Click Read More/Comment for additional pictures of the event. On May 17th I was invited to the launch event for Maker Magazine, a quarterly publication highlighting the artistically in-tuned innovators of this generation. Held at Creatures of Comfort in New York, the Nolita flagship store, sister store to their LA Boutique, could hardly contain the whirlwind of excitement for this highly anticipated first issue.
Friend and Founder of Maker Magazine Alyse Archer-Coite along with (partnering) founders Jillian Choi, Joanna Lily Wong and Marion Anaïs Forand describe Maker as a
“quarterly publication shedding light on the creative mind and spirit, articulating the often unexplored, more personal projects and perspectives of contemporary artists. Artists work in collaboration with MAKER to interpret and shape each issue through their unique points of view.
We encourage contributors to utilize pages as a blank canvas examining the creators as a work of art themselves—peeking past the curtain to explore the enigmatic mind and the innovation behind it.
We invite art-makers, taste-makers, image-makers, music- makers, and love-makers, both emerging and established, to connect with like-minded individuals to achieve and strengthen their vision.”
Curious is to how Maker was conceptualized I asked, Alyse Archer Coite, “How was the concept of Maker initialized and why was it important to bring Maker to fruition?” Coite stated:
Well, I’ve always been lucky to be surrounded by loving, kind, and extremely talented friends. People whose work I respect, whose minds intrigue me, and whose private and professional projects I have always taken an interest in. During a time when I was living back at home, in LA, I was trying to make up my mind about whether to get back into the arts and return to NYC, or spend some time exploring eco-politics (which was my second major). And my friend Clem (Clémence Poésy) who had just been in town visiting had left behind a portrait of me in pencil and watercolor, accompanied by a note thanking me for my hospitality. I knew through the time we spent together that she was a talented illustrator and painter, having shared stories of fully illustrated and bound books filled with watercolor paintings she loved to work on during her downtime and late nights on set. She would give them as gifts to loved ones, or leave them as surprises in her stead (as she had done for me). Upon finding my portrait I began to think about the secret and not so secret talents of my friends… and wanted to make a collective sort of blind collaboration between them and myself. I envisioned it as a sort of a curatorial project, my friends as the artists, the pages as the gallery, and myself as the curator.
In an age of limited self- expression in many mainstream publications, Maker designs a platform that is not stifled nor polluted with the ideologies of others and brings forth a new era of letting the Maker create an expression entirely their own.
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*Alyse Archer-Coite, Jillian Choi, Joanna Lily Wong and Marion Anaïs Forand
*Marion Anais Forand, Alyse Archer-Coite, Nora Zehetner, Jillian Choi
*Nora Zehetner, Clemence Poesy, David Call, Josh Mond
*Ryan Leslie
Alyse Archer Coite
Photographer Quazi King
Featured photo of Alyse by Quazi King
*Images by Angela Pham
Behind the scenes images by UBB
To
see more of Maker Founder Alyse Archer-Coite view her UBB interview with us here –> Alyse Archer-Coite
