PERFECT8 Mission:
PERFECT8, a publication dedicated to de-objectification. As opposed to the idealized “perfect 10”, PERFECT8 forms a new expression conveying a sentiment and recognition of the beauty found within the imperfections of people. Perfect also being defined as “complete of its nature or kind”, lends itself to the view that the individual can only be construed as perfect when all attributes of the whole person are acknowledged. By provoking a curiosity, and ultimately a questioning of what it would be like to experience the feelings of another, PERFECT8works to deconstruct the myth that people are objects and obtainable products
After researching the top selling Men’s and Women’s Interest magazines Diana Schmertz has created their revisal via the publication of Perfect8. Created in reaction to her disbelief that the primary interest of men is porn, and that women’s main interests are getting married and finding ways to look prettier for men, the Revised Men’s and Women’s Interest Sections present an alternative to the interest magazines currently offered to the public. (To review the top selling Men’s and Women’s Interest Magazines refer to poster below.) The Perfect8 publication brings together the work of artists and writers who are interested in the negative impacts of objectification, and/or promoting empathy in contrast to objectification. For the Perfect8 Magazine Stand project, Diana Schmertz has created an actual magazine stand fashioned after newstands seen throughout the streets of New York City. Via its insertion into the urban landscape the project seeks to raise awareness and provide a different choice to the current offerings found at the local newstand.
Throughout 2008 & 2009 the PERFECT8 Magazine Stand Project appeared on the streets of New York City presenting the “Revised Men’s and Women’s Interest Sections” to the general public. After much success on the streets, the “Revised Men’s and Women’s Interest Sections” was later installed in a local Manhattan Bodega for the PERFECT8 Bodega Project.
