Eddy Frankel, OOF
This week we catch up with Eddy Frankel, founder and editor of OOF, as he completes issue two of his magazine showcasing the relationship between art and football.
Tell us about your typical Monday journey to work
Life begins with a shower and a black coffee, always. Maybe a little bit of staring at myself in the mirror and wondering where it all went wrong, but that’s optional. Then it’s an eight-mile cycle to my day job - I’m art and culture editor for Time Out London - with a lot of swearing and gesticulating. OOF is an evening and weekend deal.
Describe the state of your desk and what you can see in your office
Some of OOF gets done on weekends in the day job office so it’s all open plan corporate vibes. My desk is a constant attempt at neatness that is undermined by my inability to be neat. If I work from home, I sit at a totally empty folding table facing a big stack of art books, the spines of which I have stared at for so many uncountable hours that I know them off by heart.
Which magazine do you first remember?
I grew up in fancy hotels and all around the world you always get Time and Newsweek in lobbies. That's where I learned about magazine pacing, about condensing information or spreading it out, about nibs and features, and most of all about the stupid things in the back. Always my favourite.
Which magazine matters to you the most right now?
Magazines my friends work on, or magazines started by my peers/friends of friends, are what make me think that OOF is possible. So, I’d say Becoming the Forest, an awesome black metal zine by my friend Una, is important to me. So nicely put together, so interesting, so passionate. Also, Ladybeard, Season and Mundial.
Can you describe your magazine in three words?
Art and football
Art and football might seem unlikely companions. How did the connection come about for you?
The connection’s always been there. We’ve had centuries of artists including football in their paintings, going back to 16th Flemish landscapes through to contemporary video installations. And it’s never about football, really. Football just acts as a metaphor, a symbol for passion, belief, nationalism, physicality, politics, sexuality, poverty, anger, etc etc etc.
It's a rich vein that's been pumping through art for years, I just can’t believe we’re the first people to be stupid enough to make a magazine about it.
Is there a particular piece of art that you think embodies art and football?
Well, OOF as a word is taken from an Ed Ruscha painting of the same name, which I love but has no relationship to football. When people give me the old side-eye when I tell them about OOF, I always refer to Philippe Parreno and Douglas Gordon's ‘Zidane: a 21st Century Portrait’. That’s sort of the quintessential art/football piece, the one where people go ooooh I get it.
And of course, what football team do you support?
Spurs, because obviously.
What are you worrying about at work this week?
Oh god, why are you asking that. Everything. I’m worried about everything. We have a super tight deadline to get issue two out in time for the World Cup so we’re being frantic. Have we got everything commissioned, have we got enough content, have we got all the images, is the designer going to have time, is the main interviewee going to pull out, etc etc etc. Why did you ask that - oh god why?
What’s going to be the highlight of the week for you?
Sleeping.
What will you be doing after this chat?
Writing to Argentinian sports journalists, which I definitely didn’t forget to do last week.
Twitter: @OOF_magazine & @eddyfrankel