Juliana Mundim: FAQ-Machine

A Parallel Planets piece by Unknown

Parallel Planets presents 
Juliana Mundim in FAQ-Machine

Story by KB Meniado

Mentioned: webzines, art revolution, and organic curation

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Bus seats, department store racks, church tables – those were where artist Juliana Mundim first showcased her work back in 2002 in New York. Today, the power of a WiFi connection and a swipe on a smartphone has revolutionized her art, making it seen by thousand pairs of eyes in hundred places all over the world.

And it’s not a bad thing. As Juliana says, “the Internet is perfect for artists who normally seek reverberation.” Call it forward thinking or whatever, but this was what she thought of in 2004, resulting to the creation of FAQMagazine. Now 10 years old, FAQMagazine is home to some of the Internet’s most striking images, carrying the tagline “All We Care For.”

“I've always loved art,” Juliana shares, “And I wanted people to reply visually about simple questions we ask in our daily lives, like ‘What is your name?’ Then I wanted this question to be unfolded into deeper visual thoughts, ‘taking the extraordinary out of the ordinary’ sort of thing.”

Any artist is free to submit his or her photos or videos to FAQMagazine’s Flickraccount.

But while art sharing has never been easier, the process of art making remains the same: it takes more time than a click of a button.

“An idea needs time to germinate and grow [then] build power,” Juliana says. “It is important to wait, enjoy the silence, weigh things and see what is better.”

This is why Juliana has always believed in “letting art curate organically.” Most images on FAQMagazine and its feature issues noticeably lack captions usually found on similar photography websites. In fact, when Juliana celebrated FAQMagazine’s 10^th birthday, they published their latest issue exclusively on Instagram!

“[I believe that] for almost every artist, the answers are inside their work,” Juliana explains. “The work has to communicate it all and the viewer takes it as it is. It is a beautiful thing that one film or art piece can have so many different meanings according to whomever is viewing it.”

When asked of future plans for FAQMagazine, it seems only time will tell.

“FAQMagazine was never meant to be a formal magazine, you know, with editors and publishing houses or anything like that,” Juliana says. “It is an experiment and has been changing with the years.” Who knows, all these images on the website might be made into a film come 2024.

All photos from FAQ Magazine.