Alphabet #1

Alphabet #1

"Alphabet is the artists’ magazine. Here, they run the show. They write, they make images, they select their own works and the works of others, they interview the figures they admire, they tell us what we did not know about them nor could have ever fathomed about life. This is conceived entirely to put them in the driver’s seat, and to enable readers to become part of the unique vision of some of today’s greatest luminaries.

It is a manifestation of the creative community, coming together from all fields, from all generations and threads of culture. Writers, musicians, designers, painters, sculptors, poets—artistic figures of every kind converse all the time in their lives, but they did not have a shared space for their editorial projects. This is it.

Everyone who finds their way into Alphabet has made a mark on life, art, and culture, in a way that signals their importance to the present. Some of the contributors may be world famous, others well respected, others on the way to become the legends they already are. Their relevance to culture is the same, and that is why they all belong here, in the endeavor of the creative community. There is no hierarchy of status, or domain, or apparent impact. Some of the greatest revolutions happen undercover. Some of the most established voices are still breaking ground. The old opposition between pop and underground does not make sense anymore: there are many creative communities, each following its own rules, each inventing its own space. Here, wherever they come from, whatever their community, artists are at home. They can exist together, with the same intention of changing, and improving, what life is, for all of us; with the same belief that art matters more than anything else.

None of the contributors is here randomly. We admire, love, and are inspired by all of them. They keep life thrilling and exhilarating, challenge our perception of everything and anything. Their role in shaping every aspect of life can hardly be overstated. That is why they needed a place to elaborate their own alphabet, their way of ordering and structuring language, the world, and the fabric of life—a place of freedom, where everything would be done to highlight their visions, where the very design would be a shrine to their magic.

Alphabet is also the magazine of magazines. Here, you find essays, fictions, poetry, visual projects, DIY methods, recommendations from those who know, even games and astrology—and an artist’s alphabet, articulating an entire universe. Anything that has ever formed a section of a magazine could find its way here. Artists will rejuvenate what magazines are, and we will be kept forever young by and with them. This is just the beginning."

Created by Donatien Grau and Thomas Lenthal, Alphabet is a manifestation of the creative community, a new magazine conceived entirely by artists, coming together from all fields, generations, and threads of culture. Here, they run the show. They write, they make images, they select their own works, they interview the figures they admire, they tell us what we did not know about them nor could have ever fathomed about life. Writers, musicians, designers, painters, sculptors, poets—artistic figures of every kind converse all the time in their lives, but they did not have a shared space for their editorial projects

WITH CONTRIBUTIONS BY:

Mathias Augustyniak, Naomi Campbell, Théo Casciani, Michael Chow, Pan Daijing, Es Devlin, Claire Fontaine, Edwin Frank, Theaster Gates, Nicolas Godin, Alejandro Jodorowsky, Hedi El Kholti, Michèle Lamy, Paul McCarthy, Ian McEwan, Eileen Myles, Marc Newson, Hans Ulrich Obrist, Diana Widmaier Picasso, Ariana Reines, Barbara Chase-Riboud, Julian Schnabel & Jason Momoa, Hanna Schygulla, Juergen Teller, Iké Udé, McKenzie Wark, Robert Wilson, Yohji Yamamoto.