Along with the redesign, The Baffler recommitted their dedication to the power of the visual voice by evolving the Exhibit section of each issue into a commissioned work of op-art.
In my role as Art Director, I collaborated with the editors to brainstorm ideas, and pitch and commission artists and designers—some established, some up-and-coming—who brought their own distinct POV to author pieces that corresponded with the theme for each issue. The results were a brilliant—and often, funny—mix of cultural and industry criticism, parodies and political satire, and candid, first-person narratives. Some were lighter faire, some were heavy, heartwrenching stories.
These works served to break up the monotony of the 3,000-7,000 word salvos, and cemented The Baffler as a platform welcoming to artists as cultural commentators, not exclusively as a provider of aesthetics cast as a supporting role to the writing.
These works served to break up the monotony of the 3,000-7,000 word salvos, and cemented The Baffler as a platform welcoming to artists as cultural commentators, not exclusively as a provider of aesthetics cast as a supporting role to the writing.
Colleen Tighe,
Design is Not Neutral
Issue no. 43
“Capitalism makes us all complicit in its horror in order to survive, ‘creatives’ included. We may become guilty and uncomfortable if we probe the idea of creativity and the folklore surrounding it too hard. But we must examine the myths that enable us to suppress our guilt and ignore what we are complicit in.
The idea of an individual creative Instagram celebrity changing the world will never produce anything—except perhaps a well designed tote bag that will be just more flotsam as the oceans rise. the only thing that will change the world is mass, organized movements.”
Issue no. 43
“Capitalism makes us all complicit in its horror in order to survive, ‘creatives’ included. We may become guilty and uncomfortable if we probe the idea of creativity and the folklore surrounding it too hard. But we must examine the myths that enable us to suppress our guilt and ignore what we are complicit in.
The idea of an individual creative Instagram celebrity changing the world will never produce anything—except perhaps a well designed tote bag that will be just more flotsam as the oceans rise. the only thing that will change the world is mass, organized movements.”
James Lawrence Hughes, Written on the Wall, to Walk Into
Issue no. 33
Raymond Biesinger, What Information Really Wants
Issue no. 40
Wiliam Powhida, Boob Jubilee
Issue no. 50
Steven Pinker: “Liberal bourgeoisie types love me for refusing to relativize experience so they can feel like their experience is human experience. I’m what happens when you see the world as a spreadsheet average.”
Richard Florida: “Do you really think I am going to apologize for rebranding gentrification with pro cultural rhetoric into neoliberal yimby lifestyle policy?! Please buy my book, ‘The New Urban Crisis’ that I am in no way responsible for.”
Issue no. 50
Steven Pinker: “Liberal bourgeoisie types love me for refusing to relativize experience so they can feel like their experience is human experience. I’m what happens when you see the world as a spreadsheet average.”
Richard Florida: “Do you really think I am going to apologize for rebranding gentrification with pro cultural rhetoric into neoliberal yimby lifestyle policy?! Please buy my book, ‘The New Urban Crisis’ that I am in no way responsible for.”
Taylor Benson, Consumer Reports
Issue no. 42
Paperback Paradise, Valley of the Shadow
Issue no. 45
Matthew McGuinness, Deadlines
Issue no. 41
“The cost of living was my nighttime companion—the cost to live and the cost to fail. All I could do is relive my shortcomings and pine for a restart (or an out). Drawing these epitaphs kept me at arm's distance from pulling the plug. They are mundane. They are banal. They are fleeting observations of my moods, my battle with sorrow.”
Issue no. 41
“The cost of living was my nighttime companion—the cost to live and the cost to fail. All I could do is relive my shortcomings and pine for a restart (or an out). Drawing these epitaphs kept me at arm's distance from pulling the plug. They are mundane. They are banal. They are fleeting observations of my moods, my battle with sorrow.”
John Leavitt, Reds of Future Past
Issue no. 44
Liana Finck, Fun Times
Issue no. 36
Corey Presha, This Doesn’t Harmonize with Mah Complexion
Issue no. 39
By sourcing his imagery from postcards, found materials, and samples of early twentieth-century Black Americana procured from eBay—Presha explores the legacy of outward and internalized racism in the history of American life, as well as the endurance and pervasiveness of this racism—spread through culture and media—in present-day society. —Sholeh Hajmiragha
Issue no. 39
By sourcing his imagery from postcards, found materials, and samples of early twentieth-century Black Americana procured from eBay—Presha explores the legacy of outward and internalized racism in the history of American life, as well as the endurance and pervasiveness of this racism—spread through culture and media—in present-day society. —Sholeh Hajmiragha
William Powhida, Oh, Cults
Issue no. 38
Colleen Tighe, Care Manual
Issue no. 51
Muiz, The Anthropological Typology of a Disaggregated Body Politic
Issue no. 46
“Crime and punishment are the whetstones upon which homo sapiens have shaped their cultures and societies.
In this series, I explore the effects, on the global body, of a history where the perpetrator and adjudicator are one and the same. European expansion and conquest brought unbridled chaos and destruction to our genus, and also to the satellite we call home.”
Issue no. 46
“Crime and punishment are the whetstones upon which homo sapiens have shaped their cultures and societies.
In this series, I explore the effects, on the global body, of a history where the perpetrator and adjudicator are one and the same. European expansion and conquest brought unbridled chaos and destruction to our genus, and also to the satellite we call home.”
Sam Potts, New Certificates of Expertise
Issue no. 34
Bran Dougherty-Johnson, Terms & Conditions
Issue no. 47
Exhibit credits
James Lawrence Hughes, issue no. 33
Sam Potts, issue no. 34
Liana Finck, issue no. 36
James Victore, issue no. 37
William Powhida, issue no. 38
Corey Presha, issue no. 39
Raymond Biesinger, issue no. 40
Matthew McGuinness, issue no. 41
Taylor Benson, issue no. 42
Colleen Tighe, issue no. 43
John Leavitt, issue no. 44
Paperback Paradise, issue no. 45
Muiz, issue no. 46
Bran Dougherty-Johnson, issue no. 47
Valérie Belin, issue no. 48
Wiliam Powhida, issue no. 50
Colleen Tighe, issue no. 51
Kandis Williams, issue no. 52