I don't know much about the magazine, but this cover makes me want to go inside and learn more. Tar is a downtown New York City publication that appears to live at the intersection (or is that cross section?) of arts, culture and fashion. The striking image, created for its second issue by artist Damien Hirst, peels back the skin of über-model Kate Moss to expose the musculature and bone structure of her face. (The original photo was shot for the cover of W in 2005 it's recycled!) I love this cover because it breaks the rules, reversing the usual order of things to overlay ugly inner reality on the fantasy of outer beauty. What's it trying to tell us? That beauty's only skin deep, that fashion creates unrealistic expectations, or that we're the chumps for buying into it? Who knows, but apparently the magazine's first issue sold 54% of its newsstand copies, which is almost double the industry average. If a magazine has a sense of its audience, it can dare to be different and get away with it especially in this age, when print media often work best by targeting high-end niche audiences.
The Top 10 Everything of 2009
- Top 10 Albums
- Top 10 Animal Stories
- Top 10 Apologies
- Top 10 Art Exhibitions
- Top 10 Awkward Moments
- Top 10 Best Business Deals
- Top 10 Breakups
- Top 10 Buzzwords
- Top 10 Children's Books
- Top 10 Crime Stories
- Top 10 Editorial Cartoons
- Top 10 Facebook Stories
- Top 10 Fashion Faux Pas
- Top 10 Fashion Moments
- Top 10 Feuds
- Top 10 Fiction Books
- Top 10 Fleeting Celebrities
- Top 10 Gadgets
- Top 10 Green Ideas
- Top 10 Heroes
- Top 10 iPhone Apps
- Top 10 Late-Night Jokes
- Top 10 Magazine Covers
- Top 10 Medical Breakthroughs
- Top 10 Movie Performances
- Top 10 Movies
- Top 10 New Species
- Top 10 News Stories
- Top 10 Nonfiction Books
- Top 10 Oddball News Stories
- Top 10 Pariahs
- Top 10 Pictures of the Year
- Top 10 Plays and Musicals
- Top 10 Political Gaffes
- Top 10 Quotes
- Top 10 Religion Stories
- Top 10 Scandals
- Top 10 Scientific Discoveries
- Top 10 Songs
- Top 10 Sports Moments
- Top 10 T-Shirt-Worthy Slogans
- Top 10 TV Ads
- Top 10 TV Episodes
- Top 10 TV Series
- Top 10 Tweets
- Top 10 Underreported Stories
- Top 10 Untruths
- Top 10 Video Games
- Top 10 Viral Videos
- Top 10 Worst Biz Deals
TIME charts the highs and lows of the past year in 50 wide-ranging lists