E D I TO R ’ S L E T T E R
b y An d re a Bl a nch
The thought of doing a Science issue made me uneasy. Be-
epic proportions. Good friends, Steve Miller and Longo,
sides dissecting frogs and dating an immunologist, I was
discuss everything from nuclear bombs, to wave theory,
completely out of my comfort zone. Though, I realized,
to the blackboard in Einstein’s office. Pioneer and video
as new discoveries and images abound on a daily basis,
veteran, Bill Viola, with the assistance and support of his
science is the new sexy.
partner and executive studio director, Kira Perov, takes a
To produce this issue I called on my panel of experts:
more spiritual route, meditating on universal and ephem-
Steve Miller, a multi-media artist with numerous solo mu-
eral themes that come to life in his work. With a slew of
seum exhibitions, the author of several books, and who
imitators, no one shapes time quite as masterfully as he.
has worked in this area longer than anyone else I know –
At a friend’s cocktail party, I was introduced to Adam
without his help this issue would not be what it is; Marvin
Fuss. The Beatle’s quote, ‘I get by with a little help from
Heiferman, photography expert, curator, this issue’s guest
my friends,’ seems to be a running theme in the making
editor, and author of Photography Changes Everything; and
of this issue. Through Fuss’s work we return to traditional
Arthur Miller, author of Einstein, Picasso and Insights of Ge-
methods of photography. He created the largest daguerre-
nius, to name a few, who knows more about art than any
otype ever made and employs camera-less work – a har-
physicist I’ve encountered.
kening back to early photo-gram techniques.
I was having dinner with my friend William J. Simmons
Our younger artists, can be found on the pulse of the public
who writes for such publications as Art Forum, Interview,
scene. The self-taught Fabien Oefner relies on an inherent
and Crush Fanzine, etc. Upon mentioning the possibility of
swiss-precision to execute scientifically impressive works.
this ‘Science’ issue, he suggested the artist Lynn Hershman
His 2013 TEDTalk garnered him 2 million views and com-
Leeson: groundbreaker, innovator, MacArthur Award ge-
mercial projects with such iconic brands as Ferrari. Our
nius, and one of the original artists – and woman – to work
youngest featured artist, Rachel Rose, wowed me at The
in technology, who, today, is finally getting her due.
Whitney, upon the opening of her first solo exhibition in
The issue had to show, as I said, that science is sexy. It
the U.S. Her video-work that I saw there is mesmerizing.
needs to speak to the appeal and interest that science has
We step into a voyeuristic world with the brilliant Olivier
in our present-day. Belgian artist Wim Delvoye came to
Chanarin and Adam Broomberg, in their newest book Spirit
mind. His sex x-rays, with titles such as Lick, Blow, Kiss,
is a Bone. They create hollow, mask-like portraits taken from
are compelling and audacious. They view sexual acts
Russian facial-recognition software that produce an eerie,
through the internal composition of the body, making us
otherworldly effect. Our cover artist Shamus Clisset, uses the
see – quite literally – sex in an entirely different way.
character Fake Shamus to enter ‘magically’ rendered worlds.
I had seen Tal Danino and Vik Muniz’s presentation of Pe-
Wacky science-fiction and looming predictions of our plan-
tri, a project with Le Bernardaud, which imposes bacteria-
et’s future meet on digitally rendered landscapes where Fake
dwelling petri dishes onto porcelain dinnerware. Danino
Shamus, Clisset’s alter-ego, wears many costumes.
and Muniz’s collaboration becomes an important resource
Isaac Newton once said, “Energy is neither created nor
for the public and art world. As Delvoye re-visualizes sex,
destroyed, but transferred into different forms,” which
Danino and Muniz encourage us to see and think about
is why this issue feels powerful and essential. I love the
bacteria differently.
process of discovery, which is what this issue is all about:
One may ask, why Robert Longo? Why not Robert Longo?
a new, rich territory for making art. We can’t know where
His art so deftly transforms photographs into hyper-real-
this energy will take us in the future, but I know I want to
istic drawings: sculptural excavations in charcoal of truly
be there to see it.
Robert Longo. Untitled (Home, Earth 3), 2005.
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