Innehållsförteckning för Issue #102 från RUSSH

Think about your earliest recollection of learning who ABBA is: singing to ABBA Gold hits in your grandparents’ backyard, memorising the mannerisms of Agnetha Fältskog in the music video of One of Us. Perhaps, it’s learning the words against your will through your parents, or ‘discovering’ the music through cinema – Muriel’s Wedding springs to mind. They are transcendent, defying trends and harnessing cross-generational fame. The Dancing Queens, ad infinitum. Yet outside of the music, ABBA is known for more than songwriting: the outlandish, eclectic, 1970s-embodying fashion the group toured the world in. Agnetha Fältskog and Anni-Frid Lyngstad fronting the band in matching cat-emblazoned dresses, blue and purple jumpsuits and the iconic get-up donned while singing Waterloo. Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson clad in platform boots, safari suits and partial…

“Fifty yards away the Mediterranean yielded up its pigments, moment by moment, to the brutal sunshine;”. Scott Fitzgerald wrote in the first chapter of Tender is The Night. I was recently standing on the shore of a beach in Côte d’Azur, the part of the southern French coastline famously named after its vibrant blue waters, thinking of the first time I read about the Riviera. There is a depth to the blue. It’s not like Sydney, where frothy waves break up turquoise waters, or like Southeast Asia and Polynesia, where still blue green water is like glass in its transparency. The water in the French Riviera feels rich and velvety. It transforms from luminescent aqua to ultramarine to deep ocean blue and has a paint like quality to it. When…

“Art, for me, is freedom and an endless opportunity to learn,” says Tiarna Herczeg of their work and connection to their work. A proud Kuku Yalanji and Hungarian artist, their art is a combination of abstract pieces, alongside those evocative of map and geographic imagery. You can spot a Herczeg piece by its raw, earthy tones, mustard yellows and beetroot pinks paired with a juxtaposing shade of sage green or teal. It would be easy to call these pieces abstract, yet they go beyond, taking on shape and dimension of their own. Depending on the eye of the viewer, they are landscapes of raw Earth at its most vibrant. Herczeg tells me in their family no one typically prioritised creativity or thought to turn musings into a career. However, their…

Angels: A Novel Denis Johnson (Harper Perennial) Make no mistake: this hugely under-appreciated first book by cult author Denis Johnson is terrifying, harrowing. Jamie and Bill, two characters from the margins of society, meet on a Greyhound bus and the book follows their lives as everything turns to hell. But what makes this work so remarkable is Johnson’s obsession with transcendence, forgiveness and his unparalleled ability to see the beauty in us all. An unsentimental novel of extraordinary power and heart; I wanted to cry from the sheer ecstasy of the prose. Unfathomably moving. – Oliver Mol, Author of Train Lord Rise Sister Rise  Rebecca Campbell (Hay House) We are in the Age of Aquarius, the Divine Feminine is rising. It was 2017 – I guess I’d define this book…

The music business has never lacked characters and the Australian chapter is no exception. In the 1990s in Australia, Stephen Pavlovic was an outlier with a vision, a pivotal figure in introducing and disseminating the decade’s most critical music and culture Down Under. Part savant, part mystic, part cunning businessman and part dreamer, ‘Pav’ was impulsive, insightful, determined and irreverent and, crucially, he was always just ahead of the curve. A savvy self-starter originally from Canberra, Pav hitched a ride up the Hume Highway with Sydney-bound pub rockers The Plunderers and by the time they arrived he’d talked his way into being their manager. From that day forth he gained experience in just about every facet of the industry and eventually toured some of the most important bands in the…

The power of psychedelics goes beyond therapeutic applications. As scientific studies have proven, psychedelics can reliably induce mystical states of consciousness, suggesting that we are biologically wired to have these experiences. But what are altered states of consciousness? More importantly, what can we learn from entering higher states of consciousness? Consciousness is the medium through which we experience the world. Our level of consciousness is measured by our level of awareness and attention. This determines the quality of our experience of life and how 'truly alive' we feel. Our level of consciousness changes throughout the day. In deep sleep, all conscious thoughts and emotions are shut off - there is no awareness. The dreaming stage involves a string of images, thoughts and sensory experiences, but our level of awareness of…

There’s an indescribable feeling walking into a space that feels as if you belong. Those first moments where you can’t help but soak everything in – your eyes darting across the room as each fresh flash of light and deepening of shadow reveals something new. A new crevice to be discovered, or rediscovered. It’s a sense of familiarity and comfort that beckons, “stay a little longer” – and so you do. It’s not an experience you encounter often, but stepping across the threshold and into the sensorial dreamland that is Cartier’s newly unveiled Oceania flagship boutique, this energy wave is felt in magnitudes. Located at the epicentre of Sydney city’s bustling George Street luxury district, the new – and highly anticipated – home for the Maison is a breath of…

ARIES March 21—April 20 DIALLING IN THE SLOW BURN This is the fifth year that Chiron – the wounded healer – has been affecting your sign. This energy has been working to evolve the ways that you express and experience your Aries Sun; are you using your willpower – one of the Aries golden keys – intentionally and directionally? Or are you at the whim of every impulse that breezes through you? With the celestial movements this year, you will really see some evidence of how this evolution of your solar archetype is going. 2023 begins with Jupiter having just moved back into your sign, meaning that you start the year on higher ground, a vantage point from which to observe the dreams, desires and possibilities that call to you…

Stefania Gertis Stylist, Menace Finish the sentence: “I am most inspired by …” The people I meet. When did you last feel truly euphoric? My recent birthday in Paris with my mum, spent overlooking the sparkling and twinkling lights of the Eiffel tower. What are your plans for the summer? To enjoy a ‘magnifique’ and fun Parisian early Christmas party with my Paris family and friends. Then, to spend the best Christmas with family at home in Melbourne. For karaoke, we’ll find you singing … Circle of Life - The Lion King Official Broadway, and any song from The Kingdom Choir. But I must admit, Stand by Me is a favourite. Jessica Ruscoe Photographer, L’amour Fou When did you last feel truly euphoric? When I discovered salsa absolutely belongs on a grilled cheese…

Regan Dwyer @ Chadwick Models My name is … Regan. But my friends call me … Reegs. I am … 21. I grew up in … Brisbane. The first thing you should know about me is … I’m a motor head! My star sign is … Libra. It suits me because … I feel like I’m super generous. Right now I’m listening to … Cherry Lips by Garbage. How has the place you call home shaped you? I love being warm and comfy in my bed. What is it about modelling that makes you feel most like yourself? I love being able to express myself through my face. When not modelling, you’ll find me … Watching Netflix. The most unforgettable meal I’ve ever had was … A chicken pie. I…

The modern legacy of Louis Vuitton starts with Marc Jacobs. Appointed creative director of the house in 1997 at the ripe age of 32 and fresh off the New York grunge scene (who could forget that 1989 Vanity Fair shoot where he wore only motorcycle boots), Jacobs lead the luxury luggage company into a new era as the first ready-to-wear designer the House had ever seen, one that started first, with a clean slate. The opening look of his debut FW 1998 collection was a stark white canvas coat, much like the staff jackets worn in couture Houses, only fastening right up to the neck. It was accompanied by a canvas crossbody hobo bag (or was it a messenger?) Slung across the shoulders and meeting low on the hip point,…

DIOR EDP in J’adore J’adore is reminiscent of Sunday markets in the spring. Sunny notes of Jasmine flourish in Chinese Magnolia, transforming your divine femininity into a scented ritual. D.S & DURGA EDP in Sweet Do Nothing from Mecca A fragrance that chases the cosmic credo of simply being. Sweet Do Nothing transports you to the desert landscape of West Texas with its fragrant cocktail of fresh orange blossom, flowering cacti, and smoky dessert pepper. GIORGIO ARMANI EDP in My Way The apex of floral fragrance. With its ingredients sourced from Egypt, India and Madagascar, this scent provokes an aromatic adventure. CELINE EDP in Bois Dormant A rich, full-bodied perfume with a touch of French elegance. Bois Dormant is a unisex aroma with dominant woody notes – both sophisticated and…

“Whisky is liquid sunshine.”– George Bernard Shaw…

Chagall by Chagall Marc Chagall, (Harry N. Abrams), 1979 I was first charmed by Chagall’s work as an art student in high school. I found this book of his at a vintage store years later and it immediately brought me back to this time that had left such a huge impression on me. There is something wild and free in the whimsical dreamlike characters he painted. His brushstroke is layered and rich yet loose and uninhibited. His playful, unexpected pairings for subjects and overwhelming palette spark so much joy and a great escape from reality. Vava (1955), Lovers with Flowers (1927), The Dream (1976), Time Is a River Without Banks (1930–39) and The Song of Songs (undated) are special works for me, that give me a wonderful sense of peace.…

The first thing you should know about me is … I am very shy in person. I am my best self when … I’m happy. Home feels like … Heaven on earth. My star sign is … Sagittarius. It suits me because … I say things just as raw as they are – like seriously, I have no filter whatsoever. I start my day by … Meditating for 10 to 20 minutes. When I’m alone I … Sleep a lot. My earliest memory of modelling is … Moving to New York right after high school, and I’m glad I did. My favourite film is … Mr and Mrs Smith. The quality I admire most in others is … Respect and kindness. I look after myself by … Exercising, meditating, eating…

“There’s a party goin’ on, now what’cha gonna do, so Grab your partner, do-si-do Now if you don’t know who it is, it’s Coolio Slide, slide, but that’s the past I got somethin’ brand new for that ass.”—1,2,3,4 (Sumpin’ New), Coolio…

There It is August. Not August in the Southern Hemisphere, where the winters seem colder than anyone would ever expect for Australia and you spend the month huddled in front of your space heater wondering why every home was built to let all the cold air in, even though you know why. It’s August in the North. Where cicadas are louder than the thoughts that hoof across your mind at night and the air smells thick like heat and dust and olive trees, the ones that grow out of the ground here like the plane trees do back in Sydney – everywhere, strong-arming their way through cracks in the pavement and the rocky shoulders of rural roads. Here, the heat is constantly on your mind. It’s a relief, defrosting you…

Gunter Weil was 23 when, led by his Harvard University faculty advisor, Timothy Leary, he had his first psilocybin experience. In the Indian print-lined living room of a plush Massachusetts mansion, decorated with images of the sacred arts, and in the company of Allen Ginsberg, Weil recalls, “everything I had learned and believed to that point got turned inside out.” “I was able to see the beautiful mystery and the pervasive love that supports the manifested universe, including this gigantic movie that we’re all in.” In his foreword to the book, The Future is Fungi, by Michael Lim and Yun Shu, Weil, the last bastion of the original Harvard Psilocybin Project Team, write that trying to understand the many dimensions of the psychedelic experience was like “visiting another planet, observing…

Let Maddie Ziegler reintroduce herself. The 20-year-old wunderkind is no stranger to playing different characters – whether on stage as a performer, in her profession as an actor, or on set with RUSSH in head-to-toe Versace and a wig she expressed made her feel “transported.” For those of us who have charted her meteoric rise to fame, Ziegler has been a lot of things for a lot of different people. Now, she’s just ready to be herself. “It’s always been quite tricky for me, because I’m a people pleaser and I’m really trying to find the balance. I’ve been trying to unlearn a lot of the habits that stem from worrying about what everyone thinks of me. It’s such a waste of energy. If I feel good about what I’m…

Sometimes in the act of building ourselves, we must first defy the stars. Alexander Fitzalan knows this all too well. Fresh out of high school, when The Wilds actor was deciding upon a career, his mouth said “lawyer” even if his heart had always longingly pointed to acting. “All my cousins studied law,” Fitzalan tells me down the line from his family home in Brisbane. Around the Christmas table, at his grandparents’ place in Dubbo, they would always discuss the cases they were working on. Entering the field in their footsteps seemed like the sensible thing to do. “So, I went and did that, and I watched Suits at the same time and convinced myself it was an excellent idea, you know? Before long I would be subpoenaing people and…

“To me, home is where the heart is, not where your stuff is, or that’s kind of how I’ve lived my life,” says Elena Seegers of her philosophy of living. “That said, I’m also very ‘anywhere you put your hat down can become a home’.” Seegers’ background is in architecture, yet she tells me she never practised beyond a few years at a Parisian agency, which instead taught her about personal creative style and methodology. While at the agency, she and a few colleagues began a blog in what she proclaims the “Tumblr years,” the genesis of her life as it is today. “During that time at the agency my best mate, Simon de Dreuille, and I, along with our fellow colleague and now artist, Antoine Espinasseau, started a blog…