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anna m

@annasshole.bsky.social

210 followers 130 following 130 posts

yes this is me anna (they/them) 🫶 im based in nyc n mnl

i like making zines and im the founder of kittybugpress #art

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anna m

@annasshole.bsky.social

last halloween of my 20s went crazy!!!! i was mima from perfect blue

November 7, 2025 at 12:52 PM

anna m

@annasshole.bsky.social

Held a hands on zinemaking workshop to 90-100 SCAD students! thank u to mini comics expo, scad seqa, and hunter + dani for inviting me <3

November 7, 2025 at 12:44 PM

anna m

@annasshole.bsky.social

full essay here:
kittybugpress.substack.com/p/personal-e...

PHOTOS ARE FROM TOMMY, AURA LAPITAN, SONNY VELASCO, AMIC PRINTING, ANA BANDOQUILLO, IMTL PRINTING SERVICES, PRINTAGON ENTERPRISES, VAL MQRZ PRINTING, PRINT PINAS FACEBOOK GROUP, PRINT TULUNGAN FACEBOOK
Full article below
chis lier cornie Coin
SOME INSPIRATION AND FURTHER READING:
GUARNERI, MICHAEL "Militant elegy / A conversation with Lav Diaz" Baumgärtel, Tilman. *THE SOCIAL SIGNIFICANCE AND CONSEQUENCES OF DIGITAL PIRACY IN SOUTHEAST ASIA: THE CASE OF INDEPENDENT FILMMAKERS." GINOE. "Sachet Archives"
BAO. "The Cult of Online Identity Curation and Social Media's Fixation on Aesthetics"
HARDWORKING GOOD LOOKING. "FILIPINO FOLK FOUNDRY"

September 2, 2025 at 1:09 AM

anna m

@annasshole.bsky.social

(5/6)

After multiple stacks of papers are printed out, these election flyers are stuck onto storefronts, electric poles, highway columns, and so on. City streets are then turned into labyrinths made of printed campaign materials and the unavoidable smiling faces of would-be politicians.

Kapag tapos nang ma-print ang mga stack ng campaign flyers o pangangampanyang materyales, ipinapaskil ito sa mga tindahan, poste, kolum ng overpass, at iba pa. Nagiging isang labirinto ng mga pangangampanyang materyales at mga hindi maiiwasang ngiti ng mga magiging pulitiko ang mga kalsada ng lungsod.

I believe though that the people who understand the power of the copying machine's role are the ones who run these print shops everyday. Almost a decade ago, school staff in my college campus used copying machines to quickly print their demand to stop exploitative labor practices. Papers filled with large bold type plainly saying "End Contractualization Now" were pasted on the walls and tables of the print and copy stations around campus.

Naniniwala ako na ang mga tunay na nakakaunawa sa kapangyarihan ng makinang pang-kopya ay ang mga taong nagpapatakbo ng mga print shop araw-araw. Halos isang dekada na ang nakalipas, ginamit pa rin ng mga empleyado ng eskwelahan ang mga makinang-pakopyahan para mabilis na makapag-imprenta ng kanilang mga panawagan na tapusin ang mapang-abusong labor practices. Nakapaskil pa nga sa mga dingding at mesa ng print stations ang mga papel na tinatakan ng malalaking mga letra:
"End Contractualization Now."

Several of the staff employed on campus had been there for 20-30 years straight with inconsistent pay, no full-time employment status, no retirement, and zero paid time off due to contractualization or endo (end-of-contract). Infamously popularized during the reign of the former dictator Marcos, endo is the process of hiring staff on 5-months or less contracts continuously for years to avoid giving them full-time benefits and employee rights.

Ilan sa kanila, 20-30 taon nang nagtatrabaho ngunitwalang regular na trabaho, walang benepisyo sa pagreretiro, walang bayad na bakasyon-lahat ito dahil sa sistemang endo. Ang endo (na sumikat noong panahon ng dating diktador na si Marcos) ang pagtanggap ng mga empleyado sa 5-buwang kontrata na paulit-ulit upang maiwasan ang pagbibigay ng benepisyo.

Fast forward to five years later, student groups have been made in my former college with the goals of supporting the staff's labor union negotiations and work strikes. Just like before, they too use the xerox and risograph machines as a way to disperse flyers with pro-labor messaging during student elections and contract negotiation season.
Despite print being labeled as dead, it seems like the importance of print and the risograph comes down to the flyers, receipts, and other everyday items we usually look past and move on from easily. Maybe a print's value doesn't come from its rarity or permanence- rather, it can come from the memories it can hold or even the influence it can have in people's lives.

Pagkalipas ng limang taon, nagkaroon ng mga samahan ng mga estudyante na nabuo sa dati kong kolehiyo na tumutulong sa labor union ng mga staff at sa mga welga nila. Tulad ng dati, ginagamit din nila ang xerox at risograph machines upang makapagpamahagi ng pro-labor flyers sa panahon ng student elections at labor negotiations.
Kahit pa sinasabing patay na ang print, mukhang nananatil pa rin ang kahalagahan ng risograph sa mga flyer, resibo, at iba pang mga bagay na karaniwan nating binabalewala. Marahil hindi lamang nasusukat ang halaga ng isang print sa pagiging bihira nito o sa pagiging matibay, kundi sa alaala at impluwensiya na dala nito sa buhay natin.

September 2, 2025 at 1:09 AM

anna m

@annasshole.bsky.social

(4/6)

Outside of the academic sphere, the role of the duplication machine like the risograph is essential to different clientele that vary in their needs: labor organizations, political candidates, religious organizations, local businesses, schools, and more.

Sa labas ng pang-akademikong mundo, mahalaga ang papel ng risograph at iba pang makinang pang-kopya para sa iba't ibang kliyente: mga organisasyong pangmanggagawa, kandidatong politiko, grupong relihiyoso, lokal na negosyo, paaralan, at marami pang iba.

These everyday risograph prints exist in different forms: blank invoices, accounting book insides, coupons, and more. As much as we can think of these prints as boring and functional, they can become valuable through personal experience. The practice of keeping these different printed ephemera is so common in the Philippines that these impractically kept items have their own colloquial term: Anik-anik.

Karaniwan na nakikita ang riso print sa anyo ng mga resibo, sa loob ng accounting book, kupon, at iba pa. Kahit tila nagiging makaluma, nagbibigay ito ng kahalagahan sa pamamagitan ng kaniya-kaniya nating mga karanasan. Karaniwan sa mga Pilipino ang pag-iingat sa mga ganitong bagay na may sariling katawagan: Anik-anik.

For example, a seemingly uninteresting receipt may be kept due to its significance to an important date like a birthday or an anniversary. As free keepsakes, they are placed with great care in personal journals, envelopes, or displayed on personal desks and bedroom walls. Through this practice, mundane risograph prints meant to be thrown away are transformed into invaluable archived pieces.

Halimbawa, maaaring itabi ang isang simpleng resibo dahil sa kahalagahan nito sa isang espesyal na araw, tulad ng kaarawan o anibersaryo. Bilang libreng alaala, inilalagay ito nang maingat sa mga journal, sobre, o ipinapaskil sa mesa o dingding. Sa ganitong paraan, ang mga riso print na dapat tinatapon lang - nagiging mahalagang bahagi ng personal na arkibo.

A risograph machine's most popular season though would be during election time in Metro Manila. Its relevance in politics remains unchallenged due to its speed and efficiency in creating a large amount of prints of any candidates' face in so little time versus a digital printer. Print shops eagerly advertise their risograph services both online and offline to take on these different campaigns as their clients.

Tuwing eleksyon ang pinakamasiglang panahon ng paggamit ng risograph sa Metro Manila. Sa bilis nitong mag-imprenta ng maraming kopya ng mga kandidato at kanilang mga mukha, napapaburan ito kumpara sa digital printers. Ipinapatalastas ng mga print shop ang kanilang serbisyong risograph online at offline para sa kampanya ng mga kliyente.

September 2, 2025 at 1:09 AM

anna m

@annasshole.bsky.social

(3/6)

These sellers' collections of bootleg movies weren't formulaic like streaming sites today, instead they were personally curated according to the shop owner's tastes with uncensored cuts of iconic mainstream films from Superbad to Southeast Asian queer art films such as Tropical Malady.

Hindi kasintulad ng mga algoritmo ng streaming sites ang mga koleksyon ng mga nagtitinda ng bootleg na pelikula-personal ang pagpili ng mga nagmamay-ari ng bangketa, kasama ang mga uncensored cut ng mainstream na pelikula tulad ng Superbad hanggang sa mga Southeast Asian queer art films tulad ng Tropical Malady.

In my late teens to early twenties, lining up either at a print shop or at a copier station was not just commonplace, but a necessity in university. At the start of each semester, queues of students would stretch across walkways under a glaring sun. All of this was done like clockwork so that we could receive our syllabi readings for school.
These print shops had their own Xerox or Riso machine with staff and technicians trained to run them as efficiently as possible to maintain the tight turn arounds needed for each semester.

Noong kabataan ko, normal at mahalaga bilang isang estudyante sa unibersidad ang pagpila sa mga print shop o copier station. Tuwing nagsisimula ang semestre, pahabaan ang pila ng mga estudyante na bilad sa matinding araw para lamang makuha ang kanilang syllabus at mga babasahin. Mayroong kaniya-kaniyang Xerox o Riso machine ang bawat print shop na pinapatakbo ng mga batikan na staff at technician upang bigyang tuon ang pangangailangan ng mga mag-aaral.

Through these print shops, professors were able to distribute out-of-print readings or expensive textbooks through photocopies.
This practice leveled the playing field when it came to academic accessibility. The price of a $100-$200 (P5,000-P10,000) academic textbook would turn to $6 (P300). There was no need to wait your turn in the library or pay thousands of pesos to read a rare book as pages of repetitively photocopied texts were shared across students, teachers, and peers.

Sa pamamagitan ng mga print shop, nakakapamahagi ang mga propesor ng out-of-print na babasahin o mamahaling mga libro sa pamamagitan ng photocopies. Bunga nito, nagkakaroon ng patas na access sa mga akademikong materyales. Ang libro na nagkakahalagang $100-$200 (P5,000-P10,000) - nagging P300 ($6). Hindi na kailangan na maghintay sa pila ng silid-aklatan o gumastos ng libo-libong piso para lamang makabasa ng bihirang aklat.

My first ever copies of Simone de Beauvoir's and Judith Butler's writings on gender and sexuality, for example, were not through the form of a traditional book but through heavy-duty stapled pages on printer paper. It was extremely moving for me, personally, to own a copy that tackled these topics at a time where birth control was banned and women's rights were hotly debated in the Philippines. Even if I wanted to buy these books legally, this meant months-long shipping times, paying off-the-record bribe fees in customs, or absurdly expensive prices.

Sa una kong mga kopya ng mga isinulat nina Simone de Beauvoir at Judith Butler tungkol sa kasarian at sekswalidad, hindi ko nakuha sa anyong isang libro, kundi sa mga pahinang pinagtagpi-tagpi gamit ang stapler at printer paper. Napakatindi ng damdamin ko nang magkaroon ako ng kopya nito, lalo na sa panahong ipinagbabawal ang birth control at mainit ang balitaktakan tungkol sa karapatan ng kababaihan sa Pilipinas.
Kahit gusto ko man na bumili ng legal na kopya, katumbas ito ng llang-buwang paghihintay ng shipping, pagbabayad para sa customs, o napakamahal na presyo.

September 2, 2025 at 1:09 AM

anna m

@annasshole.bsky.social

(2/6)

Risograph machines in the Philippines are heavily depended on by the local printing industry due to its extremely utilitarian and efficient nature. Risograph printing for everyday items is so easily accessible that you could order one ream (500 papers) of black and white riso prints for just $7 (P400) through online shopping websites and Facebook marketplace. Rather than collecting artwork, this archive is filled with everyday items like receipts, discount coupons, election flyers, and more, printed by the risograph.

Labis na nakasalalay ang lokal na industriyang paglilimbag ng Pilipinas sa mga risograph dahil sa pagiging praktikal at matalab nito. Napakadaling makakuha ng riso prints-maaari kang umorder ng isang rim (500 papel) ng itim-at-puting riso prints sa halagang P400 ($7) sa mga online shopping websites o sa Facebook Marketplace. Sa halip na mangalap ng mga piyesa, puno ang arkibo ng pang-ara-araw na bagay katulad ng mga resibo, discount coupon, pangangampanyang materyales, at iba pa-lahat gamit ang risograph.

Historically, first-world institutions have always upheld the belief that creating more editions of an existing work "cheapens" its price in the market, yet I find that there is still value in the output of what these mechanical duplicators, like the risograph, make in its everyday use. Personally, my love for the risograph stems from it simply being a copying machine.

Batay sa kasaysayan, pinaniniwalaan ng mga institusyon mula sa first world na katumbas ng paggawa ng mas maraming kopya ng isang bagay ang pagpapamura sa halaga nito sa merkado. Ngunit sa palagay ko, mahalaga pa rin ang nagagawa ng mga mekanikal na makina na kagaya ng risograph sa pang-araw-araw na gamit.
Nag-uugat ang pagmamahal ko sa risograph sa pagiging simple ng makinang pang-kopya nito.

In the Metro Manila that I grew up in, getting access to life-changing media was only possible through the act of copying in the form of pirated DVDs and photocopied literature due to slow internet speeds in the Philippines.

Sa Metro Manila na kinalakihan ko, posible lamang ang pag-access sa media sa pamamagitan ng pagkopya ng mga piniratang DVD at photocopied na babasahin- dahil sa mabagal na Internet.

According to filmmaker Lav Diaz,
duplicating media and having it be financially accessible can be seen as an act of cultural revolution and egalitarianism.

The first time Thad ever watched a Bernardo Bertolucci film was for
P20/40 cents at fourteen years old. It was my first time watching a European art house him that I would have never had access to due to the censorship and obscenity laws of the Philippines. My friend had bought the pirated DVD from one of the small booths in Greenhills Shopping Center where you could get any kind of movie for that little money

Ayon kay Lav Diaz, isang sikat na sinematograpo, maaaring ituring na isang anyong rebolusyong kultural at pagkakapantay-pantay ang pagkopya at pagbibigay ng abot-kayang access sa media.
Unang beses kong napanood ang pelikula ni Bernardo Bertolucci sa halagang P20 (40 sentimos) noong labing-apat na taong gulang pa lamang ako. Una kong karanasan na manood ng European art house film (na karaniwang hindi mapapanood dahil sa mga batas tungkol sa censorship at kabastusan sa Pilipinas). Binili ito ng aking kaibigan mula sa mga bangketa sa Greenhills Shopping Center na mapagbibilhan ng kung anu-anong pelikula sa murang halaga.

September 2, 2025 at 1:09 AM

anna m

@annasshole.bsky.social

no one will see this bc im never on here but:

personal essay on the power of duplication and piracy in metro manila and in third world-culture

a featured essay in an upcoming zine "Filipino Risograph Archive" + its an archive full of everyday riso ephemera

(1/6)

#riso #essay #artph

September 2, 2025 at 1:09 AM

anna m

@annasshole.bsky.social

um ya im eating. in this pic i mean

February 17, 2025 at 5:30 AM

anna m

@annasshole.bsky.social

valentines day outfit 🩷💙

February 15, 2025 at 1:24 AM

anna m

@annasshole.bsky.social

kittybug press open call for free riso n pitches is here!! open to filipino female and/or lgbt+ artists!

link: forms.gle/AwpYQxVx7eVt...

#artph

January 27, 2025 at 6:45 AM

anna m

@annasshole.bsky.social

Our amazing program and the risograph details of this poster!

These two prints are actually part of a reversible riso poster we'll be selling on a sliding scale price on the day itself! This was printed in bright red, yellow, and sky blue!

December 11, 2024 at 11:32 AM

anna m

@annasshole.bsky.social

🐈🐛 KITTYBUG & FRIENDS: A KITTYBUG PRESS POP-UP 🐛🐈
in collaboration with @manilacomicsfair.bsky.social

🦋 Jan 11 '25 (Main: 2-7 Afterparty: 7-10)
🐈‍⬛ Imperial Mow's, Kowloon House, 20 Matalino St.
❤️‍🔥 Pay What You Want Entry
😷 Masked hours are 2-5pm! Masks will be available at the entrance

#artph #art

December 11, 2024 at 11:32 AM

anna m

@annasshole.bsky.social

Sneak peak of Kittybug and friends, a @kittybugpress.bsky.social pop-up in Manila that I organized w/ friends n @manilacomicsfair.bsky.social!

🐈 Jan 11, 2025
🐛 Imperial Mows, Kowloon House, Matalino St.
🌸 Pay What You Want Entry

❤️‍🔥Poster by Diigii Daguna + Art Direction by Rice Gallardo
#artph #art

December 2, 2024 at 11:57 AM

anna m

@annasshole.bsky.social

sometimes i forget we're a (literal) pinterest board couple bc its happened more than once that my wedding photog friend in nyc is given our photos for diff clients' moodboards..... AND its always this picture aldjskkss (photo by oak st. studios on ig)

November 24, 2024 at 9:56 PM

anna m

@annasshole.bsky.social

whitening 2019

some panels i made for a previous concept with horror, filipino all girls catholic schools, and societal pressures on colorism. #art #artph

November 21, 2024 at 4:20 PM

anna m

@annasshole.bsky.social

kittybug keychain blindbox! <3 #artph #art #merch

November 21, 2024 at 3:51 PM

anna m

@annasshole.bsky.social

content warning: ED, catholicism, CSA, SH

A flash essay I published in a defunct journal on sainthood, purity culture, self-harm, and violence 🖤 Sainthood was always interesting to me because it idolized individuals forms of harming yourself to retain purity and forgive one's own dirt. #essay