DUST Issue 24 – Neo-Idealism

DUST #24 - Neo-Idealism (Spring/Summer 2024)

As we aimed to find a term with the most impact, significance, and relevance to represent the hope, aspirations, and will of these troubling historical moments we are living through, 'Neo-idealism' emerged as a clear choice. This term possesses a certain power, as it appears to define a new perspective — in this case, on idealism — and, by its very nature, seems to have the capacity to shift the focus from short-term gains and collective cynicism to universal ideals and consciousness. Additionally, it addresses a generational need for common ground amidst the weight of global events, a heightened state of confusion, and the extreme polarization of narratives that have turned even the most fundamental aspects of reality into sources of disagreement. As 'Neo-idealism' is a term we have borrowed from a new model of foreign policy 'Based on the power of values conceived as ideals to strive for,' its application extends much further.

DUST, A EUROPEAN MAGAZINE ABOUT FASHION AND ITS OPPOSITES IS A BIANNUAL MAGAZINE BORN IN 2010 BASED IN BERLIN AND DISTRIBUTED WORLDWIDE.
The intent of the project is to explore the universe of youth, in the context of a present time marked by a continuous state of crisis. Our interest is to enlighten the genuine and non-codified aspects of youth and of the new emerging generation by directing our gaze far from institutionalized geography and trends, and above the current standardization that tends to conform the experience of youth in regulated forms. In our research we cross conflicting territories, where structures collapse and the western codes of appearances dissolve into different kinds of choices, different kinds of dynamics. We like to underline a silent geography, at the margin of mainstream paths, in order to rediscover a stronger attachment to life, somehow more vital, genuine and awake; something that is hard to find in the anesthetized youth presented by the disoriented circulating culture. The territory in which we dig is ‘the crisis’ as the elected place where to redesign forms, ideas, values and strategies for our generation to embrace a different way to conceive of life. We observe the collapse of stabilities taking place globally as an irreversible shift of scenario that’s pushing youth to an urgency of change, an urgency to find a new and proper vision. As many do, we feel renewal to be necessary in all fields, based on a more personal sensibility. In light of our concerns and interests, the realms of communication, visual culture, art and fashion need to be reconsidered from a new point of view. Our magazine is intent on creating, within the limits of any cultural product present in the market, this new vision. We consider the magazine a laboratory of ideas and concepts through which we search for a new esthetic and to give the image new value. Our personal interests go beyond the idea of coolness, trends, waves or anything established by pop culture. We prefer to direct our gaze to the basic, genuine way through which youth expresses itself, from where everything should be reconsidered.