Written by Michael Kiser, then illustrated by Kyle Fletcher
Humans often refer to complex phenomena with overly simplified, abstract terms in order to generate an emotional understanding when an intellectual one just won’t do. These are metaphors. The heart of the nation. The seat of an empire. A seed of doubt.
Illustrated by Kyle Fletcher, then written by Michael Kiser
We have jobs because we’re afraid.
When I sit in a theater and experience something profoundly good, so qualitatively divine, I want it to change my life forever. I want it to consume my visual field and never let go. Never show me the edges of its reality. There should be no bezel on truth.
Written by Michael Kiser, then illustrated by Kyle Fletcher
The concept of “the sublime” has always been something humans defined, or at least inferred, as a beauty or grandeur beyond a human capacity.
Written by Steve Juras then Illustrated by Kyle Fletcher. Foreword written by Michael Kiser.
Many people are allergic to creative input — obsessed with originality and individual esteem.
A mysterious protein enters the body and the hypersensitive immune system reacts with hives, swelling, a goddamn asthma attack. So we are with pictures, words, ideas from other people that might influence our own creativity.
At DissMag, we take a different route. We consume. We expose ourselves to the venom of unknown creative expression, and force it down our throats. This is how we write and illustrate each article, and it’s how we treat our selected contributors. Wether each article begins in words or pictures, we treat it all like indeterminate protein.
And so, with this in mind, we bring you a bony, grizzled, deep fried piece of work from Steve Juras that we chewed on for awhile, and finally choked down. Given the option to submit words or pictures first, he chose words — and Kyle Fletcher created images in the fever-like state that it induced.
Illustrated by Kyle Fletcher and written by Michael Kiser
This is about masks. There are masks we wear as individuals. And there are masks we wear as groups. Micro/macro. And then there are the shiny helmets that astronauts wear as they peer point-blank into the future. I intend to argue that all these masks are useful.
Written by Michael Kiser and illustrated by Kyle Fletcher
As creative firms continue expanding their offerings to the point of ultimate integration, creative professionals find themselves in crisis — am I a generalist or a master of craft? The answer is that to be successful, or personally fulfilled, you might have to be both.
