You know the old joke about Playboy magazine, about how he "reads it for the articles"? It's funny because it's true. That's what Butt Magazine is like, only instead of cheesy airbrushed naked chicks paired with faux-sophisticate culture it's slightly gritty naked guys with faux-casual sophisticated culture. It feels like a well produced zine, with a very personal editorial slant. Instead of the usual hairless-youth or bearish-30something mindless gay crap it's more hipster, nerdy.

Butt started as a magazine published in Amsterdam in 2001. What's remarkable about it are the interviews: Casey Spooner, Matmos, Michael Stipe, Martin DeGville (Sigue Sigue Sputnik). Fashion and art too: Marc Jacobs, Roger Payne, Matthias Vriens, Gus Van Sant, Edmund White (a particularly good one). Some straight out porn: Peter Berlin and Bruce LaBruce. I also love their random other interviews: Julian Ganio "the gereontophile poster boy of the London scene", Perez Hilton, Gore Vidal. Their interview style is very personal, simultaneously casual and way more revealing than the usual garbage. It's thoughtful journalism. The photos are good too, particularly the non-porny erotic shots, although their insistence of publishing on pink newsprint makes it hard to really enjoy the detail.

Sadly, Butt is going on a bit of sabbatical so now isn't a great time to subscribe. I can strongly recommend the Butt Book, though, a compilation of the best articles from the first 17 issues. The main website is interesting too, they've gone a bit bloggy.

I've mostly gotten bored with being gay. Gay overculture doesn't interest me, it's too vapid and too cruising focussed. Butt reminds me of the interesting part of being a sexual outsider.

culture
  2010-06-08 22:14 Z