April 26, 2011

What is it about the letter “X”?

It is amazing how a letter of the alphabet can scare some people.? Literally frighten them to death.? They are shocked, bemused, and almost topple over from fear. ? What is it about the letter “x” that scares people so much?? I mean it is just a letter of the alphabet right? like A, B, C etc? I don’t recall in school my teacher skipping over the letter X, she wasn’t scared!

Yet today, in 2011, people are frightened of a letter.? The letter X has become in today’s society of censorship and association, a letter to beware of.? Why is that? ? What does “X” mean? I can think of a lot of meanings…? The letter X was a Greek addition to the alphabet. In mathematics it stands for “multiply”, and is commonly used in algebra as an independent variable. It is a roman numeral representing “10″. It is used to signify “kiss” when added before a signature, or in expressions such as “xoxo” which means “kisses and hugs”.? It is often used to represent unknowns in various circumstances such as “Person X” or “Place X”. The usage of x to represent an?independent or unknown variable?can be traced back to the?Arabic word??ay’ xxx = ?thing,? used in Arabic algebra texts such as the?Al-Jabr,?which dates back to AD 820.?”X-rays” are so called because their discoverer did not know what they were.

What else does it mean?? In rather recent history, to be exact since 1951 in the UK and 1968 in the USA, it became a common censor rating in the film industry. The?British Board of Film Censors gave an?X-certificate?to films?containing content that was not suitable for?minors. From 1951 to 1970, it meant “Suitable for those aged 16 and over”, and from 1970 to 1982 it was redefined as meaning “Suitable for those aged 18 and over”. One notable film to get this rating in the UK was the US film?Plan 9 from Outer Space (1959), later re-rated PG.? In the?United States, the?X-rating?originally referred to a non-trademarked rating that indicated a film contained “content that was not suitable for?minors“, such as extreme violence or explicit?sex, and thus was for adults only. The official MPAA film rating system did not begin until November 1, 1968 in the U.S and many mainstream films were released with an X-rating such as?Midnight Cowboy,?A Clockwork Orange,Fritz the Cat and?Last Tango in Paris.

“Because the X-rating was not trademarked, anybody could apply it to their films, including pornographers, which many began to do in the 1970s. As?pornography began to become chic and more legally tolerated, pornographers placed an X-rating on their films to emphasize the adult nature of them. Some even started using multiple X’s (i.e. XX, XXX, etc.) to give the impression that their film contained more graphic sexual content than the simple X-rating. In some cases, the X ratings were applied by reviewers or film scholars, e.g.?William Rotsler, who wrote “The XXX-rating means?hard-core, the XX-rating is for?simulation, and an X-rating is for comparatively cool films.” Nothing beyond the simple X-rating has ever been officially recognized by the MPAA.”

So here we have it ? in a nutshell? despite 1000′s of years in which the letter “X” has stood tall and proud as a unique letter to the alphabet, an independent variable and regal algebraic mathematical term, in a mere 60 years the media industries have slandered it into a scarlet letter.? It might as well be the scarlet letter of the?Salem Witch trials, or the star of the?holocaust, the fear it quakes in the civilized mortal.”X” and it’s comparatively recent historical association to pornography, has become a letter of censorship, it has been shamed, slandered, it is a letter pronounced in whispered tones, as if it was?evil.

We understand now the meaning behind “X” and also the recent associations to it including variables of it such as XX and XXX.?So what does “XXXX” mean? ?Well, nothing really! If you happen to be Austrialian, then you might think it’s a beer. If you are obsessed with porn, then you might think “extra-extreme” porn.? But technically by definition “XXXX” does not actually mean anything! Look it up, you will be surprised at it’s lack of definition.

“XXXX Magazine” was original founded as the “Untitled” Magazine, one that defies definition.? A magazine that defies fear, that is confident and proud in a world of association and censorship. It defies a strict definition, as it is about a world of constantly changing variables.? It has for me become the ultimate symbol for “creative freedom” as it can truly mean anything. XXXX Magazine is about promoting new ideas and originality.? It is a truly progressive publication that refuses to follow the crowd, but rather leads the way in technology, innovation and ideology.

Every 6 months I invite artists from around the world to ponder on a new idea, a new theme, and to translate it in their own way.? The result is a multimedia experience of dramatically varied works that inspires and forces the viewer to think outside the box.? I ask you to think not what you are TOLD to think, but to try to find the true meaning behind what things signify. Defy the herd mentality of fear and the need for approval and try to find within yourself what you think it means to you.? In each issue we present a new idea which is meant to be translated anyway you want it to be.? There is NO right answer.? Only what you think it means.? That is what?CREATIVITY is about.? Recent issues include the?Kaleidoscopic,?Surreal and?Voyeur Issues.? Each issue is dramatically different, with themes that provoke and ask the viewer to question what these ideas mean to them.

Look out for our new issue, The “Voyage” issue, to be released in September 2011.? What does?Voyage?mean to you?? In September you will find out what it means to 30 international artists from locations as varied as Instanbul, Mexico, Beunos Aires, Brighton, Cambodia, Wales, London, Los Angeles, Iceland, Croatia, Stockholm, New York, The Isle of Wright, Rome, Paris, Australia ? and more?.

And lastly, don’t be frightened of a letter of the alphabet, or a word, or a new idea? merely ask yourself,?what does it really mean, and what can it mean to you?

Indira Cesarine

Editor in Chief, Creative Director

XXXX Magazine

The “Untitled” Magazine

2011

XXXX MAGAZINE PRESENTS BEHIND THE SCENES ON THE SURREAL ISSUE COVER & THE SPELL VIDEO ART FILM

A behind the scenes look at the making of video art film The Spell as well as XXXX Magazine’s? Surreal Issue Cover art.? Directed by Indira Cesarine and edited by John Paul Zuviate, this 6 minute short presents the inspiration behind the visuals in these productions, as well as a behind the scenes look on set during the shoot. The images from the cover were from the photographic series Eyes Open, Eyes Closed, by Indira Cesarine, and were initially exhibited at Visionairs Gallery in Paris, France in January 2010.? Inspired by early work of Surrealist artists ManRay and Jean Cocteau as well as the Manifesto of Surrealism, in the series of nude portraits she explores the innocence and serenity of dreamlike states juxtaposed with the intensity of consciousness. The Spell video art film was shot on the same day in a collaboration with video team Phantasmic TV, who came on board to co-direct the video version of the images.

BEHIND THE SCENES ON THE SPELL & EYES OPEN, EYES CLOSED PHOTOGRAPHIC SERIES (6:09)

Directed by Indira Cesarine

Edited by John Paul Zuviate

Behind the Scenes Footage by Kaitlyn Barlow

Titles by Emilie Ye Ji Koo

Featuring Indira Cesarine & Phantasmic TV, models Beata Grabowska and Jessica Bertoncello, Makeup artist Bernadine Bibiano with hair by Rutger.

Assistants David Lincoln,? John Paul Zuviate, Kaitlyn Barlow, Chelsea Cohen,? Maria Cristina Cuyco, Taylor Rhodes, Adriana Favero, Equipment provided by K & M Camera New York

Music by Chuckie Steel

NEW YORK JUNE 2009

BORN TO BE TANZANITE > PURPLE WREATH

This ring was inspired by the vivid blooms of a blue-violet wreath flower which, like tanzanite is unique to the country of Tanzania. I wanted to combine these two gifts of nature into a piece that is both organic and refined….. this ring won the TANZANITE CELEBRATION OF LIFE DESIGN AWARD 2006 which was held at the NYC public library.

FEUILLAGE>LEAF EARRINGS

These Earrings and Necklace were inspired by the?colors?of the two 6ct cognac?colored?diamonds, which have the unique colors of autumn and therefore I wanted to freeze these stunning leaves and set them with diamonds, carve them?dimensional?to give them a moving feel as if there were just about to fall from the branches.

THE LOVED RING > SWAN RING

I was running through Hyde Park in London one morning when I saw to my amazement rare black swans. ?Black Swans are uniquely monogamous and stay their whole?lives?together. The?idea?of a LOVE ring came to me. I carved ?two swans in blackened gold (to give a vintage feel) on either side holding the LOVE stone Rose quartz, set in black diamonds and surrounded by rubies.

LUCKY CHARM > GECKO RING

This little creature was living with me, when I was based in Greece. Not only do geckos bring luck to you they also eat all the mosquitos and save you from itchy bites. I was spending a lot of time?drawing?him and by the time I left he was double the size and I carved him in a wax model and casted him in white gold, since then I wear him every day and it is my personal lucky charm,…. ?and the best thing is, it works.

xxxx

Sabine Romer 2009

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I was in NYC on 9/11, going to Coloredge to drop some film that morning.
I came out of the subway on 21st street just after the first plane had hit.
Everyone was staring up at the Tower, but no-one knew what was going on.
A few minutes later I saw the plane hit the second Tower.

It was a pretty surreal experience, and really frightening. A bit like being an extra on War of the Worlds, but nobody’s bothered giving you the script so you don’t know if you are going to live or die. A short time later I was walking down 5th Avenue to Washington Square Park when the first of the Towers crumbled to nothing. Eventually, I made it back to Brooklyn, across the Williamsburg Bridge, which was awash in lost and abandoned shoes, like an extreme Guy Bourdin shoot. The second Tower had collapsed by then and most people were covered in a layer of Ash, and some with blood. I spent the rest of the week sitting on my roof in Greenpoint watching the smoldering embers. The photographs of Brooklyn were taken around that time. I went down to New Mexico in the Summer of 2003 to look for a house with some land for a retreat from New York. America had just invaded Iraq. I had heard about the White Sands Missile Museum, and the images of Missiles facing out over the desert sands was a pretty apt reflection of my thoughts on American Imperialism at that time.

The music for the multi-media series is called ‘REQUIEM and was written by my friend Brett Hammond while with his band THE DOKTEURS. I had collaborated with Brett on the photography and design for MARY LEE, the debut album of his previous band ‘Sunshine Club’ – a great bluesy Rock album which is still high on my playlist. Requiem is such a haunting song, especially with the vocals, although we have used the instrumental version here. It seemed like a natural fit for the imagery as Brett had just emailed the song to me and I was playing it continuously while retouching the photographs. He is currently gigging around NYC with his new band TOO MANY ZEBRAS, and I am sure, working on a lot of other ‘side’ projects. Checkout his music on the film KNIFEPOINT now showing at the Woodstock film festival.

I met TARA STILES, my muse in the series, in New York about 10 years ago when she was still a teenager – A ballet dancer from Chicago looking to break into modelling. Since shooting the original series Tara Stiles career has taken off …She is now an international Yoga star through her YOUTUBE videos, and has just appeared in the latest American Apparel campaign for their Yoga Line.

She also has made appearances on ‘Saturday Night Live’ and MTV’s FEAR, She was the original muse for my book of nudes JUST GOOD FRIENDS (photographs of my friend’s naked). Lights, camera, TARA, bottle of scotch = Perfect day!

Michael Daks 2009