Stories
FROM ISSUE Nº 14 – THE Wall
Shadow on the Wall
Shadow on the Walls, a project by researcher and designer Mariam Shamma, tells the story of man-made barriers.
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PLUTOCRAT ARCHIPELAGOS
Razor wire fences, galvanized spikes and electrified perimeters: the barriers that entomb the ultra-rich in their walled settlements isolate them from perpetual violence and societal collapse.
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FROM ISSUE Nº 13 – THE LETTER
WET SPELLS
Symbols and script for weather prediction for a dystopian future.
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YES YES YES! ICE CREAM SO GOOD
Jasmine Erkan on the meaning of memes
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FROM ISSUE Nº 12 – THE Log
Ode to the Log Lady
A cross between a village idiot and an oracle, the Twin Peaks character cradling a piece of wood invites us to look beyond clichés of womanhood.
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Jaguars of Yuruparí
Maps drawn by the indigenous communities of the Yuruparí region of the Amazon reveal a form of cultural cartography that preserves ancestral knowledge, of rivers and forests, of sacred sites and shamanic rituals.
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Sticks, picks &
party tricks
Stirring rods, dowel pins, snack forks and more.
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FROM ISSUE Nº 11 – THE chain
The Baltic Way
In August 1989, around a million people from the Baltic states expressed their desire for independence by joining hands to create ‘The Baltic Way’, a 690 km human chain from Tallinn to Riga to Vilnius.
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Of Male
In the evening lull that fairy tales were fantasised to fill, Bediako Blacksmith delivered the same message to his son every night. “Kwame,” he’d rumble softly, “You must be by the window. Even on the day I die. Even on the day you bury me.”
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FROM ISSUE Nº 10 – THE Bottle
A toast to Ten
To celebrate its tenth issue, MacGuffin invited ten creatives to come up with a label for a fictive bottle. Inspiration for the contents came from a host of sources, ranging from big-billed pelicans to Maori vowel sounds.
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The Fridges of
the Famous
An exclusive asset once kept from the public eye, the celebrity self now invites us to marvel at their homes, and the curated contents of their fridges.
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FROM ISSUE Nº 9 – THE rug
The Carpet and
the Territory
Both sacred ground and profane platform, the prayer rug suspends reality, transports worshippers symbolically elsewhere, and orders the confusion of life into a temporary perfection.
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The Rug is Back
Overheard conversations, afternoons of topless football, and awkward poses in life-drawing class leave a schoolboy riddled with anxiety about the furry growth extending across his neck, shoulders, ...
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FROM ISSUE Nº 8 – THE desk
Mining Above Ground
Ore Streams, a study of e-waste by Studio Formafantasma, includes a range of office furniture assembled from salvaged materials and components that expose the complex relationship between time, industrial production and the musealization of design.
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Drawers
A last resort for things you don’t know where else to put, a half-way house for bits and bobs destined for the dustbin, or a secure store for valuables: drawers are a window to the soul. Eight editors reveal what they have hidden away.
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FROM ISSUE Nº 7 – THE Trousers
LANGUAGE ON LEGS
If you find yourself in the supermarket wearing pyjamas or out on the town in a tuxedo jacket styled with jeans, chances are you’re communicating a fashionable ideal that combines effort and the lack of it: ‘normcore’.
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FROM ISSUE Nº 6 – THE Ball
DELIRIOUS ARCHITECTS AND GLOBES
Inspired by the form of the earth, one shape has haunted architecture and its scientists, humanists and even utopians more than any other since time immemorial: the globe.
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FROM ISSUE Nº 5 – THE Cabinet
SOTTSASS AND
THE MAGIC OF MOBILI
Combining the violent colours of gas stations in America and the mysterious rituals of India, Ettore Sottsass created a cast of cabinet characters ready for the drama of life.
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A LIFE IN CUBES
After a lifetime spent exploring the application of the cube in architecture, art and design, William Graatsma acknowledges that his devotion to this universal form borders on the comical.
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Text by Alessandra Covini
