4N #5
185 x 240 mm, 172 pages
New York, US
Biannual
Since 2024
Editor: Wen-You Cai
Guest editor: Fía Benitez
Art direction and design: Panny Chayapumh
‘A community magazine showcasing extraordinary talent across the globe’
The brainchild of New York creative studio Special Special, 4N (‘Foreign’) provides an inclusive space for foreign creatives to display their work. In outlining the motivations behind the biannual, the team explicitly acknowledge ‘the challenges faced by foreigners in obtaining sufficient credentials to demonstrate their value for staying in the United States.’
Issue five debuts a theme for the first time, delving into ‘Alias’ through a showcase of work from creatives using different mediums, hailing from China, Egypt, France, Morocco, South Korea and Taiwan—all working towards applying for their US artist visas. The team also unveil their new annual publishing schedule, enabling them to ‘dive deeper’ into the talented artists featured in each edition.
Inside, guest editor and issue one contributor Fía Benitez introduces the contributing artists of this edition, observing that ‘their perspectives reveal alias not as a single strategy but as a condition of contemporary artistic life.’ Highlights include an interview with model scout Zihan Yang, touching on his practice devoted to the notion of home, becoming a scout, and the Oscars ’ recent debut of their new award ‘Achievement in Casting’. Elsewhere, PR power house Gia Kuan shares her advice for artists building a social media strategy and curating their personal brand; self proclaimed ‘rational psychic’ Jennifer Vista helps readers discover their personal astrocartography—a practice devoted to how our location can trigger a unique emotional response predicted by astrology; and the team sit in conversation with artists John Yuyi and Misha Japanwala, delving into how they travel creatively in the ‘Baggage Claim’ column of this issue.