Issue 08
The most stylish magazine on the planet is back with its slickest issue yet! We have an exclusive interview with the acclaimed British street artist BANKSY. We take a look at the new Cherry Bombs, rock’s fresh generation of frontwomen. And then there is the profile of Freddie Roach and his legendary Wild Card boxing gym—trainer to Hollywood stars and world champions alike. Of course, we still have the high-end fashion spreads, cutting-edge illustrations and daring design that only SWINDLE can offer.
Cherry Bombs
By Anne Keehn
Illustration By Shepard Fairey
Since well before Madonna struck her pose, rock ‘n’ roll’s leading ladies have set the vogue for the masses. From Janis Joplin’s bohemian beads and bangles to Vivienne Westwood’s leather-and-chains punk designs, Debbie Harry’s sharp new-wave aesthetic to Madonna’s bondage
BANKSY
By Shepard Fairey
One of the most inappropriate nicknames of all time, at least in my opinion, belonged to Ronald Reagan: “The Great Communicator,” who we’ve come to learn did a pretty shitty job of communicating the government’s problems and indiscretions. A nickname like that deserves a more righteous, honest owner—someone like BANKSY.
ZINE TEENS
By Simon Steinhardt
Is apathy really the scourge of teenagers that so many experts claim? Or do kids simply reserve their indifference for academic subjects that don’t seem to relate to the world they live in?
WONDERWALL
By Julie Gerstein
Horrid pastel borders, flocked fruit kitchen walls, and tacky paisley-wallpapered bathrooms—interior design staples in many a suburban household—certainly no longer constitute an appealing look for design-savvy homeowners. “People burned out on wallpaper. It became grandmotherly,” says John Sherman regarding the relative dearth of wallpaper design since the ‘80s.
URBAN ATROPHY
By Caleb Neelon
“Forgive us our trespasses,” goes the Lord’s Prayer, “as we forgive those who trespass against us.” To be perfectly Christian about it, the actions of longtime friends Dan Haga and Dan Ayers are still an offense, though not a sin. Dan and Dan, together known as the Urban Atrophy crew, are urban explorers
TROLLS
By Shawna Kenney
Once upon a time, there was a family who loved trolls. They loved them despite the Three Billy Goats Gruff fairytale about the mean, ugly troll, despite everything in their culture telling them the things were bad, despite people thinking they were silly, and even despite those messy-haired, mass-produced plastic toys
TAYLOR MCKIMENS
By Carolline Kim
Taylor McKimens creates in his own dimension, somewhere between 2-D and 3-D. His artwork—part painting, part paper sculpture—leaps out into physical space from some mysterious point of origin in his mind.
PREFABULOUS
By Carolline Kim
Have you ever wanted to live inside modern art? Among the trees? In the desert? In something that George Jetson might call home? Well then, a prefabricated home is the answer to your prayers.
CHEWING MAIRUNGI IN UGANDA
By Matt Kettmann
It’s 2 p.m. on a Sunday in Mbale, a dusty town of 70,000 in eastern Uganda that lies beneath the sharply dropping slopes of Mt. Elgon. On Cathedral Road, the town’s main drag, where racing scooters and bicycle taxis battle trucks overloaded with people and bags of grain, there’s a line of seated men
JEFFREE STAR
By Clint Catalyst
Some celebrities are manufactured by the system. Others beat the system and manufacture themselves.
Case in point: Jeffree Star, a 20-year-old, media-savvy kid from Orange County who transformed himself into a “web celeb” through his self-orchestrated photo shoots, mind-bending personal aesthetics, acerbic wit
GRAVE IMPORTANCE
By Garth Walker
Photo By Garth Walker
Illustration By Justin Miller
Death is universal, and yet we spend so little time thinking about our inevitable demise. It’s an uncomfortable topic, still taboo in most cultures. We intrinsically fear it. We don’t understand it.
Death is the punctuation mark of existence, leaving just a memory and the mortal shell of a human being.
LIKE THE EMMY’S…
By Meredith Whittaker
Photo By Racine Heritage Museum
Illustration By Matthew Goldman
A good-looking, MILFish woman and a man with a very current, very daring goatee pass their tongues over their teeth one last time before the TV cameras roll, and Racine, Wisconsin’s local cable newscast begins: “Good evening everyone, and welcome to the Time Warner coverage of the Rotary prom festival parade.”
THE CHOCOLATE LAB
By Dona Bridges
Oh, cheap chocolate. It’s right there, at every supermarket, corner store, and gas station; in every vending machine, in everyone’s candy bowl. It comes adulterated with nuts, peanut butter, nougat, gooey fruit fillings, sugary marshmallow fluff, and chewy caramel.
ATSAC
By Anne Keehn
Photos By Dan Monick
Illustration By Rich2
When Los Angeles city transportation engineer Gabriel Murillo was in high school, he thought that if he drove his car back and forth over the big, round sensors embedded in the roads, the traffic lights would change faster. After two decades developing L.A.’s traffic control system, Murillo knows this tactic doesn’t work.