The current issue of Empty (15)Empty is an excellent magazine, and I am happy to say it is Australian and not from a distant decade. This publication doesn't waste valuable page space on the verbal flatulence that you would find in more quoit-centric art mags. Apart from an occasional interview (with Michel Gondry in this issue, no less) and some reviews at the back, Empty's art unfurls uninterrupted across its pages in a sophisticated sprawl of light and night by unbelievably talented artists from around the globe.
Its international pull is fucking amazing, especially considering the magazine is only distributed in Australia. And I was going to say how it meshes the constructs of curator and editor, and why couldn't these guys be running a new Biennale, but then I realised they are the masterminds of Sydney's Semi-Permanent design festival. Which makes total sense. Please make that festival cheaper so I can go.
Kudos to Editor Andrew Johnstone for the cheery announcement "NOW MORE EXPENSIVE!" on the cover, and an eloquent editorial extrapolation on the pains of independent publishing in the Fi-Cri epoch and the subsequent need to raise the RRP ($14.99 to $19.99). It's ballsy, and gives credit to a conscious readership – more than I can say for many magazines that silently increase their price or are suddenly patch-worked with advertising.
Is that the same ant crossing my keyboard or are there scores of you about this filthy table? I digress.
Empty is moving up. The most recent issue (above) contains great, intricate oil paintings and less illustration; perhaps a move away from poppy street stuff, and defining itself from overseas publications like Juxtapoz. Has the increased cover price effected the design qualities of the publication? The paper, printing and colour are exquisite, and provide a beauteous space for moody double-page spreads.
This is a stunning publication; it is curated with high expectations of work and purveys nothing less. This is no mean task with the plethora of designy doe-eyed girls and bags-of-soil installations that fill our cities' galleries. Empty proves that there are thrilling artworks being produced even in the age of Everybody-Is-An-Artist.
Juxtapoz Issue 76 (May 07)
