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Dorade

June 14 2013
4:55 PM

Between grace and triviality, critics and silly poetry, beautiful faces and nasty bodies, Swiss French Dorade defines itself as an “artistic periodical where mermaids admit to their slightly fishy odor.” It is indeed with this sort of absurdity that Dorade immerses us from issue to issue in their beguiling, bold and evocative world. Conceived of as curated space with a statement for each edition, its contents range from photographs, documents, interviews and essays, creating an on-paper “exhibition.” Previous issues imagined the magazine as a marvelous mansion, full of historic anecdotes and eccentric guests; explored cocktail parties, where alcohol is a cultural bridge and a tool for self-parody; and investigated decadence and the end of the world. The latest release of Dorade, “New Eldorado,” investigates nomadism. For this fifth issue (recently launched in Paris), the periodical switched from a seasonal to an annual basis and is now twice as thick as the previous editions. There, the reader is prescribed the role of peeping Tom of what seems to be a carnet de souvenirs. The 300 glossy pages constitute a journey between Georgian vehicle registration plates, anecdotes from the Caucasus, a weekend in Rome, thoughts on Cairo and other introspective journeys or dead ends. A cocktail launch will take place this Saturday at Elaine MGK, Basel on the occasion of Art Basel. (Natalie Esteve)