Days are darker and the nights are booming. Twin’s latest issue let’s you in on a secret: the party is right here.
Stories by Clare Shilland, Damien Krisl, Anya Holdstock, Jacob McFadden, and Zoe Taylor bring sparkle, creativity, chaos and play. It’s an extravaganza of colour and volume. Experimentation is irresistible. Control yourself, we dare you. In fashion Ward & Kweskin chronicle chill days by the sea, soaking up sun and surf. In ‘The Gaze’ Valerio Spada and Michelle Cameron capture a sense of languishing and longing – the art of hanging out. While Iris Humm and Anna Schiffel present massive energy in ‘Print Power’. After all, why be minimal when you could be major?
It’s a time for re-imagining the ordinary and taking new perspectives on what seems familiar. Kate Neave talks to artist Marina Faust about documenting life behind the scenes at Maison Margiela for the last 20 years, and her practice of reworking iconic pieces and challenging the function of everyday objects. In ‘Balade’, curator Carina Bukuts invites us to look twice at the neighbourhood of Charlottenburg, and explains how a new exhibition explores the history and present of the neighbourhood, as well as its possible futures. And Emily Chancey spotlights on The Community, a collective breathing new life into Paris.
Rethinking what we know got us thinking about heritage too. In an essay about her grandmother, Lara Johnson-Wheeler writes about memory nostalgia and the beautiful confusion of Anglo Indian dress codes, and how clothes connect us to our past. Daphne Milner speaks to the next generation of London-based talent, Feben, Marie Lueder and Wesley Harriott about reimagining the past for the future – photographed by Tami Aftab and Harry Ecroyd.Thinking about our roots in nature, Dr Ihnji Jon Lecturer in International Urban Politics talks about her book ‘Cities in the Anthropocene’ and the tensions and opportunities of environmental activism in cities. And photographer Paolo Zerbini explores similar ideas in a stunning visual series that goes deep into our everyday connections with the natural world. Plus, Lucy Bourton chats with Faye Webster about her new album.
2020 hasn’t given us much to laugh about, but it has changed our experience of time and space. This year we’ve slowed down, ground to a halt, accelerated, activated, organised, experienced deep grief and pure joy all at once, sometimes at the same time. With a global pandemic keeping most people at home, we invited contributors to explore their surroundings, to work with what they had around them.
The result is Twin’s personal issue, and we’re honoured and excited to have been able to create such a rich, intimate, thought provoking magazine at this genuinely strange and largely unprecedented time (remember when that wasn’t the opening line to every single email…?) thanks to the independent, dynamic spirit of our contributors.
At 26 years old, Dilone is one of the leading models in fashion, and wields her influence powerfully. Our cover star model and activist explores the power of protest and community in an interview with Jordan Anderson. The brilliant Leah Thomas, founder of the Intersectional Environmentalism movement, drills into systemic racism within environmentalism. She explains why activism needs work across social justice and sustainability in order to make impactful change, with portraits by Nolwen Cifuentes. And in ‘Words and Pictures’ photographer Jermaine Francis and director Akinola Davies discuss Francis’ portraits of graffiti that were taken during lockdown in London and how they embody our political reality.
2020 is a time to celebrate radical visionaries, so in this issue you’ll also find a rare interview with the iconic Californian pioneer of performance and print, Barbara T. Smith. Kate Neave profiles the inspirational installations of Dominique White. Also, Jess Clark talks to Byredo founder Ben Gorham and beauty maverick and artist Isamaya Ffrench about future colour theory. Photographer Sharif Hamza captures moments of fleeting beauty, style icon Tziporah Salamon, captured by Ben Rayner, offers a love letter to New York post-lockdown. At home, Lara Johnson-Wheeler delivers a love letter to romance and recipes, while in ‘Subversive Skin’, Isabella Davey profiles the new designers changing underwear.
And so much more! As winter looms, get up close & personal with this latest issue; be inspired and energised to face this brave new world we’re in.
“As soon as you can crawl, you are put on a mat to train” quotes Kauan Gracie, recalling her earliest memory to stylist Beatriz Maués. The Gracies’ first female run Jiu-Jitsu academy celebrates the art of self defence through dance and sisterhood – shot by Liberto Filló and styled by Beatriz Maués. The Gracies set the scene for issue 22, where focus, determination and individual spirit are recurring themes throughout our features.
Supermodel Carolyn Murphy covers Twin’s latest issue in an existential polar journey, shot by Hans Neumann. Paolo Such takes a walk with metal rapper Dana Dentata in LA and Stefanie Mosshammer covers the world’s fashion waste with an anthropomorphic clothing series. Molly Matalon explores sex and intimacy and Clare Shilland dreams of space and speed.
Elsewhere we catch up with the prodigal theatre director Ola Ince who’s fresh from a run at The Donmar and about to tackle Shakespeare’s finest at The Globe; rising star Sophie Leseberg Smith talks the music of poetry and Rochelle White and Hamed Maiye talk the power of food through their creative platform, Eating At the Same Table.
We profile rising Scandinavian artist Ragna Bley and get into the detailed perfection of Ron Nagle’s art. Liv Siddall welcomes the lunar return of The Big Moon and Kate Neave presents the daring feminist art of Harmony Hammond. And the radical vision of Tara Joshi, Otegha Uwagba, Valeria Napoleone and Daisy Walker are celebrated in ‘She Said Boom’.
Open from the 25th October to the 4th November, Poem of the Pillow is an exhibition that readdresses a patriarchal past from a female perspective, by incorporating elements of art history.
Helmed by artists Beatrice Lettice Boyle and Jessie Makinson, the collection of works also brings forth tropes of Shunga, the historic Japanese art of erotic prints. Shunga depicts explicit erotic illustrations on woodblock prints, which are frequently tender and humorous, and historically intended for both men and women of all classes to enjoy. In this egalitarian art form, women are not passive spectators or permission givers, but are active participants in the sexual encounters.
As is the way in Shunga, Boyle and Makinson give women agency in their work. Their figures hold sexual power and disrupt societal standards and expectations. Using feminine references unapologetically, their artworks embody confident contemporary feminist practices.
Twitter
Tumblr
YouTube
Facebook
Instagram
