• Tremendous Idiosyncrasy

    Date posted: September 16, 2010 Author: jolanta
    Established in late 2008 by Noah Venezia, a Pratt Institute graduate and practicing designer, Stupendous is a biannual publication currently designed and printed in New York, NY. Randomly thematic, Stupendous remains free of design constraints while managing to achieve a distinct tone throughout. The final result is ultimately informed by submissions of its contributors, a by-product of mutual collaboration. The inaugural issue’s focus consists of a reflection on family. From the byline: “Despite one’s efforts to be at the epicenter of art and culture, to be an individual, to learn a craft, or to succeed, part of who we are comes from somewhere more humble. For many, family and relatives contradict our individual identities.

    Stupendous

    Courtesy of Stupendous.

    Established in late 2008 by Noah Venezia, a Pratt Institute graduate and practicing designer, Stupendous is a biannual publication currently designed and printed in New York, NY. Randomly thematic, Stupendous remains free of design constraints while managing to achieve a distinct tone throughout. The final result is ultimately informed by submissions of its contributors, a by-product of mutual collaboration.

    The inaugural issue’s focus consists of a reflection on family. From the byline: “Despite one’s efforts to be at the epicenter of art and culture, to be an individual, to learn a craft, or to succeed, part of who we are comes from somewhere more humble. For many, family and relatives contradict our individual identities. Stupendous #1 is dedicated to the people who we are forced to interact with, for the people we have to see, despite our feelings toward them: to our disliked and eccentric relatives.” The 19 young artists involved enthusiastically chronicle their thieving grandfathers, gold-medalist uncles, stage-magician fathers, and the anxieties and experiences surrounding such things, through an extensive spectrum of media.

    The subsequent installment takes a wide left into more remote territory. Receiving its germ from psychedelic cult oddity Lothar and the Hand People’s sophomore release Space Hymn, Stupendous #2 partially leaves behind the mythical science fiction landscape to consider void in itself and the nonmaterial world more broadly. Each of the 12 artists’ submissions is expanded into an oversize poster in order to evoke presence within the space they occupy.

    The forthcoming issue intends to examine the instant availability of images, specifically the current ubiquity of the JPEG, and the effect on creative process wherever it may surface. The production of volume 3 will mark a new chapter for Stupendous, as its headquarters take a transatlantic plunge into the southeast corner of Holland.

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