the identity issue is a transmedial magazine project telling stories linked to identity in one way or another in various forms and sizes. Just like identity itself, the character of the project is ever-changing and evolving over time, with no pretention of totality. The intent is to stay dynamic, candid and open to new aspects and perspectives along the way. As human identity has always been strongly affiliated with stories being both created and passed along, the identity issue will collect, edit, present and link these to create a feeling of identification, a moment wandering off in a tone of past, present and future. Making use of classic print and online media, just as much as video, sound and art, we aim to give each story its respective setting while linking and combining it with other aspects of identity, thus forming new facets and making the identity issue more than a sum of its parts; an entity of identity. As opposed to conventional magazines, there is but one issue: the identity issue, which is being extended and enhanced instead of being discarded periodically.
The journey from boyhood to taking responsibility. Making decisions and resisting temptations; forming an identity. The widely adapted story of Pinocchio as originally written by Carlo Collodi and a portrait of German-Iraqi Hamudi by photographer Roman Kutzowitz.
An interview with photographer Gábor Arion Kudász about the identity of the artist and his work, and the oscillation of humankind and nature. A word about cultural identity from daniel martin feige and a contemporary interpretation of one of the oldest traces of human identity by adrien burnet.
Intimate photographs of couples shot by Wanda Martin for her Project Lovers exploring the themes of love, sexuality and identity. In the short story William Wilson Edgar Allen Poe illustrates with virtuosity the concept of the Doppelgänger. accompanied are the two by a lyricaL subsumption of Adam and Eve by Benedikt Eisenhardt.
The Structure the identity issue will follow the paths of traditional high quality magazine journalism and documentary. As the final product won’t be one bound copy, but an ever-growing compilation of booklets, books and fine art prints, as well as websites, ebooks, archives or even physical objects, sound carriers or installations, creating a dramaturgy in between these single stories and themes, will be the main challenge and also most unique chance. the identity issue claims the latitude to present each story in the media best suited to its contents and therefore is able to make best use of the individual strenghts of the respective media without compromising to its flaws. The distribution of physical media will be handled in several and ongoing dispatches, adding up to the constant volume of the identity issue.
Create a feeling of identification,
a moment wandering off in a tone of past, present and future
In order to acces the abstract and complex idea of identity or the like, stories act as paradigms providing not only authors and protagonists to identify oneself with but also breaking down multilayered issues to a single narrative sequence of moments in context. Telling stories to pass on experiences, memories and feelings has been the principle tool in human history; since the beginning of cavepaintings to Homer’s Odysse all the way to instagram, laying out the base of culture and identity.
