Tank is an independent UK-based magazine launched in 1998. It is a quarterly publication, printed in the UK, that covers contemporary culture, fashion, art, architecture, technology and politics. The magazine is considered one of the pioneering publications in boutique magazine publishing, balancing fewer advertisements with a high cover price. Since its launch, the Tank group has expanded to include Tank Form, tank.tv, TankBooks and Because magazine.
History
Tank was launched by editor-in-chief Masoud Golsorkhi and art director Andreas Laeufer in September 1998. The first issue was published in the form of a thick, square, miniature book. Its slogan “Small tank, big fish” began a trend where thinkers, writers, artists and photographers could look beyond conventional areas of discussion. In 2002, upon Laeufer’s departure, Caroline Issa was appointed the magazine’s publisher and fashion director. Issa was quickly established as a “perennial street style favourite” and “fixture on the fashion week circuit”.
Format and content
The independent magazine has produced a number of different incarnations: bulk pocket book, large wire-bound magazine and finally a rectangular perfect-bound edition. Tank’s independent editorial platform takes its motto “Elitism for All” from a maxim by Jean-François Lyotard. Each issue revolves around a speculative concept or theoretical framework. Past subjects have included: revolution, disorientation, reality, bubbles and the city. Ane Lynge-Jorlén described the magazine as one of the alternative fashion publications.
Tank Form
Launched in 2003, Tank Form is an independent, boutique creative agency that grew out of Tank magazine. Describing itself as "specialist, not generalist", the agency provides a creative consultancy. Tank Form is run by group creative director and editor-in-chief Masoud Golsorkhi, and CEO Caroline Issa. Special projects have included sponsored publications created for Prada and Levi's. ...And? was a pink broadsheet newspaper created for Prada. MINED, a palindrome of the word ‘denim’, was a thick magazine created for Levi’s, it won the D&AD Yellow Pencil Editorial and Book Design Award in 2002.
O: by Tank was a luxury fashion supplement created for The Observer. It ran from 2005 to 2013 and focused on the world of fashion and beauty. Published four times a year, O: functioned both as a shopping guide and a source of inspiration for upcoming seasons. From 2012, the supplement was accompanied with a free mobile application called Fashion Scan. The application uses image-recognition technology to link the pages of the supplement with online video content.
tank.tv
Tank.tv, an online platform established in 2003, profiles contemporary artists, both emerging and prominent, that work specifically in moving image, film and video formats. Tank.tv collaborated on a number of events with international art institutions, including: Tate Modern, Kulturhuset, Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe and the Institute of Contemporary Arts. Turner Prize winning artist Laure Provoust directed Tank.tv from 2004-2011, initiating discussion with and invitations to artists, writers and curators including Paul McCarthy, Pipilotti Rist, Jeremy Deller, , Hans-Ulrich Obrist, Stuart Comer, John Bock and Negar Azimi. All work commissioned by and invited onto tank.tv is archived and available to view on the website, In 2013, a decade after launching, tank.tv opened an exhibition space on Great Portland Street, London. The gallery, a not for profit Arts Council supported public space, dedicated its programme to new media experimentation through exhibitions, residencies, lecture-performances and audio-visual events. Two key online residencies were with London-based gallery and publisher Arcadia Missa and curatorial team Sanssouci Realty.
''Because'' magazine
Because is Tank's digital sister publication, launched in 2009 with the strapline "How to look amazing and where to go when you do". Caroline Issa is the magazine’s editor-in-chief.
