A monthly magazine aimed at “anyone who wants to read it” has been launched to challenge style magazines’ usual depiction of alternative culture.
Plastic Rhino aims to possess no identity.
Layout, contributors and editorial concepts will change with each issue and even the masthead can be peeled off. A launch party will be thrown every month.
“The aim is like nothing before,” explained publisher Mark Walsh: “We want to document the undocumented”.
Plastic Rhino is published by Peppered Sprout, an arts collective including writers, artists and designers who seek to publish innovative “conceptzines”. The 84-page title features undocumented artists, serving as an exhibition space for young creatives.
Walsh said: “We are filling the gap between fanzines and Style Press – if you did want to draw comparisons we are talking advantage of the closure of magazines such as Sleaze and The Face but at the same time we are not like them.”
In September’s issue, “Keepin’ it Rhyl” will take a microscopic look at the Welsh holiday resort. In the following issue staff will invite people to create the same number of pages as the number that comes up when they roll a dice. The pages will then be sent to an independent printing house which will read the issue and print it before anyone has seen them.
Besides publisher Mark Walsh, who used to be fashion sales executive and wrote fashion articles for Jack, the magazine will have a director, a creative director and a photographer.
It will be available at £3.50 from HMV, Borders and Virgin stores around the country with an initial print run of 20,000.
By Sarah Lagan
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