All images via Flickr. Check out Ryan’s website as well!

Eileen Myles sets the tone for the issue by exploring the history of still lifes (and noting just how wrong it seems to say “lifes”). She talks in an authoritative tone, and poses questions but doesn’t ask them. It’s more of a meditation on still lifes, which is fitting based upon the long, rich history of them. It seems better to reflect on the past and relate it to the future rather than trying to carve a completely new interpretation on the genre.

Overall, I found the photography both amusing and off-putting, which I am sure was part of the intent. Each photograph references a way of seeing. Through the curating of Jerry Hsu and Jesse Pearson, we are presented with photographers that have a tie to counter-culture and see excess. Sometimes they celebrate excess, while other times pointing out the ridiculousness of it all. I enjoy where this issue takes the idea of still life. From the roots, thee things were a memory, often of brighter times. They’ve sense morphed into something larger — heavier in meaning, arguably more effective in their message. Arrangement and our object-driven culture will never go tired of the photographs presented in this issue.

All images via the Vice website. From top to bottom, in order: Slava Mogutin // Jaime Lee Curtis Taete // Vito Fun // Sandy Skoglund // Les Krims