The Sex & Violence issue is fantastic and I can't wait for people to have a read and see what they think.
Guest ed Wes Brown provided the masculine ballast so that we didn't tip too far into the ocean of estrogen (:)
We circumnavigated quite a few rocky patches only to arrive at the final destination...
Here's the editorial to give you a flavour of the issue:
2010 has been a pretty tumultuous year, what with riots all over the world and people using social media platforms to reshape despotic governments and tumble dictators. The computer mouse is mightier than the sword? The smart phone has turned? Interesting times indeed. Here in the UK, looters made a mockery of what these revolutionaries were trying to achieve (“Why are you rioting?” reporter. Looter: “To get our taxes back, innit?”) but there were still some groups who were trying, peacefully, to effect change. In the article, ‘Cost of the Coalition’, photographer Tom Cheeseman’s collection of iconic images of the teachers’ strikes is a fascinating inversion of the mayhem caused by the London riots.
At the Edinburgh Festival, our very own Simon Munnery was wowing audiences with his surreal wit (see his column for more). Whilst there, we spoke to young company The Wardrobe Ensemble, who were a hit with their production of ‘RI OT,’ a musical based on the riots at the Edmonton IKEA back in 2005. Who would have thought the hunger for pre-fab furniture could have led to violence? Then again, as their trainers disappeared this year during the smash and grab mayhem, Peter Cowgill of JD Sports said that the looting this year showed that “…there is a strong demand for our products on the high street.” So perhaps it is all part of a Machiavellian guerrilla marketing plan?
Wes Brown, a promising author (buy his impressive debut Shark here) has been guest editing the issue. See his illuminating interview with Ross Raisin, who discusses his latest book here. Elsewhere in the issue, Sam Gildea looks at ‘Why Porn Is Not Dangerous’ a controversial perspective which looks at the effectiveness of other forms of protest, such as this year’s SlutWalk. In stark contrast, media company EWO discusses their latest project in ‘Getting serious about Gang Rape.’
I’m very excited to present our photo story this issue. Tracing actress and award-winning documentarian Michele Hallak’s journey surviving cancer, we were very lucky to have photographer and body artist Caroline Cowan (www.carolyncowan.com) on board. As if that weren’t enough, designer Rachel Freire (whose dynamic clothes have been worn by a variety of daring ‘slebs) has given us the clothes that Michele wears in the shoot.
Art: We are showcasing the work of artist Darren Coffield throughout this issue, as well as touching on a retrospective exhibition of Chinese activist Ai Weiwei. Coffield’s work combines a sensitivity and classicism belied by his outrageous subject matter, and it is both beautiful and troubling.
The spirit of the revolution abides, there is something in the air that seems ready to catch light and burst into flame at any moment. As Dickens would say,
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”- A Tale of Two Cities
Special thanks to my amazing team of designers Van Nim, Alcinoo (who is going to guest edit one of next year's issues) and Ottilia Aviram (an old hand).
Here's a taster of some of the incredible art by Darren Coffield, whose work we featured in the issue.
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