For our 20th anniversary issue, we rewind to the mists of 2003 and trace the evolution of outdoor bliss vibes over the years—and also look to the future.
We knew from the outset that we needed a cover for the ages. And artist Stu Mackay-Smith delivered the goods.
“For the 20th-anniversary cover, I was asked to make an image that captured the spirit and activities of the Blue Mountains/Georgian Bay area,” says Stu. “I tried to think of a composition that would be something other than a typical landscape, so I sketched a multidimensional, stacked view of the major elements. Taking this surreal approach to the perspective also solved the problem of trying to place all the different sports in the same frame.
Once I had a colour concept sketch, I fed the image into an AI program to see how it would interpret my artwork. It produced some interesting results that I ‘sampled’ into my illustration—and then fed my revised artwork back into the AI again.
“Taking this surreal approach to the perspective also solved the problem of trying to place all the different sports in the same frame.”
It became an experimental ‘dance with the devil’ as I swapped ideas with the AI back and forth several times. For the final version, I made a new hand-drawn version of the Frankensteined collage and then passed it on to Creative Director Amelie Legare to get print ready. Thanks to all the Mountain Life team for the opportunity and freedom to have some fun with this cover.”
NEDITORIAL: Manifesting 20
I stared in shock at the wreckage of my cooler. It resembled a crime scene of the sort that rattles veteran detectives. What was once a small, zippered vinyl cube was torn into shreds and covered in the blood-like juice and stringy remains of the steaks and bacon that used to be inside. My friends and I had hoisted it onto a tree branch the night before but evidently a raccoon or bear had found it.
Now we were out of food. Why had we packed nothing but meat?
We were on an impromptu backpacking trip on the Bruce Peninsula; over-planning was somehow uncool. I was 20 years old and had a lot to learn.
CLICK TO ENLARGE.
This summer, Mountain Life is also 20—and we aim to be better put-together than I was at that age. At 20, everything was in front of me and I knew roughly two things for sure: Childhood was over and adulthood hadn’t really started yet.
Today there’s more time behind me than in front, but that’s not as discouraging as it sounds. As I age, I recognize that humans can only refine their understanding of life—its successes to cultivate, its failures to avoid—as it accumulates in the rearview.
But is the past really behind us?
The Aymara people of the central Andes hold what seems to us an upside-down idea of time—they see the future as behind them, and the past in front. Though we’re conditioned to view time as one-way linear, the Aymaran perspective is nonetheless intuitive: Every day, in some form, we manifest our past. Everything we’ve learned (or failed to learn) is with us in the present. By contrast, and in spite of our inclination to grasp at it, the future isn’t in front of us like a trail marker. We plan for tomorrow and next week in the belief that those plans will transpire, but what feels like a true sightline into the future is merely our imagination at work.
CLICK TO ENLARGE.
If the prospect of the future is often frightening, it is also full of promise that humanity’s drive to innovate and our awareness of past missteps will help stave off the planetary meltdown that threatens everyone and everything we know.
We can all learn a little from the Aymara. Without the past in our sights, the present and future are meaningless. –Ned Morgan
Starting with the Fall 2023 issue, I will be stepping down as editor. I welcome my indefatigable colleague Kristin Schnelten to the role. I plan to spend more time with my family and continue as digital and contributing editor.
Pick up the issue at all the usual spots in Ontario or check it online:
Check the ML Podcast!
