Journey into the Unknown

Photograph by Alberto Restifo

Photograph by Alberto Restifo

Kingdomz X Arts & Entertainment is the culmination of many projects I’ve been involved with over the past eight years. To be honest, I wasn’t sure of the direction I wanted to take it. When I began developing the concept back in 2014, I showed my girlfriend the progress I had made, which included the logo I had designed.

Our original logo, circa 2014

Our original logo, circa 2014

She thought it was perfect, but that it looked as if all we would do is showcase classical musicians, fine artists, and dusty museums. She was right, and so I put off working on it for a while. I didn’t know what to do, at that point. Then one day, inspiration for the current incarnation of our magazine, came from the most unlikeliest of places (for me, anyway). It came from a recording artist, whose music I am admittedly not a huge fan of: Miley Cyrus.

It was in an interview with Miley Cyrus in the pages of one of my favorite periodicals, conducted by fashion design icon Karl Lagerfeld, where I first became intrigued with her. I don’t know why I read it, and off hand, I don’t remember a word. Then one night, I watched a performance of hers on Saturday Night Live. This young woman clearly was not the one I had become familiar with, to me it seemed she was capable of far more than what she’d been given credit for. I familiarized myself with her Happy Hippie Foundation, and learned to respect Humanitarian Miley. But it wasn’t until I purchased a special issue of Plastik Magazine (Issue 27), that I truly became impressed with Artist Miley. Eventually, I began to see there was much more to her, than what I had read and heard through mainstream media. Contrary to popular opinion, Miley is not the vapid millennial she’s been accused of being. There is far more substance to her personality than people give her credit for. Her irreverence doesn’t mean she doesn’t care, maybe she just doesn’t care about the stupid shit most people care about. It is her irreverent nature, that is so important to her personality and her artistry, I think. That kind of irreverence is invaluable, and what we intend to harness and display here.

Photograph by Maxime BHM

Photograph by Maxime BHM

Millennials get a bad rap in the media, but I know better. It’s not their fault they’ve been dealt a bad hand, and told to just deal with it. When you’re faced with the world they’ve inherited, it’s hard not to think the world is so full of shit, there’s no sense in wiping your ass. But they are doing something; after all, it’s their world now. Gen Y aren’t seeking anyone’s permission, and that’s as it should be. It is my fervent hope they (and the generation to follow) put to the torch such regressive and malignant philosophies as racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, and patriarchy. I’m rooting for their team. I want them to win. With all that’s happening in the world, right now, they must win.

This magazine was created in the spirit of iconoclasm, to be the proverbial wrecking ball within the realm of art, design, and entertainment. Though not all of our subjects or contributors are themselves millennials, Kingdomz X Arts & Entertainment was creatively born of the millennial zeitgeist. I still don’t know where this thing is headed, to be truthful, but I think that’s the beauty of it.

Patrick Chappelle

Patrick is a neurodivergent feminist, socialist, provocateur, propagandist, and iconoclast. He is a journalist.

https://www.neuerotica.com/
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