Magazine Whore Revisited
The Water Cooler was not intended to be a forum for promoting and discussing new magazines and periodicals. It's a shame that I can't expound on the literary classics and latest in experimental fiction. I hope I'm not a disgrace to librarians everywhere. What can I say, I like the pretty pictures.
A few months ago I recommended a fantastic new science magazine called SEED. It remains to be a diamond in the newsstand rough because of its incredibly clear, exciting, and non pedantic writing style. Just like my beautiful wife, the magazine's treatment and stance on controversial issues like stem cell research keep me captivated. However, I was first drawn to it because it's just so nice to look at. Seed breaks new ground in its presentation and layout.
This weekend I discovered two magazines that take the medium even further. Cabinet has been around for about 4 years and has been pushing the envelope of graphic design throughout that time. It's no surprise that it comes out of New York's conceptual art community. Each issue is a collage of interesting and challenging photography. It presents some of today's leaders in a variety of new art movements. Before I make it even more abundantly clear that I'm out of my depth when it comes to discussing art, let me say that there's more to Cabinet than a collection of inscrutable and abstract photographs. There's inscrutable writing too! Just kidding. Actually, the writing is once again a really substantive bonus to this beautiful magazine. The articles run a wide gamut from academic and theoretical to narrative fiction. The most recent issue has a triptych piece that blends a history of the .50 caliber machine gun with a biography of actor/soldier Audie Murphy and an account of the annual Knob Creek Range shootout. The magazine is published four times per year and a 4 year subscription costs $28.
The second magazine selection is a complete departure from the printed word. Many of you probably already read the often hilarious online version of McSweeney's. Dave Eggers started McSweeney's as a literary journal in 1998. Since then it has branched into a number of printed and online titles. In January, Eggers began a new magazine called Wholphin. Wholphin is a DVD magazine that will come out about four times each year. You have the link and can read for yourselves so I won't spoil any of the DVD content. It will suffice to say that Wholphin is a collection of short films by some well-respected artists that you probably won't see anywhere else.
A one year subscription to Wholphin will cost you $40. However, a lifetime subscription to The Water Cooler still won't cost you a dime.
"All the verbose socio-political exasperation that's fit to print."
The Water Cooler was not intended to be a forum for promoting and discussing new magazines and periodicals. It's a shame that I can't expound on the literary classics and latest in experimental fiction. I hope I'm not a disgrace to librarians everywhere. What can I say, I like the pretty pictures.
A few months ago I recommended a fantastic new science magazine called SEED. It remains to be a diamond in the newsstand rough because of its incredibly clear, exciting, and non pedantic writing style. Just like my beautiful wife, the magazine's treatment and stance on controversial issues like stem cell research keep me captivated. However, I was first drawn to it because it's just so nice to look at. Seed breaks new ground in its presentation and layout.
This weekend I discovered two magazines that take the medium even further. Cabinet has been around for about 4 years and has been pushing the envelope of graphic design throughout that time. It's no surprise that it comes out of New York's conceptual art community. Each issue is a collage of interesting and challenging photography. It presents some of today's leaders in a variety of new art movements. Before I make it even more abundantly clear that I'm out of my depth when it comes to discussing art, let me say that there's more to Cabinet than a collection of inscrutable and abstract photographs. There's inscrutable writing too! Just kidding. Actually, the writing is once again a really substantive bonus to this beautiful magazine. The articles run a wide gamut from academic and theoretical to narrative fiction. The most recent issue has a triptych piece that blends a history of the .50 caliber machine gun with a biography of actor/soldier Audie Murphy and an account of the annual Knob Creek Range shootout. The magazine is published four times per year and a 4 year subscription costs $28.
The second magazine selection is a complete departure from the printed word. Many of you probably already read the often hilarious online version of McSweeney's. Dave Eggers started McSweeney's as a literary journal in 1998. Since then it has branched into a number of printed and online titles. In January, Eggers began a new magazine called Wholphin. Wholphin is a DVD magazine that will come out about four times each year. You have the link and can read for yourselves so I won't spoil any of the DVD content. It will suffice to say that Wholphin is a collection of short films by some well-respected artists that you probably won't see anywhere else.
A one year subscription to Wholphin will cost you $40. However, a lifetime subscription to The Water Cooler still won't cost you a dime.
"All the verbose socio-political exasperation that's fit to print."
posted by adelino @ 5:55 PM
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