Jumping Spider.
I watched Emerica's Green yesterday. Collin's got quite the command of ollies and tricks in ditches and other crusty spots.
I recently picked up an issue of Closer, the new magazine by Jaime Owens. Jaime formerly worked at Transworld and Skateboarder before starting this project. Closer draws inspiration from both departed magazines. He recognized what worked well and used that as the starting point for something new. The graphic design is a contemporary adaptation of late 80s/very early 90s Transworlds with a bit of a nod to what they did in the 2000s.
Closer is 100 pages and perfect bound. The size is 8.25" by 10.875". It's printed on heavier stock that looks and feels great. There are ads, but it isn't dominated by advertising. Real, Converse, Black Label, Strangelove, New Balance, Adidas, Toy Machine, Anti-Hero, and a few more paid to get in on the action. Some companies used their regular ads and others came up with something different than what they run in Thrasher.
I decided to buy Issue 3 from the Winter of 2022. It has Louie Lopez switch backside kickflipping a trash can in a unique photo by Matt Price for the cover. There's an interview with Nelly Morville that led me to pick this one as the test copy. For content, Closer features a healthy mix of current skateboarding and historical anecdotes. The photos look amazing and many of the compositions mirror 80s/90s photos that are cropped tightly with the skater filling the frame. It's flat out nice to see some different takes on skate pictures. The photos are also a mix of new and old, with some unseen gems from the past. Eric Swisher of Chrome Ball Incident fame is doing interviews and if you think his interviews are awesome online, you should read them in print. He has another great conversation with Josh Kalis in this issue. The mag also features the standard photo section and a couple lists/one page interviews that were common in Transworld and Skateboarder.
I know people are kind of skeptical about Closer because the price of an issue is $20.00 plus shipping. The shipping cost added a bit more, too. For comparison purposes, an issue of ArtForum is $16.99 and a subscription to Art in America is $99.95 for a year, which might be down to under eight issues. Thrasher is holding at $5.99 per copy. I think an issue is worth the cost, but I'm also maybe not going to grab every copy if I've got other things to pay for in a given month. And for me personally, I have piles and piles of magazines, 'zines, and books that sit around not being read so adding to the stacks is becoming less appealing each day. At the same time, if I see something that looks cool, I'll grab it.
Thrasher - February 2020 Volume 41 Number 2
2 comments:
That can't be Collin...there's no beer cans in the shot.
Also I looked into getting an issue of Closer, maybe the Chico interview, but the shipping to Canada was steep, it was either get the mag or the operation Tiny Tim needed, couldn't do both.
I honestly worry about Collin sometimes. I've been a fan since his Made part.
I wonder if Closer will get some shop distribution in the future?
Yeah, shipping is bizarre. I'm always ordering records/tapes and it's either very high or it seems too low. Jaime put the mag in an envelope himself and wrote a thank you note on it so I guess that helps.
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