“JOURNAL – RUSSIA”
Julian Klincewicz X Vans X Union LA
“ЖУРНАЛ” (Journal- Russia) is the first in a series of books by Julian Klincewicz that explore and emphasize our relationships to precious objects. The content of each JOURNAL will focus on displaying pieces of particularly informative experiences, places, and collaborations that ultimately offer a view into another world. The first installment focuses on Russia – a trip made possible through a collaboration with photographer and menswear designer, Gosha Rubchinskiy, and skateboarder Tolia Titaev.
The book is set to release in collaboration with Vans Vualt in an edition of 300, Thursday, April 28th – at Union Los Angeles from 7pm-10pm, and will be available Friday April 29th at select retailers.
Klincewicz and Rubchisnkiy worked together on a video project in June of 2015 to announce the release of Gosha’s A/W2015 collaboration shoes with Vans Vault. The film was shot in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and looked at the juxtaposition of a western skate culture in an emerging eastern context, on several levels – Through the act of skating, through the people featured in the video, and through the relationship of the collaborators – Gosha, a native of Moscow, and Julian a Southern California raised artist and skateboarder.
A mixture of photographs, vhs video stills, and writings are used to convey the world of that collaboration. The physical size of the book 2.75”x4” is a reference to the pocket size of a phone – and the unprecedented access through social media with which we have to connect and be transported to another world (Julian and Gosha first became acquainted through Instagram – so the size is both a fond nod to the platform, and a hope to create a more precious and tangible response to the immediacy of being transported to someplace else through a constant flow of imagery.)
The Physical size and design are also a reference and re-contextualization (cultural translation) of Raymond Foye & Francisco Clamente’s publishing project, Hanuman Books (1978-1996) – where they first translated the format of pocket sized Hindu Prayer books for a Contemporary New York, using Avant-garde writers such as Patti Smith, Eileen Myles, Jack Kerouac, Richard Hell and Candy Darling, among many others. Similarly, JOURNAL looks at how to translate this idea into a format that makes sense now.
