{"id":26935,"date":"2017-09-10T11:38:28","date_gmt":"2017-09-10T15:38:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/?p=26935"},"modified":"2017-09-10T13:23:35","modified_gmt":"2017-09-10T17:23:35","slug":"paraphilia-requiescat-in-pace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/herman\/2017\/09\/paraphilia-requiescat-in-pace.html","title":{"rendered":"Paraphilia:<\/i> Requiescat in Pace"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Paraphilia Magazine<\/em> officially ceased to be an active publication on September 1, 2017. It was an uninhibited online publication<\/a> that featured a variety of content “likely not found in the average publication,” according to its publisher, Dire McCain<\/a>. Her primary motive was to enable writers and artists to escape “the grip” of the art and design industries.<\/p>\n

Between March 2009 and December 2012, the magazine appeared in the form of a journal, with 16 issues produced. The issue format was then retired, and in March 2013, the magazine morphed into the more regularly updated Periodical<\/em>. It was also the home base for book imprints Apophenia, Clinicality Press, and Oneiros Books. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although Paraphilia<\/em> has ceased publication<\/a>, “all 5000 plus pages of the magazine can still be enjoyed for free<\/a>.” You can also browse the books<\/a>. This was the magazine’s mission statement:<\/p>\n

<\/a>

Dire McCain<\/p><\/div>\n

The restraints and constraints of cultural conditioning are omnipresent, spreading like knotweed into every crevice of humankind\u2019s psyche, thus throttling genuine expression at its roots.<\/p>\n

Over the years, wo\/man has progressively acquiesced and, at times, eagerly collaborated in the widespread poisoning, consequently imposing cretinizing and debilitating conditions on expression, all in the name of propriety, popularity, and profit. Nowadays, artists often consider their \u201ccareers\u201d before even embarking on the creative process. The insidious whispering of the superego and almighty dollar is looming over their shoulders, ensuring that the original, sincere, and thought-provoking is vetted and curbed.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, the epidemic has spread beyond the mainstream, giving birth to a generic, contrived, ersatz version of the \u201cavant-garde\u201d that\u2019s been shamelessly commodified and mass-marketed, driving otherwise \u201cnormal\u201d people to assume conspicuous yet transparent costumes, all in an effort to fit in or cash in. It\u2019s now burgeoned into an absurd masquerade that\u2019s garnered a sizeable attendance.<\/p>\n

Enter Paraphilia<\/em>, an unlicensed, underground enterprise that renounces established rules, regulations, guidelines, genres, categories, and all other humanmade shackles. Paraphilia<\/em> recognizes that expression is a fundamental function of the human organism, and within these walls, it will only be presented in the purest, rawest, most unfettered form. The sole requirement for admission is an open mind, so do come in, we embrace your presence.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Before it ceased publication, Malcolm Mc Neill put together a video to display his artwork for each of his columns posted on the Paraphilia<\/em> site. Here’s the video. The sound track is Mozart’s “Concerto No. 21 in C major,” a proper requiem when you think about it. There were 40 columns in all by Mc Neill, 25 of which have been issued as a book titled Reflux<\/em><\/a>. (Below the video is the text of one of the columns.) <\/p>\n