‘Nothing scratches that itch…’ like the real thing

Angelique Yang on her creativity and her connection to physical media amongst its current resurgence.

Words by Cristina Sirianni

Angelique holding a planet with a yellow paper crown

At 23, designer and visual merchandiser Angelique Yang is part of a growing wave of young people who are in love with physical media. In an era defined by endless doomscrolling, tailored algorithms and the digital, Angelique is a creative whose practice is primarily analogue. Creating zines, diving into print and image making, its creativity that thrives on the visual, things like colour and feel.

Angelique grew up in Cairns, Queensland. She was surrounded by visual arts at an early age. She participated in workshops—one was with Australian artist, Patricia Piccinini—and Angelique had her work showcased in local gallery exhibitions, such as, Receive>Respond and Energy exhibition at the Tanks Art Centre in Cairins. Later when she undertook her undergraduate course, a Bachelor of Design (Communication Design), she discovered her passion for creating physical artefacts, like print media and publications.

Today, Angelique creates zines and she does print and image making. Zines, she says, are the most accessible and fluid medium. ‘They could truly take any form and be about anything and nothing.’ She says that publications have been a part of her whole life. ‘I've borrowed and bought books for as long as I can remember. When I discovered the living, changing discipline of artist books, what I thought I knew about books was turned inside out! Books made by artists, made to be artworks.’ Image making however is one of her favourite forms of communication and visual storytelling, whether through ‘…oil pastels, gel pens, Procreate, Illustrator or Photoshop.’ The limits are endless.

A zine created by Angelique called ‘Koj Nam Hlub Koj! - Your Mum Loves You!’.

Her inspirations for her creations come from nature, as well as the media that is all around us, from social media to books, movies, tv shows and music.

But what sets Angelique apart is her relationship to the physical media that we have. She says that she has always grown up with an appeal to physical media and she ‘…grew up pretty analogue’. Adding that you would find her ‘…reading books, journalling, doodling, hiring DVD’s and changing CDs in my dad's car on road trips…’.

‘…nothing scratches that itch like reading a physical book and noticing the author/editor/designer's choice in going from matte uncoated paper to glossy photopaper for the beautiful photographs. Nothing scratches that itch like opening the most recent issue of a magazine and finding a page that spreads out to be the latest addition to your poster wall. Nothing scratches that itch like taking the sticker of your apple and sticking it into your journal entry for the day and rediscovering this page when you deep clean your room a couple years later.’

Angelique collects many forms of physical media. She collects books, zines, CDs for her wall‑mounted player, vinyl she listens to front‑to‑back and printed film photographs.

“Having physical media that takes up physical space in their homes, put on display like trophies, they can surround themselves with things that they love and make them, them.”

Angelique sees the resurgence of physical media amongst young people as a mix of nostalgia, ownership and personalisation. With so many streaming services, she says ‘maybe some are realising that they don't truly own any of the media that they love and are not directly supporting the artists that they love. Having physical media that takes up physical space in their homes, put on display like trophies, they can surround themselves with things that they love and make them, them.’

She goes on to say that ‘physical media has the ability to take up space and offer a tactile experience that digital media can't replicate.’

A collection of journals, books, CDs, DVDs, Blu-Rays and video game cases.

As for whether this rise is temporary or a more permanent thing, Angelique believes that it isn’t a temporary renewed interest.

‘Physical media never left and isn't going anywhere, the harder it's pushed away, the more people will rediscover what made it so special in the first place.’

You can check out some of Angelique’s creations and visual media on Instagram @leeeeked and via her website angeliqueyang.com.

Photocopy of Angelique’s book ‘Third Place’.