from pacific coast to no coast

UN- is a local art and culture magazine based in Los Angeles, California. This quarterly will explore the un-derground, un-noticed, un-orthodox, un-signed, un-known, un-seen, and un-discovered art of local artists. It will explore how the rich cultural background of Los Angeles has colored these artists’ experiences and work. The magazine will be divided into five sections.

un-seen (3 pages)

This section will be focused on what is happening and going on in the coming season. Each event will have a 30-word blurb describing what it is.

un-discovered (8 pages)

This section will consist of profiles and interviews with local up and coming artists including a longer piece on more established local artists. The content can range from the artist’s favorite restaurant to how they got into art.

un-dergound (7 pages)

The section is culture section of the magazine. Here is where writers will explore Los Angeles’ culture trends and changes. Also, one neighborhood of Los Angeles will be profiled by a resident and readers will get the inside scoop and what is often overlooked.

un-wrap (4 pages)

The section is where artists editorialize on artists, shows, and passage of time. Writers will reflect on how culture and art correlate in the context of a sprawling megalopolis.

This makes the magazine 22 pages, plus advertising. Advertising in the magazine will only be for locally based and owned businesses. The point being that the magazine refocuses readers on their local community and helps reconnect people to people in an age of increasing outsourcing.

The editor of each section will have a blog on the magazine’s website that is updated weekly with their thoughts and interests. The editors can promote concerts, review art shows and movies, or comment on personal experiences as it pertains to the mission of UN-.

The magazine used the font Bauhaus 93 for the titles, section names, and page numbers in varying sizes and tracking. All body copy is in size 10 Vrinda and the bylines are in size 8 Vrinda with a 10 degree slant.

The page size is 8 inches by 8.5 inches. The page is almost square which makes the viewer uneasy and the eye at first assumes the page is square. This reflects how society feels about un-classified art.

The magazine will cost $3.25 and will be sold at newsstands, bookstores, and by subscription.

The magazine will be printed on recycled paper and with soy inks locally to reduce it’s environmental impact. (Regular magazine paper is non-recyclable.)

Artists included in the first issue will be Sang Duk Nam, Emiliano Rios, Alex Gortman, and Teknique.

Sang Duk Nam is an undergraduate at UC Riverside. He grew up in Santa Monica. He uses shoes as his canvas He uses a combination of permanent marker, spray-paint, and acrylic paints to decorate Van’s shoes. Despite the huge market for hand-painted shoes he refuses to sell them. “They are just part of my style,” he says.

Emiliano Rios is an undergraduate at UCLA. He supplements his scholarship with a guitar slide business. He takes the empty wine bottles from his job at a restaurant and cuts off the bottles’ necks. He then exchanges the neck-less bottles for bottles with necks at his local recycling center. The bottlenecks are sanded until smooth and then sandblasted with the desired design. Rios also makes vases out of the wine bottles.

Alex Gortman is a painter living in Silver Lake. He paints self-portraits as a reflection on his experience growing up and living in Los Angeles and surrounding counties. He also owns a gallery which only shows artists that have never had a show before.

Teknique is an infamous local graffiti artist. He grew up in Venice Beach where he learned his art. He currently lives in Inglewood, where he has started a community group that uses graffiti art to beautify public parks and buildings.

Section writers:

(un-seen)

Emily Price has been quite the force on Los Angeles’ social scene for the last ten years. Since she turned sixteen there has hardly been a significant event where Price hasn’t been. She knows all the art school deans, museum curators, gallery and club owners by first names.

(un-discovered)

Craig Kern is a local artist living in Northridge. He does mostly sculpture out of recycled and industrial materials, such as rebar and plastic soda bottles. He has a degree in journalism from California State University Northridge.

Lisa Gurwitz is an undergraduate at OTIS majoring in graphic design.

(un-dergound)

Jon Peterson has owned a boutique on Rodeo drive and a club in West Hollywood for the last fifteen years. If anyone has seen the passage of fads and progression of fashion it is him. He has described the transition from Emo to Indie as the transition from black and white TV to color TV.

Inkyeong Cho lives in Little Tokyo. She works for American Apparel. She researches culture trends and how they can be incorporated into fashion.

(un-wrap)

Jenna Durik went to Cal Arts. She spent the last five years living in New York and critiquing art. She has returned home to take a post at UCLA’s Department of Art as one of the youngest professors.

Nathan Maker lives in Santa Monica and teaches art to elementary students. He says he does it for the health benefits. He is notorious for discovering and cultivating talent in his workshops. He likes to spend his weekends surfing in Orange County and has recently picked up skate boarding. He just started a skateboard line.

design for magazine:artmag2.pdf