issue four looks like…

Who are you without the media you consume? Who are you when no one is watching? How does the past bleed into your present?

An anachronism is defined as “a thing belonging or appropriate to a period other than that in which it exists.” As a generation immersed in rapid technological advancements, Gen Z has taken a surprising interest in items of nostalgia: vintage goods, thrifting, analog photography, retro aesthetics, and even print media/zines. Perhaps we are searching for an escape–to find comfort in “simpler times” we’ve never even lived through. Perhaps this yearning for the past is our way of coping with the imminent threats to our humanity, political polarization, and the pressures placed upon us as a generation.

Social media has allowed our generation to be highly aware about cultural issues, mental health, race, sexuality and gender, and climate change. This issue is both a celebration of our values and accomplishments, and simultaneously a challenge to the toxicities perpetuated by capitalism and the way we consume media. 

Specifically, we are exploring our individual relationship to escapism as well as the existential nihilism we feel as a generation. We are examining our relationship to social media, the pressure of performance, and the presence of performative activism. Because we are a generation that values authenticity, individuality, and self expression, we are dissecting our relationship to identity and nonconformity through the current medium of mass consumption. In many ways, we are moving in circles, simultaneously forwards and backwards, in cycles of trends, and indulging in the past in hopes of creating a better future. 

This issue is a collective diary of Gen Z. It is in and of itself an escape to the past and a reimagination of the future. It is a time capsule of who we are. A place to feel seen, and remembered.

A reminder that we exist, and that we are here.