five minutes with racy lim

right after we'd gotten comfy on our flight to taipei, i decided to do a short interview with racy to celebrate the launch of her second issue of SAND magazine. it could have been the champagne we'd sipped on that sparked off this decision, or it could also have been the fact that it never fails to floor me that i actually know someone who has created her own magazine from scratch – i can't be sure.

just the day before, we were hustling packs of her newest issue off the printer's delivery truck. the magazine was to be launched at taipei art book fair, and not even a sneak-boomerang was allowed to be posted on instagram. everything was kept under wraps (literally); we were so excited to see racy's hard work translate into a tangible thing.

i might not ever create a magazine or even something big to call my own, but flipping through her magazine, i decided then and there that i want to share with the internet how cool and inspiring this person is, and at the same time, brag that i actually know her. so here goes:

can you describe SAND magazine in a haiku?
documentation
of lovers untouched, artists
who will consume you

what is your favourite thing about the magazine? (it could be about the people, the process, or a particular article.)
that it drives me quite wild and provides gratification when writers, photographers and artists come together to create a solid story that makes readers feel all kinds of high. that its style is constantly changing and evolving — you'll never get the same kind of visuals and messaging in every issue. that it's slowly changing how people (especially non-creatives) perceive art, design and culture. that it leaves me questioning life and art even more each day.

what kind of music do you listen to when you're working? is a curated playlist necessary, or will anything that's "your jam" do? what are your music preferences?
my music changes with seasons (of moods). i've just (kinda) got out of my drowning sad music phase yesterday — now, my studio music is refreshed with tender, more uplifting (still instropective) beats like flor, cyndi lauper (particularly her cover of tegan & sara's back in your head), yaeji, chief.

i find myself going back to cosmologists just because he mixes the best samples & instrumentals — check him out at https://cosmologists.bandcamp.com.

if there's something you could change about the creative industry, what would it be?
what a huge question! i want it to keep evolving and be open to more experimental art forms. we see that these days with films — i'd like to see how on the edge we can be when it comes to paintings, music and books. i know there are people doing these things — they're just lurking in the alleys waiting to take over the nation and world......





let's say you weren't the creative behind SAND or the marketing-in-charge at booksactually. what would you be doing?
a travel journalist or finding my place making or promoting art books. i wonder what it's like working for TASCHEN.... or trying to get a job at 88rising — they're one of my media heroes. doing weird things like organising film screenings and inviting people to perform.

what is your one guilty pleasure that few people know of?
i think what comes close would be working on the bed (it's not so much of a guilty pleasure as it's an unattainable dream). i love the comfort of being in non-working clothes, getting to choose my own music and finding temporary respite in books and magazines within my reach. also, if i could have as many gin and tonics...



if you like it, don't just put a ring on it. support local talent and widen the creative pool by purchasing SAND issue two here.

art direction + photography by me
racy is wearing olive + frank 'feelings' sweater
fruit c/o eslite hotel
moody vibes c/o taipei's typhoon