What Is a Legend? What Makes Something Leg- Endary? How Do

Science: Cryptozoology: On the Limits of Science page 06

Icons: Against the Pissoire, the Recluse page 10

Money: Legends: A Career Guide page 12

Social: Supernatural Iceland: An Interview with Terry Gunnell page 13

In Pictures: Visualizing the Legend page 16

In Words Black Ball page 20

What is a legend? What makes something leg- endary? How do legends affect our lives and those of others? What are the legends of our time? We asked journalists, scholars, designers, illustrators and fiction writers to interpret this theme. We researched remote – and perhaps questionable – archives. We even got turned down a few hundred times (who knew acade- mia could be so impenetrable?) Read on, no campfire required. Credit card scam artist Science Fiction Do you mind writing Writer / Filmmaker Yes long academic papers? Yes

Feel? What’s that? No Do you like to travel? Explorer to No El Dorado

Is it the How do you feel about child of a human crying, homeless babies? and a vampire? Neat & Clean Anthropologist (see page 43)

Yes Supernatural teen What’s your hair look like? Wild romance author

Would you like a No Did you like science at school? Yes Mad Scientist / gold-plated jacuzzi? Time Traveller

Creationist Blogger No Yes

Yes Do you believe in god? Legends: A Career Guide Coney Island I’m from Sideshow Manager New York No

A dance move “Moonwalking” is: Part of the job (on TV)

Do you keep up with the news? Are you an NRA member? Cryptid Hunter Yes No Yes (see page 06)

Is the “Weekly World Do you have an affinity No News” a reliable source? Yes for crystal balls?

Conspiracy Theorist Ghost Tour Guide Hell No! Yes No

Fortune Teller Ouija Board Designer “Weekly World News” Editor

12 gopher illustrated Title by Áron Jancsó, based on his typography "Ogaki" / Website: behance.net/milen Photos by Jon Orn Gudbjartsson and Kristinn Ingvarsson Interview by Michelle Benaim

In 2006 and again in 2007, Terry Gunnell, a Professor of Folkloristics at the University of Iceland ran a survey at a national scale. He set out to meas- ure the belief in supernatural phenomena within the Icelandic population. Taking from a 1974 survey by Icelandic psychologist Erlendur Haraldsson, Gunnell and his students mailed out questions - and later interviewed – people young and old, living in the city and in the countryside, highly educated and not-so-much and asked them questions about elves, hidden people, prophetic dreams, connection with the dead and so on. Results reveal high levels of belief in many of these categories; for instance, about 66% of those sur- veyed ranked the existence of family spirits as either possible, probable or certain. We contacted him a little early in the year – journalists, says Gun- nell, tend to contact him when the Icelandic summer arrives – and pestered him for answers to our most pressing questions.

gopher illustrated 13 Introduction by Michu Benaim S. Title by Billy Ben / Website: www.billyben.ch Illustrations by Aquiles Hadjis Text by William Giraldi

If we have learned anything in our scant years as editors - particularly through the experience of editing the Gopher - is to have some cojones. One fateful evening, or perhaps in the morning light, or maybe just lit by the screen in our editor-cave, we managed to get over our star-struck admiration for William Giraldi and bought him a drink. Well, we bought him a virtual drink. Okay, maybe we just emailed him while we all squealed in nervous de- light, like twelve-year old prank-callers to the President, basking in the possibility of even the most tangential of contacts. You see, we had read Giraldi’s work in magazines like "The Believer" and "Opium", serious publications, publications with a real publishing budget, a marketing department, and a flurry of superstars. We sent Giraldi an email asking for a story, and a video about the magazine. It was pornographic, pleading, hopeless… and successful. On the record, William Giraldi’s writing is on the bottom of his priority list. A new fa- ther and a Professor at Boston University, Giraldi is also the Editor of AGNI, and a self-described “indolent reader-who-writes.” We hate to be disingenuous, but we are of the selfish opinion that the only thing that WG should be doing is writing and publishing his wonderful stories for our greedy reading pleasure – a wish partially granted in light of his upcoming novel, Busy Monsters, hitting bookstores soon. Saint Giraldi of the magical tale sent us two-part story - or a story in two parts - which we reproduce in whole for your reading pleasure (you’re welcome).

26 gopher illustrated (20) find this beautiful illustration of Brewer Carias in the sticker section

2 The oshe are large termites that he said. I had started writing down of our chiefs, because he wanted The intense rain had created water many Amazonian groups eat regu- notes. “It’s become impossible to us to move out of our villages, to deposits everywhere, which become larly. They are very easy to find - one find a capybara to hunt. Even oshe(2) work for him looking for precious stagnant overnight creating a per- would hardly have to venture into the forest to find them are nowhere to be found,” said Jose. stones. He said bad things about fect sanctuary for the larvae of the (3) 3 Waiteri is an intrinsic value among Not even oshe, I wrote. our waiteri , and started to try to Anopheles mosquito. For over two the Yanomami. It is a traditional and divide us. He is no good.” decades this malaria-carrying mos- moral code, involving physical “What are you writing down?” quito had become a deadly presence courage, and the capacity to bear great he asked. He said that for some of the com- in the area; endemic malaria had bodily pain during specific rituals. “What you’re telling me. About munities it became difficult to caused the deaths of 35 Yanomami the floods, about...” trust foreigners again. During my in less than three months. 500 in- stay there, though, the Yanomami fections were estimated. Jose interrupted me: “What for?” were forced to rely on the nabah. Jose confirmed this. “Medical doc- As the sun set over the Orinoco “Well, people need to know about tors and the missionaries have River, mosquitoes formed clouds it. They should be able to help.” been good to us. We have learnt of tiny black dots. I was still some- “You’re not one of Changon’s to recognize those who can help what intoxicated by the smell of men, are you?” asked Jose. us from those who want to mess the mosquito repellent mixture. I “No. Why?” around with my people,” he told sat down next to the fire, on a cor- “At first, Chagnon bought food, me. Jose grabbed my forearm, and ner of the shabono. The machetes and diesel to some of our whipered in my ear: “we barely all-repelling fire. The chiefs of the villages” said Jose. “But then, he have food now, but our biggest group called us – Texeira, the kept coming back on his plane, problem is malaria. The thing is priest and I. They wanted to tell every time with more and more killing us.” us about the hekura, the spirits nabah. He had a fallout with many that live among the Yanomami.

46 gopher illustrated Literature: Legend Has It / page 26

Infographic 001: Electromagnetic Leak / page 39

Chronicle: Two Takes on Wilderness: Swakopmund / page 40 Sinking in the Amazon / page 43

Portfolio: Tomokazu Matsuyama / page 49 Estelle Hanania / page 56 Jessica Hische / page 61 Mario Wagner / page 67

Track Diary: Aerea Negrot / page 73 Freddie Stevenson / page 74 Nakion / page 75

Opinion x 2: Shop Till You Drop? / page 76

Interview: So What Now Robert Redford? / page 78

Infographic 002: Big Brothers / page 81

Narrative: Carcelona / page 82

Literature: Famous Lesbians / page 88

Infographic 003: Master Lock / page 103 Title by Negro™ / Typography: Pulso Font / Website: negronouveau.com Interview: Michelle Benaim

-Paris-born photographer Estelle Hanania could easily be a product of Diane Arbus’ dreams. Unmoved by the everyday objects that seem to have a place in our collective sen- sitivities, Estelle creates narrative series focused on subjects that “seem to come from another dimension,” things which are chal- lenging to categorize. That said, she is wary of self-portraiture, even choosing to forgo a mirror image, which is all too available – Estelle has a twin sister named Marion. She prefers to find herself in the images she shoots, and to leave a trace on her collabo- rators, herself a living example of the work she produces.

• from Demoniac Babble, 2007

56 gopher illustrated Title by Negro™ / Typography: Pulso Font / Website: negronouveau.com Interview: Michelle Benaim

Jessica Hische has a cat that falls asleep on her keyboard. I know this because she showed me a picture of her cat on the keyboard, on her phone, some time after we first came across her work. Seems fair and healthy, I thought, that she has an anthropomorphic animal to wean her off working. Through her digital self – an impressive blog/website/chat triumvirate – we at the Gopher had come to know Jessica as a disciplined, talented coffee-fueled freehand design machine, a powerhouse at Louise Fili Ltd. A few months later, I was in New York and Jessica had left her post to freelance and develop her own typography project. She agreed to meet me one evening in Manhattan, and offered to show me a bit of Brooklyn. It was the weekend. I got a culinary shortlist, had some lambic(1) and received some drawings. At twenty-something, she’s designed for Chronicle Books, Random House, Victoria’s Secret, Tiffany & Co., The New York Times, American Express, The Boston Globe, Wired and the even the IRS, despite her cat’s valiant efforts.

gopher illustrated 61 Title by Negro™ / Typography: Pulso Font / Website: negronouveau.com Interview: Lope Gutiérrez-Ruiz

Tomokazu Matzuyama’s stunning street-meets- tradition aesthetic, was born from the impossibility to translate 1980’s Southern California to his Japan- ese hometown in Hida-Takayama, but not immediately. After marinating cross-cultural confusion in his child- hood sense of being out of place, Matzuyama came up with awe-inspiring work that seeks to cater to art- critics and skaters alike and provoke questions of identity through explosions of color.

gopher illustrated 49 • “Release” 2006 / Acrylic on paper / 23 x 15 in. While you're often associated with street art -even adopting Matzu- MTP as your tag- you have said before that you've never been a street artist. Some time ago, you retired the tag. What was the rea- son for this? Well, I’m not so sure if everyone associates my works with street art, although I don’t mind being in- terpreted in that manner or to be placed in any other categorization. My goal is to create art for the masses. I try my best to make my work as accessible as possible to everyone: from academics such as curators or contemporary art deal- ers, to a high school kid or someone from a different part of the world who might like street art. I’ve • “Under the Moonlight” 2009 Acylic on canvas shown [ my work ] in a museum 30 in. diameter with absolutely no association to street art; at the same time, I still get projects or commissions to paint murals with artists who are categorized under those labels. Put- ting a label to what I do is not very important to me, since that is something that viewers should decide, not the artist. Matzu-MTP was an artist name I used when I first started, since my name was very long and most people couldn’t even read it. It was created for the pur- pose of simple recognition, and not for tagging, but yes, I was in- • Installation View / JLG, New York fluenced by that culture, and I still think that youth culture and DIY orientation is part of my inspira- tion; I have never intended to retire from or be a part of that movement.

You use negative space in a very unorthodox manner, often placing complex or interlocking patterns in the background, which may compete with figures on the fore- Background Image: Michelle Benaim / Portrait: Rafael Scovino & Jose Eduardo Luna

Four years ago, we stood Cornelius by Aerea during a night Fantasma [ Matador of non-stop music and Records; 1998 ] shouting. Aerea, who Cornelius sent me on a was obviously in the trip to the end of the crowd but not of it, universe, where only stepped onstage and prompted a silence on the Bambi and Dumbo are allowed… quite a bizarre masses. She started singing, climbing octaves Disney film soundtrack. I can see every planet, of raw emotion while Wednesday's sunshine with its name written on a badge. Shooting appearing behind her. "Some people say I’m one stars. Fantasma reminds me of that afternoon of the best kept secrets of the Caribbean. I swal- that I spent with a friend in Amsterdam's Von- lowed Grace Jones, age 15, and cross-dressed Yma delpark… it was slowly getting dark, the sun Sumac's four octaves. Some say I'm lesbian but was hiding behind the trees and the trees were I'm actually transsexual" she said to a Ger- breathing and changing color. man magazine last summer. Aerea now sings and tours with Hercules and Love Affair and Adam Kalderon exercises her voice while vacuum-cleaning her Origami Files Berlin apartment. "In Berlin, art is not luxury, We met in Berlin, in a its survival" is another thing she said to that Club. I asked for ciga- German magazine. Marvelous. rette and a year later, we are sitting in my studio, Jackson and His rehearsing for his tour. He has a beard and a Computer Band huge pinky nail. Most songs are autobio- Smash [ Warp graphical, so I can picture him talking to me Records; 2005 ] in rhythm, accompanied by string instruments. This is music to listen Whenever I hear his music, I obviously think to from Monday to of him, and how much I miss him since “Wind” Thursday. With Jackson and his Computer took him back to Israel. Band's Smash, I would recover from the heavy partying on the weekends; especially on Mon- María Callas days, when I had to order pizzas and watch the La Divina [ EMI, most stupid films to cheer me up. It seems like 1992 ] Jackson was also going through the same week- I like to clean while lis- end hangover as I was. Suddenly it didn’t matter tening to her. I stole La how people looked at me at the supermarket Divina from a one- counter. With “Hard Tits” he makes a love dec- night-stand. He never called me back. laration directly to me, holding my hand, with a melancholic face but still dancing in sweat. Does he make music wearing just his under- More Aerea Negrot at wear? I would become a go-go dancer for him. myspace.com/aereanegrot Play in random mode, 'till your batteries die.

gopher illustrated 73 Background image: Suwon Lee / Portrait: Cha Ryoung Lee

When we asked Korea’s rible. Anzen Chitai means 'Safety Zone' in Eng- electronic musician lish. The band is made up of five gentlemen with Nakion for music that mustaches and wide shoulder pads. The singer related to her life she beats up his wife. Not good. Not safe. Anyway, sent us this list along in the end, I ended up annoyingly singing along with a confession: “I to the music (and I don't speak Japanese), in the don’t listen to these albums much anymore, car going to a funeral, at home, hanging out with but at one point in my life they were my every- the gang. Cheesy dramatic Japanese U2? I would day sounds. Good, bad or boring, they’re a part rate it 1 out of 1000. of my memories”. Nakion is not only a musician; she is also a prolific visual artist and our The Smiths contact in Seoul when looking for a cultural fix. Louder than Bombs [ Sire, 1987 ] Prince A friend introduced me (and The Revolution) to The Smiths. I think Purple Rain [ Rhino / The Smiths are one of Warner Bros; 1984 ] those bands you either love, hate or don’t know. One of my first pop ex- I think they are like distressed Spice Girls. That periences.Iinheritedthis friend in art school and I worshipped most tape from my brother sometime in the early 80's. of the things she listened to, from Frankie My older brother was already breakdancing while Knuckles to industrial music. I was trapped in I was a drooling infant. We watched the Purple a school somewhere in a deep forest, so every RainvideorepeatedlyalongwithThriller.Wewere now and then I snuck out to get music, and do living in a desert in the Middle East somewhere, stuff. I don't recommend it to teenagers, too and there was only one record shop -but with a addictive. I was learning classical guitar so I huge selection- named 747 Records, all of them attempted to teach myself Johnny Marr on the eitherEuropeanorAmerican.Alcohol,Christmas side. I failed miserably. andcoolpopmusicwerebanned,soitwasthrilling to listen to this kind of music, watching the sex- Various Artists iest man alive singing about something I didn't Galaxy 2 Galaxy: A understand.Heseemedbothangryandfrustrated. High Tech Jazz Compi- lation [ Submerge Anzen-Chitai Recordings; 2005 ] I Love You Kara Ha- The first time I heard jimeyoh [ Kitty; 2001 ] this was on mp3. It is one of those things that I was listening to web you play and people who don't usually listen radio recently and they to dance music end up liking. That is a good were playing some J-pop, thing. I’ll get the record on my next trip to Lon- so I remembered this group. I was somewhat don. This record made me dig Detroit-techno forced into J-pop and Hong Kong films when and Detroit-house more. I was a student in Korea. If I didn't listen, I could not join the group at school. Anzen-Chitai is hor- More Nakion at myspace.com/naxnaxnax

74 gopher illustrated A multifaceted actor to say the least, I felt that the festival, and to a de- five days, but it’s intense. Just imag- 2 Poster for Downhill Racer. the role that he most remembers gree the Institute was reaching a ine that intensity expanded to a is the one that almost got away. No stasis. It needed a fresh blood and month, and you have the oppor- matter how much success he has the changing of the guard. I wor- tunity in front of you to hear all or how much attention he garners, ried that we weren’t experimenting kinds of input. That’s why it’s time the failures loom over him, almost enough. That was the thrust of the to take a break and take a walk. Let like a specter that won’t go away. festival. The product of the latest nature play a role in opening up They define his existence. In the festival is probably the best yet, be- your mind - in a healthy way. You late 1960's, he attempted to make cause we’ve expanded the can just peel off and sit by the a film about Olympic skiing - categories, expanded the docu- stream. That’s the value of nature. “Downhill Racer”(2) - that no stu- mentaries, expanded the shorts. dio executive would touch. After it The results will speak for them- About halfway through, there is a 3 The Sundance Labs, artistic work- was released in 1969, he wondered selves, eventually. breakdown. I imagine that it’s like shops in screenwriting, directing, about the other young filmmakers therapy, when you need to find an- producing, film scoring and theater that predate the festival take place in who didn’t have the clout or con- Coming from New York, the high swers to things that are stopping January and June. To this day, Red- nections to get their stories altitude of Utah literally took my you or things that are scaring you. ford often serves as an adviser to the produced. Hence the birth of the breath away. But geographic seclu- The moment that you break dozens of hopefuls who stand where Sundance Institute, the Sundance sion seems to be intentional. How through that is like breaking the Quentin Tarantino once did. Festival, and the artistic workshops does it affect your artistic process? sound barrier - it’s scary, but it’s called Labs. For me and for others, it allows you a positive thing. You’ll be free of time to think and to process. First something you have just let go. What is the goal of the Sundance of all, the Lab Workshop(3) process [ The participants ] are so hon- Film Festival today? here is extremely intense. It’s only est and they’re so open, and

gopher illustrated 79 Title by Zosen / Websites: tofulines.com / animalbandido.com Text & Photo: Marc Caellas

Marc Caellas is riffraff. A trickster. A Spaniard who spent his late twenties as the Cul- tural Manager of the Embassy of Spain in several South American nations, paying for shoreside beers and comfortably satisfying his exotic habits with almighty Euros. He is one of those Europeans who sport a sombrero, an indispensable character for the Caribbean ecosystem. Let’s be clear; Caellas is a cultural events dynamo who makes things happen around him, a well-rounded diplomat – though not round himself – and a writer with a lot to narrate. You can sometimes find Marc on the Internet, that non-place from where he narrates - in Spanish sprinkled with Catalá – his global shenanigans with some of the most important contemporary authors gracing the Spanish language as well as the most recent installments of his adventurous day-to-day. Now Marc is back in his natal Barcelona after far too many years working his charm in the Caribbean, and he, the epitome of all things Catalan and Barcelona, returns to his city to find it hostage to tourists, segways and HD cameras. He writes his very Catalan-centric summary of what it means to be a think- ing thing in the carnival that used to be his homeland

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