foreword

All of the work you will see in this magazine has been exclusively commissioned. 

Some of these artists are old friends and others are ones we’ve met along the way. Bars, parties, readings, and concerts: these are all staples of New York City nightlife which attract people from around the world. That being said, this is an international magazine. 

Last autumn, we were pissed off by the chasm between artistic disciplines. As writers, we felt concerned about the literary community’s lack of participation in the art world at large. Some of the most intense kinds of art have evolved from times during which the various forms were in communication. This is true of, for instance, Dadaism and Surrealism. Thus, you’ll find a range of mediums represented here.

The arts are oversaturated with popular culture and the whims of the market. We’ve removed ourselves from these conversations to showcase NAUSIKÂE with what we hope is pure intention. The kinds of things we are drawn to are oftentimes excluded from critical thinking. They are branded as “horror,” “goth,” or  “fetish” art. Art that is usually placed within one genre, left uninvestigated, or deemed an “oddity” within a larger institution is what we find worthy of a deeper look. It operates at the extremes of human emotion, and explores the spectrum of our feelings in a society that is so fixated on suppressing feelings, despite our constant exposure to darkness in the news, on the streets, and in our homes.

The artists of Chapter I are responding to Alfred Kubin’s The Downfall (1903), pictured below. We find Kubin’s work striking for several reasons. He is obscure despite being in the collections of, for example, The Museum of Modern Art and Neue Galerie. Though he is an artist who created during the early decades of the 20th century, his subject matter and presentation are quite anachronistic. We feel a kinship with Kubin because we are fascinated by the existential dread prevalent in his work. He seemed to look at the world and feel at odds with society, a sentiment that we think all people experience from time to time.

Thank you for supporting our inaugural chapter.

Mina and Naomi, NAUSIKÂE