Utopian Magazine is a publication that focuses on the mythology of a city and the way it is immortalized through the art and culture inspired by it. This is not a travel magazine, though you can actually visit these cities, this publication is more interested in the aspects of a city that you cannot physically visit. The places that only exist in the works of those who have inhabited them. Each issue features some of the cultural works that define an iconic city in the imaginations of the people who have never been there.
The idea for this publication was inspired by the film Wings of Desire, Wim Wenders' tribute to Berlin in the last years before the Berlin Wall came down. He explained that he wanted to capture the city in that moment, knowing that it would soon no longer exist. I chose Berlin to be the focus of the first issue, featuring Wim Wenders as well as David Bowie's Berlin Trilogy, Christopher Isherwood's writing on Berlin, and Thierry Noir's iconic murals painted on the Berlin Wall. Each issue also features the essential albums, books, and films made about/inspired by the featured city.
I chose New York City as the subject of the second issue of Utopian, featuring NYC writers Paul Auster and Jonathan Lethem, Ezra Stoller's architectural photography, the legendary club, Max's Kansas City, and Keith Haring's murals.
