Emerged in Russia before the Bolshevik Revolution and developed during the 1920s and 1930s principally by philosopher Nikolai Fedorov, Russian Cosmism concerned itself with transforming lives by proposing a radically new worldview. One that sees obligations toward humanity extending beyond curing the sick and protecting the weak, to promoting free movement in cosmic space, resuscitating the dead, and putting an end to mortality through science and technology. This book by MIT press recollects some of the key texts on cosmism which outlined the movement’s main ideas and influenced the works of filmmakers, visual artists, poets, theater directors and novelists (including Dostoevsky and Tolstoy), some of which are translated to English for the first time. Buy

Against the backdrop of Scandinavia’s dark seasons, Sindroms shines a bright, yellow light in search for poetically narrated stories, anecdotal notes and striking images. Compared to the previous issue which paid tribute to the colour red and the love, the passion, the violence, the risk and the fury we tend to associate with it, this second issue filters the prism of reality to focus on everything yellow, and therefore the happy, the optimistic, the friendly, or, the things that signal jealousy and states of anxiety. Buy

The Design Academy Eindhoven produced three new volumes of the Strategic Creativity Series which looks into how design and creativity could contribute to solving social and economic challenges such as population aging and the disruption of traditional industrial models. It does so by merging the existing knowledge of the academy with design theories and the students’ research projects. Throughout the three volumes the notion of thinking-through-making is accentuated, whereas each volumes focuses on a specific question: 1. Immersive Narratives introduces a range of design perspectives on the role of Virtual Reality in transforming journalism. 2. Let’s Talk Water, investigates how to be ready in the advent of heavy rains, droughts and floods caused by climate change, and 3. Radical ecologies, proposes ways to cope in a society of increased risk. Buy

A Dance Mag, or the ways to go about living in the way of dancing. This newly created title coming from the Lebanese capital Beirut talks about experiences of transcendent consciousness reached with the movement of the body. A topic inspired by the Sufi whirling dervishes who use their bodies as vessels to surpass the limits of their physicality. Dance is the way the Sufi Master Ibn Al-Arabi thought about the Barzakh: being a space beyond limits, a space of imagination where you feel united with a universal source of creative energy from which all living things emerge. The first issue of Dance Mag brings us stories about the Horon dance in the Mountains of Turkey, the Master Musicians of the Joujouka in Morocco, as well as some Berlin-club-reflections on Ketamine, Techno and Derrida. Buy

In 2011 the BBB Vocational School in Baden initiated an art department dedicated for students who are training to become polymechanics, computer scientists, electronics technicians, chefs or hairdressers. The purpose is to allow them to experiment with new aesthetic opportunities through engaging with artists and the arts´scene. Serving as a visual intervention to demonstrate the importance of arts no matter what our professional priorities are, stimulating sensitivity to the various ways art infiltrates our lives, from advertisements, to extravagant performances, technology design, fashion and video games, this little, resiliently build book is also the documentation of the first phase of the BBB art department project. Buy

This month Berlin hosts one of the most anticipated events of the year: The Biennale for Contemporary Art. Spread across five venues, this year’s thematic focus is encapsulated in one printed catalogue. Some of the raised questions touch upon how do we understand the relationships between the past and the present, particularly when it comes to thinking about valuable items and collectables which found their way to Europe via colonial routes. Included is “Dear History, we don’t need more heroes”, an essay by the Biennale’s curator Gabi Ngcobo pointing at power abuse. And “I’m not who you think I’m not,” a manifesto challenging socially constructed forms of being and knowledge. In addition to nicely presented notes about the participating artists and their contributions. Buy

The biannual Space magazine which explores interior and cultural spaces, mixes articles and interviews with candid photography and displays of the occasionally extravagant concerns of living. Taking inspiration from the B-sides of records which sometimes include bonus tracks complementing an artist’s hit single, this seventh issue draws connections between the B-side and the quality of great artists for reinventing the known. It features a row of interviews with creatives including artist Dan Graham, glass designer Nina Nørgaard, model Iselin Steiro and architect Christoffer Harlang. Buy

Architecture Monogram is the first in a series of books about the new creatives in Belgium and in the Netherlands in the fields of architecture, landscape design, photography and writing. This edition showcases the work of Gijs Van Vaerenbergh, a collaborative practice founded in 2008 by the Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh. It doesn’t only reveal the works of the artists in question but also their personal experiences, their endorsement of the ambiguities between art and architecture, their obsessions and emotional drives that influence the process of creation. In 157 pages the book gives an overview about the projects they developed, in distinct chapters focusing on drawing, cutting, bending, assembling and mirroring. Buy

El Croquis issue 194 is in circulation! One of the top architecture magazines, this edition covers selected works by German architect Arno Brandlhuber and his Berlin based office Brandlhuber +. Featuring an essay by Bart Lootsma where he presents the architect’s fundamental operational concepts, and another by Moritz Künz who runs a review about the most interesting publications of Brandlhuber + (in which Brandlhuber is particularly invested). This edition sheds light on the idea of collaboration with other practices, disciplines and individuals, such as artists, writers, filmmakers and musicians reflecting the discursive nature of Brandlhuber’s work, his activism, and how his creative interpretation of the law rendered the pursuit of some far-fetched projects possible. Buy