To Be #9 - Clarity

To Be #9

Clarity has been on my mind for some time. I’ve been focused on finding a path forward, identifying what’s next, what I want, and how best to get there. In reflecting on this, I realised that many others are striving for the same thing. We are all, in some way, trying to reconnect with ourselves, determine what is right for us and gain a stronger sense of direction. This process takes time, and it rarely unfolds neatly within the confines of a magazine cycle. Nonetheless, in Issue 09 we unpack the idea—both literally and conceptually—exploring how we might reach moments of realisation together. As the adage goes, clarity is the goal of the truly profound; for people who know who they are and want to execute their vision precisely. After all, clarity is itself a reflection of being.

Jazzelle, who graces this issue’s cover, has arrived at profundity by a roundabout path—through the internet, music, modelling, creative direction and now acting. As Mark Bo Chu writes, Jazzelle has built a life on “refusing to be anyone but themselves,” following whatever feels true. 

Artist and director Amalia Ulman, who premiered her second film Magic Farm at Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, has a remarkable ability to distil ideas into their sharpest, most penetrating form. “I am very concise, always,” she tells Jasmine Penman over video call one afternoon (Ulman now lives in New York City with her dog, Variety Magazine, who makes an editorial debut here). Ulman knows what to hold onto and what to release. She works intentionally, with care.

Elsewhere, photographer Maya Spangler, whose recent book Stolen Besos has been met with great success, speaks with Phil Bicker about her unwavering vision—one that resists easy interpretation. In finding her voice and reclaiming her narrative, Spangler has learnt to trust her instincts and use them as a lens through which to view the world.

The ultimate example of staying true to a vision is Rei Kawakubo, whose work will be celebrated this summer at the National Gallery of Victoria in a joint retrospective with Vivienne Westwood. Kawakubo has built Comme des Garçons—and the many brands within it—on an unyielding sense of intelligibility. One such line, Girl, draws on uniform and discipline to reimagine femininity. Photographed by Daphne Nguyen and written by Carwyn McIntyre, these girls emerge with a vitality that is gentle and unexpected, offering us another point of view.

We also speak with Alessandro Furchino Capria, the Italian-born, London-based photographer redefining fashion photography through a subtle style that strips away any trace of life beyond the subject itself. In our conversation, he reflects on the difficulty of knowing what you truly want, sharing his process of self-discovery and the sense of tension he feels as a new chapter approaches.

Clarity also comes through in a series of fashion images by Ana Marti, Elisa Molteni, Jun Yang Chin, Kristina Yavorskaya, Levon Baird, Nereis Ferrer, Rose Guiheux and Ted Min, who each explore the theme as both form and function. Conversations with illustrator Chesca Athas, archivist Matthieu Nicol, musician Jessica Pratt, make-up artist Hiromi Ueda, painter Jess Valice and fashion designer Nicklas Skovgaard, meanwhile, approach the notion of clarity as a process. Perhaps most enlightening is our brief text exchange with the esteemed art critic Jerry Saltz, who messages us one Thursday evening about religion and the self.