine had "run up against the limits of its own format" and might have been perceived as derivative. Gysel concurred, stating, "KUTT didn’t fully represent lesbian culture as it was at that moment." She expressed a desire to create something with "more visibility" and a "bit more uplifting" tone.

The direct sexual explicitness that was a hallmark of BUTT proved challenging to translate effectively within a lesbian context. Gysel noted that "was quite hard to translate to a lesbian context." Van Bennekom agreed, observing that "lots of lesbian culture was left a little bit in the shadows." He further posited that the magazine format itself may have been more intrinsically suited to the articulation of gay male identity than lesbian identity at that time.

Re-evaluation and Contemporary Resonance

Looking back, Gysel expressed mixed feelings about the return of KUTT. "It feels very far away, in a way," she said. "I have fond memories of the time making it. The aftermath, I’m not so sure… the fact that we were women, we didn’t have all the chances that BUTT had." This sentiment speaks to the systemic inequalities and differing levels of support that queer women’s projects often faced compared to those of their male counterparts.

However, van Bennekom suggested that contemporary audiences might be more receptive to the raw, authentic queer expression that KUTT embodied. He posited that its "in-your-face visibility" could resonate with a new generation. "We’re living in a much more feminine moment than 25 years ago," he observed, noting a broader embrace of femininity in both queer and mainstream culture. This shift, he believes, creates a more fertile ground for projects like KUTT to be understood and appreciated.

An Enduring Legacy

As Chloë Sevigny aptly summarized, "KUTT is a nice object, and it is important." The zine’s understated yet captivating design and photography are undoubtedly alluring, but its true significance lies in its multifaceted contribution to queer culture. It explored sexuality, love, daily life, celebrity, and eroticism with an unvarnished honesty. Gysel’s concluding sentiment in the zine’s reprint, "It took 25 years to get here! Long live the lesbians!" encapsulates the enduring spirit and revolutionary impact of this cult publication. The reissue by IDEA ensures that KUTT‘s legacy continues to inform and inspire, offering a vital historical document for understanding the evolution of queer representation and community.