For the latest issue of AnOther, the roll call of contributors is a gallery of unconventional characters, united by their positions at the height of their professions and their refusal to follow an established party line...
For the latest issue of AnOther Magazine, the roll call of contributors is a gallery of unconventional characters, united by their positions at the height of their professions and their refusal to follow an established party line. Including interviews with the iconic and fearless figurehead for democracy in Burma, Aung San Suu Kyi, the eternally polarising Julian Assange, Sylvia Earle, an oceanographer who has pushed the human understanding of the oceans further than any other, and Haider Ackermann, the designer whose independence, and uncanny capacity to transfer emotion and power to his clothes, sets him apart; AnOther’s 21st edition is a confluence of passion, innovation and wisdom. Here, to whet the appetite, AnOther has collated some of the highlights from these interviews…
Jefferson Hack on modern dissidents: "What are modern dissidents? Traditionally defined as rogue individuals who challenge established doctrines or institutions, in this issue…they are celebrated as vital and even sublime chroniclers of truth."
Aung San Suu Kyi on freedom: “After I was released, people used to keep asking me, ‘what’s it like to be free? And it was very difficult for me to answer. I’d always felt free. As far as my state of mind was concerned, I didn’t feel any different…People ask me about what sacrifices I’ve made. I always answer: I’ve made no sacrifices, I’ve made choices.”
Rachel Weisz on David Bowie: "I thought Bowie was a poet in touch with God. For me, he really dramatised not belonging in a really powerful and poetic way, and when you’re 14 and you feel grotesque, it’s like: “I’ve found a friend.”’
Grayson Perry on cross-dressing: ‘“As a tranny, there are several things I’m very aware of,” he says between fittings, during which time he stands in his boxer shorts, eating a banana. “I try to avoid denim and sportswear, any animal print. That sort of cheap glamour and tinselly camp is not what I’m looking for.”’
Cheryl Dunn on Rebecca Lepkoff: "Rebecca was punk-rock before the term was even coined. Women are always being told to be afraid and even more so back then. She told me about a job she had in a rough area of Brooklyn back in the day. “The assigning female editor said, ‘This is a very rough area and you have to go around with a cop.’ I said: ‘How can I take photographs with a cop?’ She said: ‘Well you either do it with a cop or you can’t do it.’ I managed to lose the cop.”’
Julian Assange on suppressed information: "We’ve never had a proper understanding of it because it’s never entered our intellectual record, and if we can find out about how complex human institutions actually behave, then we have a chance to build civilised behaviour on top of it.’
Gareth Pugh on obsession: "Everyone needs to have some sort of obsession. I think mine would have to be my fascination with opposites; it’s something that seems to follow me everywhere. Whether it’s black and white, good and evil, masculine and feminine… And then, of course, there’s the perpetual – and always failing – search for perfection. That’s quite a sadistic obsession but an important one."
Chandler Burr on the importance of fragrance: "Fragrance is crucial to the way that we present ourselves to the world. One can be beautifully presented but if there isn’t an olfactory aspect, one is flat. We are a species that developed our sense of smell before any other. The absence of scent creates a void, a lack of information and stimulus."
Dr Sylvia Earle on her first dive: "…my first breath was just…it just seemed impossible that you could actually breathe underwater. I knew in my mind it was possible, but actually experiencing it was such a gulp of joy and I feel it every time I go under the ocean. I love doing it, to be able to feel weightless, to spin on one finger, to do somersaults, to be like a graceful ballerina – even with a huge tank on your back you can do the most extraordinary things."
Haider Ackermann on the pace of fashion: "Of course we want to democratise fashion, it should be for everyone. But…the electricity and intimacy that was there in the past was never so available. It made you dream, made you want to belong to a family. Now you can belong anywhere. At every house the doors are open. There’s no sense of needing to climb up to get there. It all moves much faster and there’s not so much effort involved. To me, then, it’s like: please, let’s slow things down a little, let’s take the time to see what’s in front of us and absorb the moment."
Read all of these interviews and more, in full in the latest issue of AnOther Magazine on sale now.
Text by Tish Wrigley
