Celebrity: Twinkling

Author: (English)
Cover Image: RollingStone/Gan/Zhao Nan
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-12-01
Features: Due to change, the emerging magazine Visual 21 from 1999-2002 has been redesigned. Many pieces of information revealed that many readers still hold expectations for that somewhat unconventional publication. Therefore, we have decided to abandon the original Visual 21 in the form of this series. Unlike the original magazine, the current Visual 21 series will be purely image-driven, with each issue focusing on a specific theme—or rather, it will shed the magazine's relatively diverse content to become a pure "visual reading" BOOK. Of course, the series will no longer follow a fixed monthly publication schedule but will instead be released relatively steadily several times a year. What remains connected to the original magazine is that this series will continue to wield images as a powerful tool, taking delight in spreading "a different perspective on the world," expressing individuality, pursuing vitality, conveying messages, and shaping social norms, while providing knowledge, leisure, education, and services to the young HIPPIEs and YUPPIEs around the world. It will continuously and broadly showcase the highly infectious visual representations of the changes and conflicts in our contemporary life world, such as fashion, idols, brands, consumption, art, the alternative, gaming, and various transformations and clashes related to the environment, culture, wealth, war, and more.
I remember a reader once reviewed the original Visual 21: "A bit flamboyant, a bit confrontational, and a bit ironic." Indeed, we are often amazed by the courage and wisdom of the world's outstanding image creators, and we deeply admire the many excellent media around the world for providing humanity with brilliant visual storytelling. We also want to join the ranks of expressing creativity and opinions, but due to our awkwardness and helplessness, unfortunately, we can only achieve a little.
Some people also say: Visual 21 is avant-garde and alternative. In fact, the development and changes of the times have far exceeded the original understanding of many people. Who knew that the mainstream things we now recognize and pursue were often the very things we once desperately rejected. Imagine: how can a society that is constantly evolving and coexists in diversity not have avant-garde and alternative elements?
For example, when "wearing" becomes increasingly rampant and fails to express desires, people start "unwearing," trying to shed the darkness and embrace the light to show openness, and thus, nudity becomes more popular. In this way, things once opposed become mainstream fashion through being labeled as alternative and avant-garde—right? What we aim to do is simply replicate the various changes occurring in the world and the many differences that exist. Under limited conditions, we hope to introduce to young readers the courage and wisdom that inspire us, as well as their brilliance, so that instead of fabricating and popularizing things lacking personality and thought, we do not waste everyone's money and time.