Issue 9.0
Some changes to discuss: Noted in Spain is now Noted Abroad.
We are experimenting with a news reporting technique. The News category, as well this week’s Film category, discuss current news items and present them in a simple, informative overview. The News category replaces Talking Pancakes.
RIP Talking Pancakes.
Thanks again to Dr. Muffins for taking time out of his busy schedule to keep DSM readers miffed and amused.
More to follow as we continue to experiment. Thanks for reading.
Issue 8.9
This week marks the first installment of Noted in Spain. Noted in Spain documents frequent DSM contributor Charlie Geer’s experiences in Cordoba, Spain, where he is soaking up the culture, riffing on the peculiarities of the Spanish and English languages, and teaching English to Spanish teachers.
Also, be on the lookout for upcoming changes in DSM’s weekly issues, as well as what we offer in terms of content. Somebody said something about print issues coming into play this fall, too. Stay tuned…
Issue 8.2
This week’s 2d contributor Travis Dodd’s work has a message. Below, he explains.
Overall:
The machete campaign is meant to be an awakening. Before you can have change you must organize your participants. And in some cases, make it apparent to those caught in distractions of the modern world, that they are apart of something. Being bound to the laws of time, Gen-X can’t escape its upcoming place in society. The machete campaign brings awareness, dignity, and hope to Gen X while at the same time making it clear to the other generations that the call to arms will be answered.
The Imagery:
The visual history of propaganda is the main catalyst for the work’s imagery. All the images have a sense of excitement in order to grab attention and ultimately start the above dialog. The machete is used as a symbol of survival. The machete characters and their stances are inspired by classical sculpture, most notably, Bernini.Issue 8.1
Here she is to save the day! Gwynne Johnson’s photo editing decided on some choice T&A for this week’s issue. Thanks, Gwynne, and Lily (photographer).
Issue 7.6
A special thanks to frequent photography contributor Gwynne Johnson for her guest editing services in this week’s issue. Rummage through our archives to see her pics. Trust me, stumbling upon them is much more fun than following an easy link.
Issue 7.5
The last week in May and first week of June mark the Piccolo-Spoleto Festival here in Charleston. The festival is two weeks worth of art and performance. To commemorate the festival, as well as the Piccolo Fiction Open, of which DSM took part, we are featuring artists who have brought their creative skills to our streets. The literature in this week’s issue is from Lisa Kerr, a Charleston native and winner of the PFO. Her story is a wry, insightful depiction of emotion and balance, set in high school, in the 80’s.
Additional winners in this year’s PFO include:
Debbie Daniel–Limits (Read it Here)
Audra Brown–Your Father, Frederick
Wilma Reitz–Lost in Murphy’s
Charlie Geer–All Good Things
DSM is also pleased to feature local photographer Jonathan Stout. His pictures of Charleston attractions move beyond the traditional touristy depictions. Instead, his work captures the landmarks and breathes new life into their sturdy bones.
Finally, our 2d section is occupied this week by perhaps the festival’s most acclaimed act. Adrienne and I lucked out and got the last two tickets to their final performance.
Of 1927 Adrienne, our 2d editor, explained,
“In the spirit of Piccolo-Spoleto, I wanted to highlight my favorite act thus far. I am thankful we were able to attend their last show in Charleston, and I hope someday to see them again. Check out their site to see what I mean: http://www.19-27.co.uk/. It’s just plain incredible! While it is not technically 2D, it is inspiring to anyone who creates. I thought I should share it.
1927 is a performance group from London. The four piece, traveling group is part silent film, part cabaret. Clever illustrations and films are projected onto a screen that two actresses perform within– interacting with the drawing to tell a story. The show is accompanied by a pianist whose haunting melodies pull the audience deeper into their spell.”
You can read about the show in the Charleston City Paper, in a review written by our good friend and past DSM contributor, Jonathan Sanchez. In fact, for all your Piccolo-Spoleto curiosities visit our city’s favorite alternative weekly here.
Issue 7.1
DSM wants to welcome back one of our film writers, Laura Hawbaker, as well as early fiction contributor Hardy Jones. Both writers possess graceful, fluid prose styles that make for solid pieces. We’d also like to acknowledge the help of one Isabel Barnes. Ms. Barnes is a frequent photo and 2d contributor. She has recently relocated to Charleston, where she is busy fending off Kite, photo-editor Gilder’s pup, and assisting with the visual workload of deciding which photo submissions work well with our weekly issues. And one last hurrah goes to Helen Rice, a talented and highly-regarded 2d artist we’ve been dying to get into one of our issues. She’s quite friendly, and scandalously decorates windows in her spare time. Shisskoombah to you too, Dr. Muffins.
Issue 7.0
This issue marks the return and debut of certain DSM contributors. Writers Neil Grimmett and Gerald Huml are back on our pages, as is Shannon Scott Stebbins with a film essay. And Gwynn Johnson, a photographer who helped us launch our photography section, assisted photo editor, Boo Gilder, with this week’s selections. Sharing her thoughts on guest editing, Gwynne says, “I am delighted to be guest editor at Dark Sky Magazine. Having grown up in Ireland, studied art history in Philadelphia and Rome, and photography in New York and Maine, I am currently photographing and exhibiting in Chicago, my place of birth. I am drawn to work that is personal and quiet. Major photographic influences include Diane Arbus, Stephen Shore, and Francesca Woodman. As guest editor I hope to showcase emerging Chicago photographers.”
Issue 6.9
A few of the upcoming issues will feature previous contributors in the literature category. We are trying to utilize space and time in an effort to republish our early writers (before the current site design). Look forward to some great fiction! Also, we have decided that a print version of DSM is in order. We have tentatively scheduled a custom-designed print magazine for this fall. The print will feature this past year’s best photos, art, and prose. We will most likely use a print-on-demand system that allows us to conserve costs and maximize manufacturing. We will be updating the concept as we draw closer to our deadline. And finally, I would like to thank our thorough intern, Rheana Murray. She assists me in the reading of submissions, and also takes up various investigative tasks…all of which contribute to DSM’s survival.
Post Script notes we are also surveying the idea of incorporating video. Perhaps some wily-cum-artful director out there will send us a sample of their work? Keep your hands turned up for more eggs as they hatch.
Issue 6.5
Keeping a fresh voice for our film reviews is first-time contributor Shannon Stebbins. Thanks again Shannon for strong writing and insight.
Issue 6.3
We’re happy this week here in DSM land, as we’ve won an award for best web literary magazine. Check it out here.
Also, 2d contributor Travis Dodd’s work has a message. Below, he explains.
Overall:
The machete campaign is meant to be an awakening. Before you can have change you must organize your participants. And in some cases, make it apparent to those caught in distractions of the modern world, that they are apart of something. Being bound to the laws of time, Gen-X can’t escape its upcoming place in society. The machete campaign brings awareness, dignity, and hope to Gen X while at the same time making it clear to the other generations that the call to arms will be answered.
The Imagery:
The visual history of propaganda is the main catalyst for the work’s imagery. All the images have a sense of excitement in order to grab attention and ultimately start the above dialog. The machete is used as a symbol of survival. The machete characters and their stances are inspired by classical sculpture, most notably, Bernini.
Issue 6.2
DSM is happy to introduce the film criticism of Laura Hawbaker. She’s got a good eye and swift pen, and has access to all the good cinema we here in Charleston can only read about. Thanks Laura for your insightful review.
After a brief scare this morning, DSM got up and running, despite that pesky leap year bug that threatened to bring us down. Apologies for clunkiness, and thanks for patience.
All good work up here this week. Good variety, solid approaches; prime execution in each genre.
Issue 6.0
This issue marks our 20th consecutive week of publishing literature, art, and photography on the web. Thanks to all the contributors who’ve helped us make this happen. Also, this week’s fiction comes from Josh Maday, one of our first contributors. ‘Secondary Search’ is a taut, well-written piece that we’re proud to republish as we continue to archive our earliest writers. This week’s 2d and photography are again from the Green Revival Collection. Photos show the artists at work in the studio, and 2d has design sketches from the curator’s notebook.
The names of the artists in the photos follow in chronological order.
1. Adrienne Antonson, Charleston, SC
2.Holly Streekstra, Minneapolis, MN
3. Lisa Inglesias, Jin Kim, & Friedrich, Queens, NY
4.Amylynn Warfield, Sumter, SC
5. Donny FLoyd, Sumter, SC
6. Ellen Kochansky, Pickens, SC
7. Leigh Magar, Charleston, SC
8. Heather Koonse & April Karlovit, Columbia, MO
Oh Yeah, a big nasty shout out to the one and only Dr. Muffins, that sick and twisted, globetrotting illustrator we can’t help but adore!
Issue 5.9
DSM would like to thank Jenny Steele for this week’s featured fiction, “The Death of Elliot Pick.” Originally published in an earlier issue, the story is being featured this week as DSM works to republish all of our early contributors. Thanks to everyone who continues to send us interesting, provocative art.
This week’s photography comes from our photo editor, Boo Gilder. When Boo isn’t writing grateful emails to all our photo contributors, she puts her own trigger finger to use and shoots some really beautiful photos. These ten photographs were shot last October, in Sumter, SC, for an art project that focused on recycled materials.
The photos’ titles are as follows: 1) Tea Bag Rope 2) Tea Vest 3) Columbia Museum of Art Podcast 4) Dress Form 5) Chaim 6) Studio 7) Stuffed Animal Hat 8)Studio Floor 9) Wings 10) The Green Revival Collection
The project was called The Green Revival Collection and featured artists from around the world. Our very own 2-D editor, Adrienne Antonson, was curator, and brought her big world ideas to this small South Carolina city.
This week’s photographs come from Boo’s collection; next week we’ll publish photos of the artists themselves, as well as Adrienne’s sketches.
Issue 5.6
The titles for Catherine’s photographs are as follows: 1) Crying on Top of Buttons. 2) I Now Become That Which We Abandon. 3) The Divine Erato 4) Untitled (Eagles) 5) We Used To Dream Together 6) We Steal A Bit More of Each Other
To see more of her work visit www.catherinedentino.com
We’re also happy to have James Hunter back as this week’s featured 2D artist. James does good things for skateboarders and civil war submarines here in Charleston. Want to see more of his work? Click.
Dark Sky is proud to announce its alliance with the
2008 Piccolo Spoleto Arts Festival. The Piccolo Fiction Open is a literary competition in its ninth year. This year the theme is Endings. The theme can be interpreted anyway you like. Winners will be published in Dark Sky Magazine and the Charleston City Paper. For more information, visit www.eatgoodbread.com
Issue 5.2
Joel Reibert speaks about his work:
Through my work I have tried to say thank you for each moment given to me and attempted to honor those whose memory time has consigned to oblivion. In my work with dementia patients, I have tried to address issues of time and loss and present each moment as important for its ability to enlighten us and reveal the beauty that is in the details of life itself.
Basically, I try to be good to myself, be good to others, and be an example. And at the end of the day, I say thank you and hope for the opportunity to try again tomorrow.
“Resolve to be tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving, and tolerant of the weak and the wrong. Sometime in your life you will have been all of these.”
-Dr. Robert H. Goddard
“The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude.”
-Friedrich Nietzsche
Issue 5.1
This issue proves interesting not only for the quality of content, but also because Dark Sky is re-publishing previous contributers. Before our present website, we featured Corey Mesler, back this week and writing about pop-culture’s seductive lures, pinpointing how a beautiful young actress does and does not poetize an idle fantasy.
Also featured this week is the artist Lisa Iglesias. She fell into a rabbit hole some time ago and has finally found her way out. Enjoy her work, as it’s an example of a dedicated artist focusing meticulously on her vision.
Tania Vassalo returns like a familiar tag on your highway’s overpass. Her work has a rebellious, obedient quality that stays still even as it appears wholly alive.
On Ben Mittleman’s images…
Nancy Tracy has a genetic disorder called osteogenesis imperfecta. This disorder occurs in varying types of severity but it essentially means that Nancy’s bones break with incredible ease and very little, if any, cause. In fact, she was born with 39 broken bones. According to the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation, a minimum of 20,000 people in the US are living with this disorder, which results from a gene mutation causing a protein essential to a person’s skeletal structure to be deficient or of poor quality.
Nancy Tracy is now 57 and lives in an apartment building for the disabled and elderly. As you can see from the Ben’s images, Nancy gets around fairly well and always has her dog, Sabrina, in tow, devotedly traveling atop the wheel chair as Nancy motors through the streets. The other person in the images is a neighbor in the building who has lost her vision, and Nancy helps care for her some days.
Nancy is currently trying to raise money for a handicap-equipped van. If any of our readers would like to contribute to her efforts you can do this one of two ways:
1) Nancy makes handcrafted jewelry. You can inquire at the following address:
Sabrina’s Jewels
20 Willow St. Apt. 309
Augusta, ME 04330
2) Prints of Ben Mittleman’s images featured on Dark Sky can be purchased from him and all proceeds will go toward Nancy’s cause. Ben can be reached at ben@skybatstudio.com
And if you would like more information on Nancy’s disorder, check out the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Foundation’s website at www.oif.org
To summarize, Dark Sky is keen to recognize the early contributors who’ve helped us get off the ground. We are, and will always remain, deeply indebted to the support and enthusiasm we’ve received that’s helped us meet our publishing ideals. In our gratitude, we will include mid-week re-publishings of photographers and writers from our hauntier ( let’s make that a word, huh?) days.
As far as 2008 is concerned, expect to read bi-annual print versions of DSM and have the opportunity to submit short movies. There’ll be a broader, more inclusive 2D category, as well as a rolling gallery feature for photography.
Adrienne, the 2-D editor, is going to silk screen some t-shirts, too. Make sure to keep clean for our soon-to-be-released dirty Dark Sky merchandise.
Thanks for reading. Happy Holidays.
Issue 4.5
About Joe Jankovsky’s photograph…
St. Mary’s Elementary School Auditorium
This photograph was taken as part of a project to document St. Mary’s Elementary School before it was demolished in 2003. It is a composite view comprised of two 4×5 inch negatives and made with an 8×10 enlarger. The balcony of the auditorium had been walled-up to make classroom space some time in the 1970’s and hence hid this view for over two decades. There was no budget in my project to remove the drop ceiling for my photo, so I took a hammer along and made a hole in the classroom wall from which to insert my lens. I hope this can explain my imperfect attempt to recreate this view. I’m happy with the jilted pictorial space created by the composite and I feel that it ‘works’ to express the feeling of a building in its sad final days.
Located in Central Phoenix, the St. Mary’s Elementary School Auditorium was the largest interior meeting space west of the Mississippi at the time of its completion in 1924. The front doors of the auditorium are preserved today and a park with sculpture dedicated to the school now stands in its place. The beautiful St. Mary’s Basilica associated with this school is still the church for an active Catholic Parish today.
Issue 4.4
About Mathew Scott’s photography…
“The Book of Mathew”
This is an ongoing project that is more of a visual diary of where I have been, and whom I have met. It has many chapters and weaves in and out of what is true, and what is embellished. Photography allows me to tell the absolute truth, or pull off the biggest lie. I love the creative freedom, and the ugly reality. My images come from countless hours of driving around by my self and getting lost for a day. I love the feeling of a boring, minimal landscape, or a strange person that for some unknown reason, lets a complete stranger photograph them. Sometimes it happens exactly like that… And sometimes I just say it does.
Our 2-D Artist this week is James Hunter, an underwater archaeologist working in Charleston. Concerning the images featured here, he says, “The drawing shows the remnants of a Civil War-era boot sole. With the notable exception of Hunley, I haven’t yet worked on a shipwreck that features intact leather shoes or boots; generally, the uppers are made of thinner, weaker material that degrades much more quickly than the soles. Featured are top (sole interior), side, and bottom (sole exterior) views. As weird as it sounds, shoes during this period weren’t generally manufactured for left or right feet. Boots, by contrast, were somewhat of an exception, as this sole clearly demonstrates. This feature alone suggests it probably belonged to someone of some status, who could afford to buy specially-fitted and manufactured footwear.”
Issue 4.0
Welcome to Dark Sky Magazine. Hope you like the face lift. As of Oct. 1st, we will publish weekly, every Monday, and feature 1 writer, 1 photographer, 1 poet, 1 artist, comics and a film review. Thanks to everyone who’s helped along the way. Enjoy.
Moira McDonald’s Artist Statement (Photography)
These photographs have been created in place of the family and relationships that I never fully experienced in my childhood; Growing up across the world from the entirety of my extended family who all still live in Sydney. Consistently feeling the lacking presence of my Nana, favorite cousins, and my flurry of six aunties throughout my childhood, this project has allowed me to visually, realize those people and experiences that have always been important to me in spite of their absence. These are my childhood daydreams, and my family memories.
