PLASTIK 33

BINGE THERAPY

Imagine waking up one morning and finding out that the relentless barrage of happily-never-after news we’re constantly subjected to… was all fake? Such is our current state of affairs: feeling loveless in a hopeless place, and longing for that bubble of whimsical denial to shield us from a reality we can no longer avoid… California crass. 

We’re all aching for that Hollywood Hill obliviousness where opulence and mindless self-indulgence is life, and consequences are but an afterthought best kept for the afterlife. Say what you will about binging, let’s agree that it hurts so good. That fatalistic urge to over-indulge is uncannily liberating, and nowadays, there’s nothing more soothing than the perfect delusion of freedom. 

For generations upon generations we were taught that pleasure is a sin, that everything that tastes, feels and looks good is a threat… and yet, every second of the day we are reminded of impending doom. Everything and anything has become a threat, including our own opinion. If the world has nothing better to offer than guilty pleasures, then it’s time for a guilt-trip to the city of angels. 

— Eli Rezkallah

HASSAN HAJJAJ

Interview

Hassan Hajjaj gives you the Orient In all its warmth and colors. Yet it is not a nostalgic Orient that somehow stood still in time. No, his orient has fully come to grips with modernity. His does not fear or resent it, but embraced it, enriched it, while fully standing its ground. Hassan talked to Plastik about Morocco, making movies, world music and “being Andy Warhol”.

KOURTNEY ROY

Interview

Kourtney Roy’s photography intentionally look like still frames from a film. each photograph an enigma that triggers your imagination with visions of an untold story. Roy personifies a myriad of different characters in her work, each woman living a different life, lost in her own reality (or fantasy) and longing for a resolution.

OMAR VICTOR DIOP

Interview

Omar Victor Diop may be a photographer, a filmmaker, a fashion designer and an art director, but what defines him most is his passion for authenticating identity. With identity comes diversity, and Diop’s arresting visuals show that acknowledging and embracing diversity will ultimately bring us all together. 

OLEG DOU

Interview

Oleg Dou is essentially a portrait artist with a haunting twist. Fascinated by vintage child portraits, Dou’s work comes off as psychic x-rays of the human soul, exposing the monster lurking within seemingly innocent humanS. His subjects are both lively and macabre, charming and threatening, whimsical and dark. 

LOVE ANGELES BY TONY KELLY

Feature

Dive with us into a world that romanticises riches, ostentation and consumerism. The dichotomy of excess and emptiness is one that we deniably cherish and want to belong to: that's why we Love Angeles. 

MOTHER BY ELI REZKALLAH

A series of images by visual artist Eli Rezkallah, recreating visual memories of his mother and his childhood.

PARTY OF ONE

Interview

Anything goes as long as it works, even Cheetos, seems to be the motto for New York-based multidisciplinary design studio Party of One, which consists of not one but two crazy creative minds: Melissa Deckert and Nicole Licht. 

Ed Maximus

Interview

New York-based photographer Ed Maximus juxtaposed black females against bright colored backgrounds, turning bodies into sculptures. He called his project For Colored Girls. For, let’s face it, in the end there is no such thing as black or white. We are all variations of color. 

FILIP HODAS

Interview

Filip Hodas AKA Hoodass needs no introduction. His stunning surrealist 3D renderings are consistently going viral and being shared around the world. His art, an astonishing blend of all things dystopian and whimsicaL resonates with a generation experiencing a new digital age that promises augmented opportunity for all, while living in a physical world that’s on the brink of collapse.   

SLIP

Interview

Only graduating as a fine art photographer in 2010, Alma Haser has already won multiple awards for her work, which offers a whole new spin on the ancient art of portraiture. In addition to being a master with the camera, she is a master in origami, the Japanese art of paper folding.  

ERIC YAHNkER

Interview

Looking back at Eric Yahnker’s earlier work, way before Instagram became an over-abundant barrage of satirical visual coincidences and puns, you’d think he saw the future. Armed with a wit that doesn’t quit, and a full load of lead in his pencil, Yahnker’s art, past and present, is authentication that being trendy and relevant doesn’t necessarily correlate with being in the now, but rather with being in the know.