Modern Matter / 22

Does size matter? — Issue 22

 

The latest issue of Olu Michael Odukoya’s experimental publication uses three parts—titled Small, Medium and Large—to examine the nature of scale and size.

 

The first booklet, Small, asks 19 artists, writers and designers for a binary yes/no answer to the issue’s question; the second item, Medium, uses a more traditional glossy magazine format to explore ideas of scale, space and size in more detail. T-shirt sizes, oversized art installations and concepts such as Less is More appear across the pages; and then the Large section unfolds into a mock newspaper titled ‘The Jeff Wall Street Journal’, in which work by the eponymous artist is featured alongside articles with scale-focused headlines: ‘Crypto Rules Grow…’, ‘Changes Reshape…’

 

The three pieces demonstrate the relevance and meaning of size. At its most simple, the Small booklet feels notebook-like and fleeting, while the Large newspaper expresses authority. 

 

Modern Matters is always fascinating, if sometimes frustrating; it can be difficult to parse precise meaning, but with its abstract outlook on magazine-making it remains a vital and exciting voice in independent publishing, reminding us that a magazine need not be a simple A4 piece of print.

 

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A groundbreaking biannual publication that merges the sometimes-chaotic approach to style and content found online with the careful consideration for production and the written word that has always characterized the very best print journals, Modern Matter is unlike any other magazine on the market. Named in honor of its focus on the now, as well as on the facets of art, style, design and culture that most matter to the team behind the magazine, it brings the personal into a sphere that’s typically commercial.

Described by the Serpentine’s Hans Ulrich Obrist as “the best magazine in London” and by Magma’s Marc Valli as “porn for a magazine editor”, Modern Matter is unique in its approach to blending the best of long-form culture writing with a fine-art sensibility and a high-fashion aesthetic; it is released biannually, and distributed internationally. Produced in-house at OMO Creates.