TOWARDS TERRA

Kong Yue is one of the notable fashion designers who emerged from the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp, Belgium. His vibrant and statuesque creations are produced with the help of highly sustainable practices, which the designer developed himself, without compromising the desired aesthetic.

Vincent Snijder’s approaches to design range from 3D scans & prints to animations created with audio software, and inspirations spanning movie and gaming culture all the way to anthropology and history. One guiding line in his works however is an investigation of human rituals and cultures, both physical and intangible. Today you get a chance to explore even some of his upcoming artworks, accompanied by curatorial texts and Vincent’s personal insights.

With definitions of her work spanning “a structure or form that combines multiple living organisms or biological elements” or “a hybrid organism created through synthetic techniques”, Xinyi Tao’s fashion design imagines a biomorphic future where the line between wear and wearer is completely blurred. Explore this material interbecoming in today’s feature, accompanied by an insightful interview with the cutting-edge artist.

In a future world under the lizard rule, humans are no longer around to bow down to them. In cooperation with the brand Křehký for the Křehký Mikulov festival, annually showcasing the finest Czech glass, porcelain and wood design, we've envisioned a fragrant and lush post-civilisation world where free-roaming agamas socialise around the prettiest remnants of human activity. Welcome to another Swarm Production creation – Tomorrow's Heirlooms.

In her thesis installation Erebo, Anna Jožová turns to the ongoing mass extinction and ecological disaster. By exploring the interplay of various materials in geological time, the Prague-based artist warns of the looming approach of the eponymous Greek god of darkness, who, according to myth, was at the beginning and end of the universe, and whose return has never been closer.

“It’s not only music. It’s a world. It's a search for ambitious identities. It’s a creature community. It's an eco system. A queer mythology. It's more than a dream.” From the sheer and ruffled creations of Livia Rita, avant-pop singer, musician and performer, designer and self-proclaimed Alpine witch, emerge the cutest of specimens fostering social change and otherkin utopia.

Linda Morell’s recent exhibition dives into the jellified oceans of a future Earth, a place so alienated from mankind that it itself is uncertain which life forms it will favor. Inspired by Paradise Lost, mythologies and collapse of civilization, her unique installations explore a non-linear temporality through materials and interplay.

“I will continue to question our existence and try to be appeased in a crazy and violent world.” Armenian-Iberian accessory designer Mara Tchouhabjian is the author of intricate and ornate headpieces, using fabric, beads, embroidery, wire or natural woven materials. Enjoy a down-to-the-point interview with the artist below.

Zexian Liu's playful, vibrant and mix-and-match outfits and shoewear rife with prints, patterns and textures invite both the wearer and the viewer to enter her world of contrasts, randomness and celebration of the simple beauty of just looking around us every day. We are delighted to bring you an interview with the fashion designer below.

“We always wanted a place to hide. To inhabit islands with their own rules, where we can die and be reborn.” Today’s feature by Bára Čápová explores the parallels between Deleuze’s utopia of desert islands and contemporary liminal space aesthetics. Her meditation is accompanied by illustrations by Andrea Sklepek Šafaříková, underscoring the mysterious atmosphere of once-crowded, now-empty environments.

Despite all our modern sensibilities, our minds still play tricks on us when it comes to the darkness. Shapes begin to swirl and half-materialize, uncanny threats breathe down our necks from the murkiness – and we feel silly after we flip the light switch. But what if the entities are really there? This editorial was sparked by our fascination with Lukáš Spilka's Full Moon collection and was brought to life via the talent of photography duo Shotby.us.

Léa Porré’s fascination with transcending the same old ways of interpreting history finds expression in her 3D works and installations. Today, the London-based Belgian artist presents two of her recent projects, Arcana Arcorum and The Beginning of All Moist Things which, in her style, “experiment with 3D world-building as a tool to heal from our past, and future-forecast.”

There are only two scenarios for the future. In his philosophical essay, Becoming a Nuclear Ghost (Notes on the Non-Existence of Utopia), on the basis of postapocalyptic pop-culture visions, Martin Charvát constructs the outermost possibilities of social existence. Illustrated by Dominik Turan.

Mnemosyne Unit-01 is a hyper-creature that contains the DNA of all known eukaryotic species as they navigate a deserted Earth. The premise of Dimitris Gkikas’ walking simulator, an emerging gaming genre, takes the player to an eclectic universe which, despite its grim post-apocalypticism, maintains a light spirit and insightful view of technology.

“I find wastefulness nauseating.” Sophia Rotas, the mastermind behind Daemon Concept, a brand that seeks to “redefine severe luxury through fine jewellery”, afforded SWARM Mag a piece of her mind on her journey from maximalism to ascetic simplicity, Hungarian ballroom culture, not fearing perceived perfection or how AI-generated art can never reflect the “Zeitgeist”. Enjoy the captivating interview below.

Visions of escaping civilization and technology for a simple life of manual labor have crept into many an artists’ dreams since the industrial revolution, but Alexandr Martsynyuk’s recent work explores the inevitable inescapability of automation even in a rustical, barebones existence. Join him today on a routine trip to the tomato allotments in his speculative spin on the post-apocalypse.

Irina Dzhus' eponymous label, DZHUS, gained global notoriety thanks to transformable and mostly monochrome maximalist-minimalist creations that sometimes cocoon their wearer. In the interview, she reveals how her garments are created to be deeply versatile by design, the challenges of producing and delivering pieces from the war-stricken Ukraine, the importance of cruelty-free materials, and how fashion should stay socially responsive in the future.

The long-running creative collaboration between Ula Lucińska and Michał Knychaus has recently led the Polish duo to explore the non-linearity of time, speculative approaches and the notion of catastrophe through their multimedia works. In their own words, “even if the environments we render are dark and repulsive they always contain elements of restoration and new life”, hanging in a balance between the surgical and organic. Today, you get to join them in their realms accompanied by an insightful interview.

The vibrant and mythos-like works of Spanish fashion and jewellery designer Cristina Milhero are sure to capture one's attention mercilessly, like a gluetrap. Read along to get familiar with her thoughts on the broader ethical codex designers should put into practice, keeping her eyes off the catwalks, corrupted minds and attention span, and more.

As part of her Friendship series, the creatures and beings in Denisa Müllerová’s works float in an ethereal space beyond desires and pain. Despite their alien optics, they all seek very familiar things: “They lightly touch each other. They contemplate. They convey the most necessary and important message – I'm here with you.” Join their presence in today’s feature accompanied by an explication of their universe and its creator.