I snatched the February issue of Paper Magazine from a pals end table - WTF!? What has happened to Paper? I realized when viewing the cover that the reason I stopped buying it was simply because I never see it anymore - the logo is practically invisible. And What the HELL is with putting mall-punk poster boys Good Charlotte on the cover!? Inside the mag this insipid group is referred to as once being "underground."
Paper might be the main reason I moved to New York years ago because It created such a powerfully romantic notion of NYC "Downtown." Their taste was flawless, they championed new (and often outrageous) talent and were wonderfully playful. Paper was the first American magazine to reconcile the once polarized notions of "punk," art and fashion - in other words, it was pretty gay.
After reading this issue (and considering other issues I've seen recently), I wouldn't say that Paper has "sold-out," they've simply lost their passion. I think David and Kim (both editors and publishers) are still very cool people, but their magazine has become wishy-washy and disenchanted with New York. Kim has complained in the past that she can't find the freaks in NY anymore - but I wonder if she remembers how to look for them.
For the last few years Paper seems obsessed with how much more interesting LA is than New York. However, the "interesting" LA people profiled in "The 2nd Annual Paper Project Los Angeles" seem pretty boring. Not that they ARE boring, they just seem that way because the magazine hasn't done a very good job making them seem larger than life like they once did with the NY Downtown Stars. The photos and writing are devoid of color or enthusiasm. Also, the design of the whole mag is just plain and irrelevant. Dull, dull, DULL.
Paper was originally meant to be a Downtown New York magazine. "Downtown" as an aesthetic and ideological focus is disconnected from the original intention. "Downtown" is no longer a vibrant, cheap neighborhood at the forefront of creative culture. Paper doesn't even think so. Perhaps moving to LA might reinvigorate them.
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Comments (1)
I've been trying to put my finger on exactly what it is about PAPER that has been leaving me cold and unsatisfied for the last 2yrs. You put it perfectly. They seem to have lost interest in our city, and I have lost interest in them.
LOVE your site.
Posted by LittleBigChris | April 7, 2007 8:25 AM
Posted on April 7, 2007 08:25