FREE preview of UN: Utter Nonsense magazine, vol. 2, Holier Than Thou. Check out the first 13 pages of my latest artist's magazine in which I reimagine periods of history in a contemporary setting.
 
Picture this: it's 1193 CE. The third season of Holier Than Thou, a scripted reality show following the crusades, has just aired to great success. Despite not recapturing Jerusalem, King Richard the Lionheart of England has transformed the fledgling series into a pop culture phenomenon and has become Western Europe's first celebrity king. How did we get here?
 
Hi! I’m Laura Dunkin-Hubby. I’m an artist, mail artist, and art historian. I like drawing, writing, and reimagining periods of history in a contemporary setting that makes them easier to relate to. I decided to write about the Third Crusade from the point of view of a lifestyle magazine addressing a scripted reality tv show because it felt like a strangely appropriate vehicle for showing the human side of the propaganda, battles, and political power struggles that dominated much of the Crusade.
 
In this issue, I explore various aspects of the Crusade and imagine peoples’ reaction to them such as the beginning of heraldry, (page 1, Crusader Core) women as political pawns, (page 11, Spill the Ale) and how ex-crusaders healed their PTSD through music (page 18, Q&A with Axefall of Benevolent Violence). 
 
In creating this issue, I’ve found it extremely comforting to learn that people have basically always had the same hopes, fears, and petty concerns that we do now, it just didn’t always look the same. It has been my mission as an artist and historian to look back and find the common thread of our humanity in all its forms, in the hope that it helps our current situation look less terrifying. I hope it makes you feel better too, or at least more entertained. Enjoy.