Issue 07
This time around, we’re bringing you creative lifestyles from around the world: the unifying power of hip-hop in Israel; NYC’s hottest indie fashion designers; and an interview with the whimsical yet serious artist Jim Houser. We take a look at people who devote their lives to single-minded passions—like the feature on the history of prohibition in America (the movement is still alive and kicking!) and Bottega Montana, an Italian furniture design firm based in the wilderness of Montana. SWINDLE is serious about creativity.
Jim Jocoy
By Miss Rosen
Illustration By DeChazier P. Stokes-Johnson
“I might have a problem with delayed gratification,” observes Jim Jocoy, whose love of the Polaroid has resulted in unforgettable images of William Burroughs, Alan Ginsberg, Patti Smith, Andy Warhol, Billy Idol, Johnny Thunders, Sid Vicious, Iggy Pop, John Doe, Exene Cervenka, Joe Strummer, Kim Gordon, Eddie Vedder, John Waters, and Bruce LaBruce
High Sobriety
By Caleb Neelon
Photos By Library of Congress
Illustration By Matthew Goldman
“Teaching people to drink responsibly is like trying to teach a pig to eat with a spoon. It’s a good idea, but it’s very difficult.” Gene Amondson is a modern-day prohibitionist. The 62-year-old Vashon Island, Washington, minister would like to see beverage alcohol made illegal again.
Ed Hardy
By Caleb Neelon
Illustration By Don Ed Hardy
“I don’t know why people like tattoos, I honestly don’t ,” says Don Ed Hardy. After inking hundreds of thousands of them, he’s still happily mystified. “But some people like them and want to get them, and they should have the opportunity to get the best tattoo they can get.”
Bottega Montana
By Daniel Lichterman
Photos By Bottega Montana
Portrait By Aaron Farley
Francesco and Marco Gillia are self-described LEGO kids, who, since childhood, have been fascinated by both the mechanical and artistic challenges of design. The transition from playing with colorful, interlocking Danish toy construction blocks to designing staggeringly elegant, high-design wood work seems almost predestined, considering their unique background and life decisions.
Jim Houser
By Shepard Fairey
Photos By Adam Wallacavage
Illustration By Jim Houser
When Dr. Rorschach created his eponymous inkblots, I doubt he ever thought of them as works of art or considered him self an Impressionist. Still, he managed to build a tool that captured in its purpose what artists had already discovered
Montana Spray Paint
By Simon Steinhardt
Illustration By Kristian Henson
Art is everywhere these days. Well, almost everywhere. In truth, this generation’s artistic revolution is as much a counter current to the blandness inherent in widespread mass production as it is a sociopolotical rebellion. We’re essentially painting over the bare cinder blocks of our prefabricated society.
The Soda Populist
By Jeff Penalty
Photos By Aaron Farley
Illustration By Camilla Zechetto
Have you ever found yourself bitching about your cable company’s decision to jack up its rates simply because it could? Has your blood ever boiled at the thought of major labels keeping good musicians down?