vol. 4, issue 1: risk

Summer 2019
vol. 4, issue 1: risk

For the tenth issue of cléo, we’re marking this milestone by thinking about leaps of faith, great failures and huge gains. We’re talking about what motivates us to take a chance on potentially losing it all in order to reap future rewards, or perhaps just a fleeting moment of pleasure or glory. Then there’s the fact that risk isn’t always a choice, as certain communities face danger daily based on racial, gender and economic inequality; what does risk look (and feel) like when it’s beyond our control?

Artist’s Statement

For this cover I thought about the idea of risk through the film Sicario. Director Denis Villeneuve seemed to be exploring the limits of what can be known through the trope of overhead shots: cars recede into a vast landscape until they resemble toys; a drain suddenly looms large like a cavern; a close-up of Kate Macer (Emily Blunt) holding a pack of cigarettes adds a weight to the object, evoking the comforting and immediate tangibility of a pack in your hands. All of Villeneuve’s techniques culminate in the sensation that much of our knowledge is merely glimpsed and only partial. In this cinematic climate, the pack of cigarettes in Macer’s hands provide the temporary relief of tangibility.

Soraya Gilanni Viljoen is a multi-disciplinary art director and creative.

table of contents