“I guess you could say I wear many hats...as most artists do…”
Our latest installment of “Meeting the NUMiNOUS Team” features Edd Glassmire, the Senior Editor of NUMiNOUS Magazine. His roles at the magazine have taken him to many different places and experiences, which he shares with us below. Get to know more about Edd, what he does to help get these pages into the hands of readers, and what the magazine means to him.
BH: What is your background, relating to the arts? What creative work and experiences did you do/still do before working with NUMiNOUS? EG: My formal training is in filmmaking and animation. I started my filmmaking career filming skate videos and documenting bands. When the magazine started, I was in the middle of getting my film degree at the Art Institute of Philadelphia. As a filmmaker I saw the magazine as a muse and a subject to capture.
BH: When someone asks you what your role is at the magazine what do you tell them? EG: Well my title at the magazine is Senior Editor, Stephanie being the Editor-in-Chief. With that title my responsibilities include the writing of the mag (the Forewords, P.S., feature Q&As, short bios, as well as editing any writing sent to us by the artists). I also do the final checks of editing any text on the final draft, so if your name was ever spelled wrong, that was my fault, not Stephanie’s, even though she’s taken the heat for most of my mistakes!
In addition to Senior Editor, I’m the official videographer and video documentarian for the NUMiNOUS brand, making promotional videos for magazine releases, short docs of photo shoots, and runway events.
My unofficial role is probably my most important, which is moral and emotional support and encouragement for Stephanie! She has a lot of responsibility with her title, and sometimes she just needs someone to encourage her vision. We’ve always been the other’s biggest encouragement.
BH: Explain the process of an issue of NUMiNOUS once it is in your hands- what do you do to help prepare for its release? EG: I’m along for the ride of the issue pretty much every step of the way. From being on the committee for submission acceptances, to giving a second opinion on design and layout, and lastly final proofreading... of which I’m terrible at and should be fired for!
My writing pieces for each issue are also usually the very last pieces of the final edit. I like to say I wait until every other piece is in place so I can breathe in the entirety of the issue before I write, but Stephanie believes it’s because I’m lazy and a procrastinator and I like to stress her out by pushing our deadline (which I would like to add, we have never been late for).
BH: Other than the print issue, what else do you do for the brand as a whole?
EG: When it comes to events and feature photo shoots, I’m there as the documentarian, but I’m also there just helping make sure the ”show” gets off the ground. Whether it’s setting up door people and artists at events or helping set up or breakdown gear and sets for photo shoots, I’m there to be a helping set of hands. I’m also part of the committee for pre-planning events- like visiting venues and helping come up with theme party ideas that will marry with the release of a current theme. For example- our speakeasy party for the release of the NOiR issue, or the masquerade party we had for the release of the FETiSH issue. NUMiNOUS is so much more than a magazine, it’s a living breathing community.
BH: What have been your favorite moments with the magazine? EG: Every moment of NUMiNOUS mag’s existence has been a life changing experience for me. I am in awe and so proud of what my wife and partner has created in this small amount of time. My favorite moments are usually the recurring ones, like when we meet a new art lover at an event and they pick up a mag and start flipping through it, and questions like “who is your publisher, where are you based out of, are you hiring at the moment, do you have an internship program, how do I get involved“ start flying! I find it hilarious that people are perceiving this project as a huge commercial corporate entity just from how the magazine is presented.
A phrase that I also hear constantly repeated is “this is wonderful, please keep doing this” or “ this is so needed for the art community here, I’m glad somebody is doing this.” When you keep hearing things like that, we can’t ask ourselves the question of “how long are we going to keep printing this?”, but instead have to ask ourselves “what’s next, and what else can we do, and who else can we do it with, and where?”
BH: So, what is next for you as a member of the NUMiNOUS staff? EG: As another year of NUMiNOUS mag publications draw to a close, the NUMiNOUS staffers are busy planning the next year, and more importantly planning the next set of themes for our submitters. We have a lot of plans for the fourth year of NUMiNOUS magazine. These plans will be announced very soon in the weeks to come, with the announcement of the new set of themes. A not so secret announcement is the final filming stages of the NUMiNOUS documentary.
BH: Tell me about your plans for the documentary? EG: The cameras have been rolling through the entirety of NUMiNOUS mag’s subsistence. The documentary is something we are patching together in order to tell our fans and newcomers alike who we are, where we’ve been, and where we’re going. It’s very exciting to see this story be told by the artists who were there to witness it and be a part of it.
BH: What does “NUMiNOUS” mean? Not just as a direct definition, but what does it mean to you and why does the name resonate with you? EG: When I hear NUMiNOUS, I immediately think of the magazine, and eventually think of all the work I’m behind on and the always-approaching deadline.
I never heard the word “numinous” before our magazine. When Stephanie starting planning the first issue, I don’t remember any other candidates for the name of the magazine. I just remember she was in the middle of putting the first issue together and she asked, “what about ‘numinous magazine’?” and I said, “I really like that, I never heard that word before, what does it mean?” She read me three or four definitions. The more we researched the word, the more it just felt right for the message we wanted to convey.
The word itself invokes an artistic movement on an almost spiritual level. Art is meant to move you, and that’s what we want on our pages, art that makes you think and feel. I love that our little magazine is associated with a word and a name with such a powerful meaning.
*To view more of Edd's work, Follow his Facebook and YouTube Channel.
