Culture
Clavicular isn’t interesting, really
Dreaming Small — The ‘looksmaxxer’ of the moment has garnered widespread furore over recent controversies. But newsletter columnist Emma Garland asks whether the 20-year-old influencer is actually doing anything that new, and what his rise says about modern turbo-nostalgia’s internet dominance.
Written by: Emma Garland
The strange suburban mundanity of San Fernando Valley’s porn industry
The Valley — Legendary photographer Larry Sultan grew up in the northern Los Angeles suburb, which also happened to be the 20th century epicentre of the country’s adult film industry. Spending days on set shooting life behind the scenes, his now-canon series blurred fantasy, desire and domesticity.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Historic photographs from the heyday of the Black press
Black Photojournalism — A new book immortalises the work of 57 Black photographers reporting in the mid-20th century for Black newspapers and magazines. Covering the Civil Rights Movement, Jesse Jackson and more, the pictures are part history, part art.
Written by: Miss Rosen
Swan Moon’s cinematic portrait of growing up Korean in ’90s Los Angeles
Self reflections — Picking up her first camera at the age of eight, the photographer took countless shots of her life, friends and city to help make sense of her surroundings. Her new photobook looks back on those formative years.
Written by: Miss Rosen
Greer Lankton’s dolls are more human than you think
Could It Be Love — A staple figure in New York’s ’80s East Village scene, her art shocked and confronted. Now, three decades after her death, a new monograph anthologises her work, which explores the darker sides of human life, but also finds beauty within the strange.
Written by: Miss Rosen
What is a mommy kink, and why is everyone a mother now?
Mommy issues — In an extract from the second issue of PULP, a new erotic, queer zine, Megan Wallace dives into why mothers are currently the ‘kink du jour’.
Written by: Megan Wallace
Glaswegian life, captured over 80 years of redevelopment and flux
Still Glasgow — An expansive new GoMA exhibition, curated by Katie Bruce, explores culture and people in the Scottish city, from its post-war tenement communities to its busking musicians.
Written by: Zoe Whitfield
In photos: The colourful, foreboding techno-optimism of the ’90s
A Visual History — Henry Carroll’s new book traces the roots of unfettered, present-day neoliberalism through images from the 20th century’s final decade, raising questions about how we arrived at where we are today.
Written by: Miss Rosen
Uncovering the not-so-subtle queerness of Mexican rodeos
JARIPEO — A new experimental film by Rebecca Zweig and Efraín Mojica explores the looks, embraces and brushes of skin contact in which LGBTQ+ desire manifests at the traditionally hyper-masculine events.
Written by: Isaac Muk
Dredging and drifting with the last wild oyster fishermen of the River Fal
Cornish pearls — Using only the power of the wind and centuries-old traditional techniques, harvesting oysters in the last wild fishery in England is a sustainable, yet dying, practice. Jack Burke goes trawling with Jason, one of the few keeping it alive, to find out more.
Written by: Jack Burke
