Stel·lar

[Stel-er] adjective 1. Of or pertaining to the stars; consisting of stars. 2. Like a star, as in brilliance, shape, etc. 3. Pertaining to a preeminent performer, athlete, etc.

Issue five of Modern Matter is dedicated to all things stellar: this is a homonym for its cover star, STELLA TENNANT, but is also a word which can be used to describe her. The interior space of a magazine is defined, by and large, by its writers, its artists and its photographers, while the outer space is often defined by a cover model. Here, Stella – iconic, playful, a born performer, and above all, independent – embodies the interior and the ethos of Modern Matter magazine, in its first truly unisex issue.

A strong commercial prospect, despite resembling nothing and nobody else on the market, Tennant represents an intersection of the popular and the artistic, or the alternative; the masculine and the feminine; the British and the international. Photographed for Modern Matter by MARK BORTHWICK, she is something "like a star, as in brilliance."

ISSUE 5 ALSO CONTAINS:

MARK LECKEY on ambition, dumb things, and doing battle with YouTube commenters.

HANS ULRICH OBRIST in conversation with TOBIAS REHBERGER about scale, the Bar Oppenheimer, and the ingredients of the elusive “vodkastein.”

An exploration of the purpose of art in 2013, including interviews with BEATRIX RUF and HELEN MARTEN, and work by PAUL McCARTHY, WOLFGANG TILLMANS, JIM LAMBIE and many more.

A retrospective of AMBIT MAGZINE’s Invisible Years series, including interviews with DR. MARTIN BAX and RONALD SANDFORD on their work with their late colleague, the esteemed J.G. BALLARD.

Visual essays by OSCAR MURILLO and ENRICO BOCCIOLETTI.

A conversation with Dazed & Confused founder (and "socialist cowboy"), JEFFERSON HACK.

SARAH LUCAS on the secret to making a good fried egg.

The best of MENSWEAR and WOMENSWEAR A/W 2013, including LANVIN, CELINE, PRADA, RAF SIMONS, STELLA McCARTNEY, and many more.