Latest somethingdark news

New SomethingDark domains reflect our internationalism and an EU without BritainSDk Updates

Mon 19 Aug, 2019.

Our from-the-ground-up redevelopment of SomethingDark inspired us to procure appropriately new domains – when we launch the new SDk, we’ll be doing so with somethingdark.com, which we recently, finally, were able to secure for ourselves after a very long period of waiting and then negotiating.

Acquiring the universally coveted .com version of our domain has been a long-term goal for us and we are delighted to be announcing this development before we release the new SomethingDark. This domain reflects what will be a new European Order when the United Kingdom, where we are based, leaves the European Union later this year, most likely at the end of October. We’ll refrain from commenting on “Brexit” and it’s mismanagement from the outset, as this is not the place for such comment. Suffice it for us to say that we also regard somethingdark.com as a tangible sign of our internationalism, and we regard this as the real reason to celebrate our acquisition.

Additionally, we’re able to reveal at this point that we have yet another newly acquired domain name that will both reflect and project the new SomethingDark even more effectively than our .com domain; however, we’re keeping this one up our sleeve for the time being until we actually release the new SDk – we’ll be making a significant announcement about this at the appropriate time.

Meanwhile, we’ll be making all the changes necessary to switch the current SomethingDark to our .com domain. We’ll be publicising this when it’s completed, and at the same time our .eu domain will cease to be relevant and we’ll be shedding this redundant version of our domain. We will be maintaining our .co.uk domain for the time being as a pointer to somethingdark.com and our other new, significant domain; in due course we’ll also shed somethingdark.co.uk.

We hope you are looking forward to the new SomethingDark as much as we are: it will be new in every respect.

Development of SDk v2.0 is moving forwardSDk Updates

Mon 21 Jan, 2019.

After announcing the redevelopment of the SomethingDark website last year, we’ve been busy making it reality and are pleased to report it’s edging ever closer. Thus after a development meeting last week we thought it time to update everyone regarding progress.

Since the last public briefing in SDk Updates we’ve settled on a design for the new site, which is certainly taking shape; additionally, the daunting task of moving over the current issues and other SDk content to the new platform has begun.

Due to the unique format of the current SomethingDark, article content is distributed across multiple spreads like a traditional print magazine; furthermore, each piece of text, imagery or design on those spreads was hand coded to be in the correct position to work in that format. To be able to launch the new site, we need to undo all of this content positioning for each spread, taking all the code back to core html and then applying the fresh new styles for the new SomethingDark site. We’ll be honest: this is a gargantuan task, but the results will be worth it.

In addition to the above, we’re implementing new features for the site, improving contributor profiles and generally making the format easier for all browsers and devices to render the site properly and exactly as intended, as well as ensuring it’s a format that will grow with us easier, and faster.

We’re getting on with it and cannot wait to unleash the new site; and then, of course, cracking on with SDk04 straight away!

Thanks for reading with interest, and thanks for your support.

The new SomethingDark is on its waySDk Updates

Tues 05 Mar, 2018.

SomethingDark will be with everyone again soon with a totally new, responsive design. There’s a great deal to consider when developing an extensive new site – and it will be extensive, as all previous issues of SDk will be incorporated – so we’re putting an enormous amount of thought and care into it.

Here’s why we’re redesigning SomethingDark webmagazine from the ground up:

Web technology has developed enormously since we first released SDk in 2010, and indeed some might say the Web itself has changed. This isn’t quite true, as the Web invented by Tim Berners-Lee is still essentially the same platform, but the way the Web is used has changed, driven by mobile technology and the big tech corporations. While it’s possible to do more on the Web than ever before, the “rules” imposed by the likes of Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft – and the parameters of...Read more

Windows on a world of economic decay: Lisa Furness exhibiting in BerlinLatest News

Wed 21 Dec, 2016.

Lisa Furness specialises in depicting scenes of the urban environment, and that is why she is the featured photographer in SomethingDark issue 3 “the built environment and urban decay”. So it was no surprise that when we organised our SomethingDark-in-Berlin exhibition Furness provided an important contribution in the form of six fine-art prints of her work in Ireland, Portugal, Slovenia, and Bristol (England).

However, unlike the other invited exhibitors – with the exception of SDk03 featured artist, Australian painter Ros Paton – we also invited Furness to provide written artist statements for her images. We requested this because of what we regard as the importance of her work in documenting the tangible evidence of systemic political–economic failure in much of the western world.

With our exhibition having less than one more month to run, we are pleased to provide here for SDk Latest News the text that Furness provided for the gallery walls in Berlin to accompany her pictures...Read more

SomethingDark, the first three editorials: now available as free PDFsSDk Updates

Mon. 12 Dec, 2016.

Last month we began promoting our Downloads page where articles by our contributing writers, artists and photographers are available to purchase as PDFs. Now we have also made available – for free download – the editorials from the first three issues of SomethingDark webmagazine.

The editorials provide an insight into what we’re all about: our raison d’être via a brief commentary on the important issues of our time as well as an overview of SomethingDark contributors, their work, and their contributions to SDk. So the editorials are a good introduction to SomethingDark. They’re also a good introduction to the functionality of our Downloads page: just click on the “purchase” box, fill in your name and preferred email address and the editorial PDF will be emailed directly to you without charge (you’ll also need to specify whether you would like your PDF as an A4 document or in US Letter, as all our PDFs are provided in both formats).

Our offerings in PDF are growing all the time, and yes, you read correctly above: most of the artists and photographers ...Read more

SomethingDark articles now offered as downloadable PDFsSDk Updates

Thurs 17 Nov, 2016.

SomethingDark stands apart from the mainstream media–entertainment juggernaut that seems to exert a vice-like grip on readerships, viewers and listeners everywhere: SDk is not a content-churning machine. Instead, we concentrate on quality: quality of research, of writing, of presentation. In other words, cutting-edge thought, criticism and expression that is in some cases thought-provoking, in others entertaining, in still others challenging (even shocking), but, we trust, always readable.

We’re confident our writing stands the test of time with its relevance and quality; therefore, knowing it’s often more convenient to read offline or outside of a webpage or on another device, or indeed on the printed page, readers can now purchase and download in PDF format a selection of articles from SomethingDark webmagazine. Whether for personal interest or for serious research, owning your own copy can often make sense and is worth the small outlay.

Before being offered as an SDk PDF, all articles are reviewed and all links are verified...Read more

SomethingDark in Berlin exhibition extended to 14 JanuarySDk Updates

Thurs 20 Oct, 2016.

SomethingDark in Berlin, an exhibition of fine art and photography as featured in SomethingDark webmagazine, has been extended to 14 January 2017. The exhibition opened on 2 September at Ivooo Photostudio/Artspace in the north-west Berlin district of Wedding, and was extended in agreement with Ivooo’s proprietor, the Berlin-based Dutch photographer, Ivo Hofsté.

The exhibition’s theme is based on the latest edition of SomethingDark webmagazine (SDk03), “The built environment and urban decay”. Artwork and photography from SDk03 shares wall space with additional complementary work by SDk03 contributors, and with work by...Read more

SomethingDark in Berlin: up and runningSDk Updates

Thurs 08 Sep, 2016.

After months of careful planning and curating, the SomethingDark in Berlin exhibition is on the walls of gallery space in the north-west Berlin district of Wedding. The exhibition marks the release of the third edition of SomethingDark webmagazine (SDk03); thus, the exhibition’s theme is based on the SDk03 theme of “the built environment and urban decay”, and much artwork and photography that featured in SDk03 is on the wall in the flesh, so to speak.

The opening event on Friday 2 September was also a special occasion to celebrate the relaunch of SomethingDark. This event began with a live online tour of SDk webmagazine during which our emphasis on uniqueness, quality and the total work of art were highlighted. English artist and writer Howard Litchfield, who together with his photographer–partner Pete Beck was responsible for creating SDk03’s iconic front-cover image, then gave a detailed account of his three-year Minotaur project. Howard’s presentation was in equal measure highly personal, an account of the bull-headed man in classical mythology, and an exposition of the minotaur in art history...Read more

Contributor focus: Lisa FurnessLatest News

Mon 29 Aug, 2016.

Travel photographer and SDk03 contributor David Hicks was the subject of our first contributor focus article; the second in this series looks at the recent work of Lisa Furness. We’ve always liked Furness’ work for its portrayal of the built environment and its suggestiveness regarding the human responsibility involved in “urban decay” – that’s why she’s previously had an item in our Latest News section, and why she was our featured photographer for SDk03.

Furness travels a great deal to take her pictures, but the resulting images cannot be categorised as travel photography: her camera captures the devastating consequences of a corrupt and out-of-control financial system and the economic and human disasters that flow from this system. These issues are not simply economic – they are ultimately political, and thus does Furness provide us with a tacit commentary on the political decision-making processes that allow these economic and human disasters to occur, and then to reoccur, and to reoccur yet again.

In October 2012 Furness embarked on an extended period of travel...Read more

Contributor focus: David HicksLatest News

Thurs 18 Aug, 2016.

As we pointed out in the Editorial for SDk03, travel photography isn’t a genre that normally suggests associations with SomethingDark.

If “travel photography” conjures visions of self-indulgent holiday happy snaps, or perhaps of a commercial, biscuit-tin-lid style of scenery, then the work of David Hicks will provide a much-needed breath of fresh air. It certainly did for us, and we were delighted when the English photographer agreed to provide us with the images we wanted from his Scooters of Taipei series, and also to write a short article about the city of Taipei and its population’s use of scooters as a practical means of urban transport (SDk03, pp. 166–7).

Hicks has visited well over seventy countries, and, more than merely photographing what he encounters on his travels, he seeks out and uncannily captures the essence of a place and its people. He concentrates on everyday life, which more often than not is everyday life on the streets of the world’s cities...Read more