As we look back upon the first decade of this century, it seems to us as if the world has been in a holding pattern — and that since the collapse of the Twin Towers it’s fallen further onto itself in an interminable series of social, ecological, and economic catastrophes. What we can be sure of, however, is that only now is the century truly beginning, that only now are we embarking upon its opening years. We don’t dare imagine that these years hold the promise of a future full of progress, but we can at least be optimistic that they will be a time of experimentation and change. We therefore consider this issue of Purple to actually be the first of the century. So we wanted to clean house, to start fresh. We called upon such key artists of the ’90s as Kim Gordon, Chloë Sevigny, and Bret Easton…