ARTIST: HISHAM AKIRA BHAROOCHA • TITLE: DEAR DEER • SIZE: 20.35 X 28.26 CM • MEDIUM: COLLAGE ON PAPER • DATE: 2015
SNOW Contemporary [Tokyo/Japan] *SNOW Contemporary will move the space in June. For details, please check our website. tel: +81 (0)50 1148 7964 • email: snow@officekubota.com • web: snowcontemporary.com
ANGELIKI PAPOULIA BY BRUNA KAZINOTI
Cactus
Colophon
Publishers Giovanni Grosso Luca Smorgon Valeria Peschechera Editors & Art Direction Giovanni Grosso gianni@cactusdigitale.com
Luca Smorgon luca@cactusdigitale.com
Graphic Designer Valeria Peschechera
Associate Editor Simone Rossi
valeria@cactusdigitale.com
simone@cactusdigitale.com
Intern Giulia Caratti Cover Talent - Kevin Brennan Photographer - Lowe H Segel Fashion - Gucci
Advertising
Social Media Instagram
adv@cactusdigitale.com
@cactusdigital
Distribution
ISBN 979-12-200-1009-2
distribution@cactusdigitale.com
Cactus Via Giuseppe Meda, 43 Milano, 20141 - Italy cactusdigitale.com Cactus is a publishing project focusing on fashion, photography and the visual arts. With the belief that the imagery is the most suitable instrument to inspect contemporaneity, Cactus deals with visual culture making seriously fun on it, with a stimulating and provocative attitude.
Cactus is printed on Arctic Volume Ivory 115 gsm, Serixo offset 120 gsm (inside pages) and Serixo offset 240 gsm (cover), by Design and Publishing JSC KOPA, Kaunas, Lithuania. Cactus is published by Cactus Digitale. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole part without written permission from the copyright holder. All releases are the responsibility of the contributor.
Š Cactus Digitale, Milano 2016. All rights reserved.
ISSUE #02
006
240
SS2016
Arratia Beer | Potsdamerstrasse 87 | 10785 Berlin | www.arratiabeer.com
ISSUE #02
Contributors
ALESSANDRO BENETTI ALICE ROSATI ALINA ASMUS ANDREA SERVERT ANDY MASSACCESI BRUNA KAZINOTI DAVIDE MENEGHELLO DR. ME ED FORNIELES ESTELLE HANANIA FANNY LATOUR LAMBERT FENG CHEN WANG HISHAM AKIRA BHAROOCHA IVO SEKULOVSKI LOUISA GAGLIARDI LOWE H SEGER Cactus
009
240
SS2016
ISSUE #02
Contributors
LU YANG LUCA CAMPRI MALIKA RAYEVA MARTA FRANCESCHINI MARTINA MOTTA MATTIAS BJORKLUND MAURO D’AGATI MIHO KAJIOKA NADIA + ZEHRA PAUL JUNG PICZO RENATO D’AGOSTIN SABRINA CIOFI YANN FAUCHER ISSUE #02
010
240
SS2016
Dr. Me
ISSUE #02
012
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Dr. Me
013
240
SS2016
ISSUE #02
014
240
platform for rising stars and not only; we celebrate the flair
that perfectly describes us. We like to think of CACTUS as a
produced for us – our distinguishing sign – to realize a magazine
round two. So we mixed and matched all the images that they
by new talents and by those who decided to support us in
to build another issue that we perceive as a family, composed
As in the past, our constant and unstoppable research allows us
and artworks.
people of the present through photography, fashion, drawings
into the here and now, making an issue that relates to the
sight of it. We looked backward and forward but supremely
back our old “book of ideas” to pursue our goal, never losing
runs against what we have been told to do, we decided to take
part of the job. Following our intuition, even if sometimes it
as you are putting together an issue that are the most gratifying
organize and predict. But it is often the surprises that emerge
As editors, we like to make plans. We like to make decisions,
Cactus Editors’ letter
SS2016
and genius of art’s most brilliant creators. CACTUS is an ode
to the creative talents of the moment and to those from the
past. But it is also a magazine edited understanding who’s who in the next generation.
So everything was ready to be put together for the new
issue. But sometimes, things change randomly. Learning from
experience, in that moment, you have to be ready to create
again — regenerate and think again. Without planning. There
is something very comforting in the idea of creating – but as
important as it is to be in control and to execute, it is also
important to be open and to follow the inspiration and the
direction, wherever it may lead to. Created with joy, diligence,
grace, sacrifice and a dash of humor we dedicate this Issue
to those who have supported it and we hope you enjoy it as much as we do.
CACTUS
SS2016
240
015
ISSUE #02
Editors’ letter Cactus
Cactus
Hisham Akira Bharoocha
Courtesy of the artist & SNOW Contemporary - Tokyo ISSUE #02
016
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Hisham Akira Bharoocha
017
240
SS2016
Cactus
Ed Fornieles - Davide Meneghello
Courtesy of the artist & ARRATIA BEER - Berlin ISSUE #02
018
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Malika Rayeva
019
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Feng Chen Wang
020
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Feng Chen Wang
021
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Estelle Hanania
022
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Estelle Hanania
023
240
SS2016
PHOTOGRAPHER - YANN FAUCHER STYLIST - LU PHILIPPE GUILMETTE MODELS - JEAN-LOUP LEBLANC-ROY & MAXIME BERTRAND
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Yann Faucher
Top ALAN CROCETTI Chaps LAZOSCHMIDL Boots MAISON MARGIELA
024
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Yann Faucher
025
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Yann Faucher
026
240
SS2016
Cactus
Yann Faucher
Shirt, trousers & belt HELMUT LANG Hat MAISON MICHEL Scarf ROCKINS Boots ANGELS THE COSTUMIERS
ISSUE #02
027
240
SS2016
Cactus
Simone Rossi
When the majority of artistic, photographic and fashion publishing defines its own approach to the matter unconventional, we try to be ununconventional. We find media and editorial structures, which usually link different visual culture disciplines, to be even more annoying because of outdated compartments that constrict different fields, making visual communication boring. CACTUS is a type of plant, which, in its barren ornamental immobility, is able to preserve inner life and to record everything passing through. At the same time, it keeps the whole reality out, thanks to its spines. Like Fernando Pessoa’s heteronym Bernardo Soares, CACTUS is actually our own identity “minus ratiocination and affection”. In a useful attitude. CACTUS’ eye records the imagery flow that pervades our daily life. It brings subjects together and shakes them continuously, avoiding mental automatisms of partitioning and cataloguing — ISSUE #02
030
240
SS2016
Cactus
Simone Rossi
which blind the mind. Far from being a passive organ
and
following
a
prearranged
method,
CACTUS, then, enters the second step: filtering elements to satisfy the critical sense of our imageseaten readers. With no dividing sections and strict themes, contents are developed by the power of accordance and discordance, building up a path that is born to be tickling and provocative. Texts and written contributions are placed as service stations where you can rest and relax, enjoying insightful considerations about contemporaneity. In the fruitful period the printed matter is going through (a new independent magazine issue is released every week, at least!), CACTUS tries to cope with the present making seriously fun of it — as much as an excited and inquiring teenager does with his dapper seasoned veteran older brother. There is a chance that the overwhelming visual flux could provoke excitement. Please, pay attention. Enjoy the reading. ISSUE #02
031
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Yann Faucher
032
240
SS2016
PHOTOGRAPHER - YANN FAUCHER STYLIST - LU PHILIPPE GUILMETTE MODELS - JEAN-LOUP LEBLANC-ROY & MAXIME BERTRAND
SS2016
240
033
ISSUE #02
Yann Faucher Cactus
Hat MAISON MICHEL
Cactus
Yann Faucher
Shirt LAZOSCHMIDL Vest JEAN-PAUL GAULTIER FROM HOUSE OF LIZA Trousers JOHN GALLIANO FROM HOUSE OF LIZA Hat MAISON MICHEL
ISSUE #02
034
240
SS2016
Cactus
Yann Faucher
Scarf ROCKINS Hat ANGELS THE COSTUMIERS Jeans & ring MODEL’S OWN Belt STYLIST’S OWN
ISSUE #02
035
240
SS2016
Cactus
Lu Yang
Courtesy of the artist & BEIJING COMMUNE - Beijing ISSUE #02
036
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Lu Yang
037
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Yann Faucher
038
240
SS2016
Cactus
Yann Faucher PHOTOGRAPHER - YANN FAUCHER STYLIST - LU PHILIPPE GUILMETTE MODELS - JEAN-LOUP LEBLANC-ROY & MAXIME BERTRAND
Hat ANGELS THE COSTUMIERS Boots MAISON MARGIELA Backpack & belt STYLIST’S OWN Jeans MODEL’S OWN
ISSUE #02
039
240
SS2016
Cactus
Yann Faucher
Shirt LAZOSCHMIDL Hat MAISON MICHEL Trousers RUFFO BY RAF SIMONS Belt & keychain HELMUT LANG Boots ANGELS THE COSTUMIERS
ISSUE #02
040
240
SS2016
Cactus
Yann Faucher
Shirt & vest JEAN-PAUL GAULTIER FROM HOUSE OF LIZA Hat ANGELS THE COSTUMIERS Necklace ALAN CROCETTI
ISSUE #02
041
240
SS2016
Cactus
Andrea Paul Jung Servert
I was utterly shocked a few days ago. I decided – out of that refusal, when you’re in bed with the lights off and the phone in your hand, to finally try and sleep– to check the pictures I had liked on Instagram. The surprise was that I couldn’t recall, not only having liked those pictures, but having seen them at all. I was aware that sometimes I gave the precious heart to photos just for the sake of it, but I almost laughed out loud thinking I couldn’t remember having seen that certain image about five minutes ago. Besides that experience making me more conscious when liking, forcing myself to scroll, at the very least, slower, it is also a proper starting point for this little discussion. (At this point, let me suggest you to check the “Posts You’ve Liked” on Instagram, to see if you get in the same mood). When first considering the idea of UNconventional, I made the mistake of thinking: “right, the unconventional is good because it’s new.” But after some pillow talk (and a bit of insta-scrolling), I realised I was completely missing the point. Over information, speed, lack of attention: that’s the background we all know we live in. A liquid society, as it has rightly been catalogued. When trying to express that idea in the context of fashion, I’ve imagined myself in the back seat of a car, driving down any street in the world with nice shop windows. You see those windows, all the nice things behind them, the people walking, and you’re delighted at how nice they look. And yet the car obviously doesn’t let you see something else than a mishmash of colours, textures, and maybe some flesh. In this swimming pool of superficial beauty (liquid society-pun intended), the UNconventional interrupts, not as a breeze of fresh air (what I wrongly thought of as the “new”), but as what in Spanish we call aguadilla (when someone holds your head under the water, as a sort of teenage joke). The UN-fashion is not the next in or it – it is that slap that makes you stop scrolling uncontrollably. Our eye looks, with surprise, at that incomprehensible aesthetic, starting to realise there is something radically real about it. Something way more honest than the 99% of our newsfeeds. And, more importantly, our eye wants to decipher it. We value the UN- because it asks us the questions we’re too dumb to ask ourselves. It’s that punch of deepness we’ve been missing for a bit too long now. I wasn’t aware of how much I desired that something would force me to feel lost. In this beautiful swimming pool I was talking about, being obliged to dive deeper searching for meanings is utterly fun. And it’s not even about coming to conclusions, or finding great philosophical statements – it’s about the joy of the search, the endlessly enriching process of questioning yourself and the world you think you know. I encourage you to be punched in the faces by the radicality of the honest, but friends, be aware that the dullness of insta-scrolling won’t be so delightful anymore.
ISSUE #02
042
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Paul Jung
043
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Paul Jung
044
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Paul Jung
045
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Paul Jung
046
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Paul Jung
047
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Paul Jung
050
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Paul Jung
051
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Piczo
052
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Piczo
053
240
SS2016
Cactus
Ed Fornieles - Davide Meneghello
Courtesy of the artist & ARRATIA BEER - Berlin ISSUE #02
054
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Ed Fornieles - Davide Meneghello
055
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Luca Campri
056
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Luca Campri
057
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Dr. Me
058
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Dr. Me
059
240
SS2016
PHOTOGRAPHER - ALICE ROSATI STYLIST - SHINO SUGANUMA HAIR - RORY RICE MAKE UP - ANNA MARIA NEGRI
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Alice Rosati
060
240
SS2016
MODEL - SUZY LEENARS @REBEL MANAGEMENT CASTING DIRECTOR - NEILL SEITO ALL CLOTHES - MISSONI
SS2016
240
061
ISSUE #02
Alice Rosati Cactus
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Alice Rosati
062
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Alice Rosati
063
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Alice Rosati
064
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Alice Rosati
065
240
SS2016
Cactus
Marta Franceschini
What does it mean to be against? After Jean Francois Lyotard declared ‘the end of great narratives’ in 1979, much has been said about the fluidity of the world we live in, the value of juxtapositions, the relevance of pastiches in art, design, and culture more generally. And still, we are here dealing with what opposes, what goes against, what ‘is not’. The fall of monolithic truths showed how the idea of modernity as a positive reality was flawed. One of the main push for the emergence of modernity was given by what contrasted it from within; Mark Wigley has individuated the force opposing to the progressive view of modernism as ‘the other’: a creative force, in his view expressed by fashion, that recalls the opposition between light and dark, masculine and feminine, Apollo and Dionysus. Even if we tried to reject them many times, we are still reflecting through binaries, while actually reality now seems neither split in two, nor fragmented in postmodern pieces. The images and signs of countercultures speak of the aesthetic norm of the mainstream; however, it is hard to go against something that is really difficult to define in itself, as the millennial mainstream, which is very fast in taking up the oppositions and make them profitable parts of itself. Nevertheless, people still actively oppose their own definition of mainstream; the very first instrument they have to attempt these responses is their body. The body is the canvas on which to draw messages and impress signs, its modifications serving as visual traits to express ideas. It is also the way to experience
ISSUE #02
066
240
SS2016
Cactus
Marta Franceschini
the world and understand its boundaries. The activism present in the act of being ‘against’ – for the time made possible by the fastconsuming mainstream – makes the body the stage onto which to perform identity, and in this conforms to the idea of passivity Foucault talked about. What does a tanned body express, what does one covered in tattoos? We might see these expressions as personal reaction to life, or as responses to a limit imposed by an overwhelming structure that is constantly re–defined by each person, according to their life and experiences. The products of ‘countercultural movements’ – to include all the expressions performing against the rather nebulous definition of mainstream – don’t hold the same ‘shock’ potential they used to; they are a contrast medium, injectable in each monolithic definition of ‘culture’ or ‘society’, but because of the velocity with which they go ‘viral’, most often they become part of the mainstream they were trying to contrast; in proposing themselves as a negation, they become the positive counterparts to what they face. In this view, what negates culture is what ultimately defines it, blurring the boundaries between what is and what is not. Ultimately the force of these products – be it images, objects, or performances expressing their dislike for what they consider their ‘against’ – lays not in the way they resist the mainstream in the first place, but in their ability to resist their mainstreamification, and to still provoke reactions. A new definition of heroism, bound to time and space, which shapes the way contrasts are perceived, considered and delivered.
ISSUE #02
067
240
SS2016
PHOTOGRAPHER - ALICE ROSATI STYLIST - SHINO SUGANUMA HAIR - RORY RICE MAKE UP - ANNA MARIA NEGRI
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Alice Rosati
068
240
SS2016
Cactus
Alice Rosati
MODEL - SUZY LEENARS @REBEL MANAGEMENT CASTING DIRECTOR - NEILL SEITO ALL CLOTHES - MISSONI
ISSUE #02
069
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Alice Rosati
070
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Alice Rosati
071
240
SS2016
Cactus
Lu Yang
Courtesy of the artist & BEIJING COMMUNE - Beijing ISSUE #02
072
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Bruna Kazinoti
073
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Bruna Kazinoti
074
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Malika Rayeva
075
240
SS2016
Cactus
Ed Fornieles - Davide Meneghello
Courtesy of the artist & ARRATIA BEER - Berlin ISSUE #02
076
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Nadia + Zehra
077
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Estelle Hanania
078
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Estelle Hanania
079
240
SS2016
Cactus
Miho Kajioka
Courtesy of the artist & Galerie VU’ - Paris ISSUE #02
080
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Piczo
081
240
SS2016
PHOTOGRAPHER - MATTIAS BJORKLUND STYLIST - DESI LAZAROVA HAIR - YUSUKE MORIOKA MAKE UP - NATALIA KISELEV MODEL - EMBREY @WILHELMINA
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Mattias Bjorklund
Coat & Trousers XANDER ZHOU Shoes MIU MIU
082
240
SS2016
Cactus
Mattias Bjorklund
Jacket NASIR MAZHAR Trousers LOU DALTON
ISSUE #02
083
240
SS2016
Cactus
Mattias Bjorklund
Shirt XANDER ZHOU Skirt MIU MIU
ISSUE #02
084
240
SS2016
Cactus
Mattias Bjorklund
Coat & Trousers CLAIRE BARROW Shoes MIU MIU ISSUE #02
085
240
SS2016
Cactus
Mattias Bjorklund
Jacket JITROIS Trousers PALMER HARDING Key Ring MIU MIU
ISSUE #02
088
240
SS2016
PHOTOGRAPHER - MATTIAS BJORKLUND STYLIST - DESI LAZAROVA HAIR - YUSUKE MORIOKA MAKE UP - NATALIA KISELEV MODEL - EMBREY @WILHELMINA
SS2016
240
089
ISSUE #02
Mattias Bjorklund Cactus
Jacket NASIR MAZHAR Shirt PALMER HARDING Trousers LOU DALTON Shoes MIU MIU
Cactus
Mattias Bjorklund
Trousers SOLACE LONDON
ISSUE #02
090
240
SS2016
Cactus
Mattias Bjorklund
Waistcoat & Trousers CLAIRE BARROW
ISSUE #02
091
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Luca Campri
092
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Luca Campri
093
240
SS2016
PHOTOGRAPHER - IVO SEKULOVSKI STYLIST - CACTUS TEAM GROOMING - SARA BUSAN
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Ivo Sekulovski
096
240
SS2016
MODEL - MAX @MILK MODEL MANAGEMENTFASHION - ALL CLOTHES WALTER VAN BEIRENDONCK
SS2016
240
097
ISSUE #02
Ivo Sekulovski Cactus
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Ivo Sekulovski
098
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Ivo Sekulovski
099
240
SS2016
Cactus
Renato D’Agostin
Courtesy of the artist & MC2 Gallery - Milan ISSUE #02
100
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Renato D’Agostin
101
240
SS2016
PHOTOGRAPHER - IVO SEKULOVSKI STYLIST - CACTUS TEAM GROOMING - SARA BUSAN
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Ivo Sekulovski
102
240
SS2016
MODEL - MAX @MILK MODEL MANAGEMENTFASHION - ALL CLOTHES BY WALTER VAN BEIRENDONCK
SS2016
240
103
Cactus - Back issue
Ivo Sekulovski Cactus
Cactus
Miho Kajioka
Courtesy of the artist & Galerie VU’ - Paris ISSUE #02
104
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Dr. Me
105
240
SS2016
PHOTOGRAPHER - IVO SEKULOVSKI STYLIST - CACTUS TEAM GROOMING - SARA BUSAN
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Ivo Sekulovski
106
240
SS2016
MODEL - MAX @MILK MODEL MANAGEMENTFASHION - ALL CLOTHES BY WALTER VAN BEIRENDONCK
SS2016
240
107
ISSUE #02
Ivo Sekulovski Cactus
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Dr. Me
108
240
SS2016
Cactus
ISSUE #02
Dr. Me
109
240
SS2016