Announcing balcony: A New Bi-annual Print Journal

balcony (2021).

By DARYL KING, August 2021

A year ago, everyone knew less about COVID-19 than what is known today. Both responsibility and urgency are called for in this exact moment, while some are furloughed. Worse yet, some people have possibly even lost their jobs. Since the early 2000s, most of the world was already operating on a post-Modern scale. Covid-19 signaled the end of Modernity, making it imperative for the art industry to appreciate the current: “balcony is a new bi-annual collection of conversations with artists situated in the everyday.” Appropriately titled after the only space where some people could relax outdoors, sans masks and vaccination, the print-only publication will be limited to 1000 issues during the Summer and Winter. balcony celebrates the quotidian, or the ordinary, the everyday.  However, the publication promises to be everything else besides mundane. Most of the best companies were started at home by diligent families. Likewise, there are many projections that work-from-home culture will last for quite some time. balcony’s inaugural issue “features ad hoc experiences, original artwork, and unique narratives from a range of international writers, artists, and photographers….” It places daily life at the forefront of its focus, versus the titanic. Regardless of whether someone wants to adapt to the new situation, or not, quarantine initiated the ability to develop a more sustainable life. Vicente Muñoz, balcony’s Creative Director, is an Ecuadorian visual artist and designer. 

His new design practice, Estudio Piedras, seeks to harmonize with geological influences, modern forms, and sculptural objects. None of the difficulties that prevented companies from being more sustainable exist right now.  The global economy has been disrupted. Leaders had to use their brains to think of ways outside of the circumstances: first by devising a new means of management. Co-founder and editor Audrey Rose Smith certainly accepted that task, as a writer and editor born in Hartford, CT. She presently works for David Zwirner Gallery. Boosting productivity, at the expense of the worker, was once de rigueur. Employees are now encouraged to seek better benefits and features, which allows them to better manage their work-life balance. You can call it Marxist Socialism, or label it by any name, but there is a limit to the extent to which any human being can work that hard. Art Directors Ben Fehrman-Lee and Julia Novitch are also two unique individuals themselves. Fehrman-Lee is a graphic designer, who examines “individuals and institutions in cultural and public domains.” His work is differentiated by a focus on the collision between art and architecture. Novitch is another graphic designer; nonetheless, this programmer manages to operate between Sweden and the U.S. Some of the benefits and opportunities achieved during quarantine might appear to be fleeting.  However, more people are striving to find a better life for themselves. Lockdown measures forced everyone to both rest and reconsider how they both lived and will live. Others couldn’t wait to rejoin the world.

balcony (2021).

balcony will be distributed worldwide by Antenne Books and available for purchase for $20 USD through select partnering retailers or special order via www.balconymagazine.com. The growing global stockist list currently includes: New York: Bye Bye Neighbor, Corridor, Head Hi, McNally Jackson, Printed Matter, Oliver Coffee / Los Angeles: Skylight Books (Coming soon) / Paris: KD Presse (Pre Order) / Mexico City: Casa Bosques (Coming soon). WM

Publication Specifications: 

• _Available in print only
• _Published twice annually (Summer and Winter)
• _Page count: 230 pages
• _Cover Price: $20 USD / £15
• _Distributed internationally (UK/EU via Antenne Books)
• _Run: 1000
• _Size: 6.625" 8.875", finished•
• _Binding: Softcover, ota bound
• _Paper: Munken Print White 120gm (uncoated)
• _Website serves as live print proof of front/back coverbalconymagazine.