Thalia Surf Interview Series Presents: Catching Up With Corner Store Magazine
Corner Store Magazine is the latest brain child conceived by creative artist Giovanni Angelone. His magazine shines a light on surfing without the usual draw of aerial shots and write ups from global trips. Rather, he shows a side of the culture that influences us outside of the water - art, photography, and fashion. With contributions from the likes of Jeffery Jones, Sage Ericson, and Alex Knost, this magazine is the one your coffee table needs most.
THALIA SURF: It seems like no two days are the same for you. What would you say your "average" day looks like?
GIOVANNI ANGELONE: There really isn’t an average day. Every day is brand new, and I go from there.
TS: You've been known to make some great original pieces, as well as stunning photos. If you had to choose one medium as a creative outlet, which would it be and why?
GA: Right now, I have enjoyed using a handheld video camera. On a surface level, I like the way that VHS looks. The immediacy of film paired with movement, as opposed to capturing stills, paralyzed moments in time, with a digital camera, lends an element of surprise and all this has been fun for me.
TS: Can you tease us a little with what you've been filming?
GA: Sure thing. The main essentials are that it’s hot...and wet...and...cheesy (laughs)
TS: Where do you find yourself most lately - Newport or Laguna?
GA: LagTown
TS: Your latest project, Corner Store, has been in the works for quite some time, right? What was the final piece that made you realize this was ready to print?
GA: There wasn’t an epiphany moment like that for me. Nothing that was ‘final’. When making things, there’s no logical motion of ‘this before that, and then this, and that,' and so on. You move in a different way. There’s no end or goal. At best, you do your work and by doing the work, you know when it’s done.
TS: Is knowing when your work's complete a sense you've acquired through your time as an artist? Or have you always had that innate feeling you've put everything you wanted into a project?
GA: I’ve come to find out that ending a project is also another beginning—but you have to end. At the end there’s usually more that I wanted to do, but I try to use those ideas for another beginning.
TS: Why the name "Corner Store"?
GA: When I came to Orange County my first job was at a corner store. I guess I was introduced to ‘surf culture’ through the typical, cheap commodities that are bought and sold at any regular corner store in America. This corner store was only different in that it was right across from 68th street in Newport, so instead of seeing just regular American people doing regular American things, I saw ‘surf culture’- sunburned people enjoying ‘beach life’ while buying cheap shit and maybe taking it to the beach to have fun, while I was employed as a clerk. I got to see a lot of duality, drunkenness and sunburns. I smelled a lot of sunscreen.
TS: What was your favorite experience when creating the content for this issue?
GA: Going to New York for the first time and working with Acne studios. The experience of being in New York City for the first time was something really special for me.
TS: Would you say your more inspired by the surf or fashion world?
GA: I’m inspired by the world, period. Who knows where the wind blows? Isn’t that the saying? The world is not an oyster, it has no shell like that. I don’t know why people say that. It stinks. The general unpredictability of living a day is enough to inspire me.
TS: What is your favorite part of owning a magazine?
GA: It’s nice to know that really, we own nothing. We’re all going to die. At best, I can do my work as honestly as possible while alive.
