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28 Apr Crack Up Crack Down
As the accessibility of print brought about a proliferation of satirical periodicals in the early 20th century (Slovenia’s Pavliha, Germany’s Simplicissimus, the UK’s Punch, France’s l’Assiette au Beurre, or the Caucasus’ Molla Nasreddin to name a few), [expand title="more"]so too has the current digital age provided a particularly fertile avenue for satire, one which is fundamentally graphic, be it the meme or the protest poster. Though each enjoys a distinct history, both the graphic arts and satire claim to speak for and to the people. Designed by Stan de Natris (Slavs and Tatars), illustrated by Nejc Prah, and published on the occasion of the 33rd edition of the Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts, CRACK UP – CRACK DOWN considers “the graphic” heritage of the Biennial not as a medium, per se, but rather as an agency and strategy. Purporting to speak truth to power, satire has proven itself to be a petri dish in a world of post-truth bacteria. Edited by Slavs and Tatars, the exhibition’s curators, CRACK UP – CRACK DOWN extends the discursive focus of the Biennial on graphics and satire: featuring commissioned essays from Emily Apter on the micropolitics of memes, David Crowley on punk as a platform of dissimulation in Poland and Hungary, Vid Simoniti on the cult Bosnian satire Top lista nadrealista, among other Balkan precedents, and Melissa Constantine on the affective infrastructures of satire with visual contributions and essays by Metahaven, Hamja Ahsan, Alenka Pirman, and others.[/expand] read Review
23 Apr MOM
The book’s title reveals the identity of its protagonist: Kathleen McCain Engman has been posing for her son Charlie since 2009. And yet MOM shows us a face we never really get to know: [expand title="more"]while we soon become acquainted with her freckled complexion and intense gaze, her position in the images becomes increasingly unclear. Engman first began shooting his mother because she was available, ever-willing to meet the demands of one of her children. But what began as a casual, organic process evolved into an intense collaboration. The result is neither a family album nor a filial tribute but a much deeper and far more complex interaction: one that raises questions about the limits of familiarity, the rules and boundaries of roles and representation, vulnerability and control, and what it means to look and to be seen.[/expand] read Review
22 Mrz Transit
In the wake of her family's collapse, a writer and her two young sons move to London. The upheaval is the catalyst for a number of transitions – personal, moral, artistic, and practical – as she endeavours to construct a new reality for herself and her children. [expand title="more"]In the city, she is made to confront aspects of living that she has, until now, avoided, and to consider questions of vulnerability and power, death and renewal, in what becomes her struggle to reattach herself to, and believe in, life. Filtered through the impersonal gaze of its keenly intelligent protagonist, Transit sees Rachel Cusk delve deeper into the themes first raised in her critically acclaimed novel Outline, and offers up a penetrating and moving reflection on childhood and fate, the value of suffering, the moral problems of personal responsibility and the mystery of change.[/expand] read Review
14 Mrz How to save the world for free
Are you worried about the effects of climate change on our environment? Want to help but don’t know where to start? Environmental activist Natalie Fee’s new handbook to green living, How to Save the World for Free, will help you to make small lifestyle changes which will make a big difference to our planet.[expand title="more"]We know that a better world is possible. One where we all get to breathe clean air, marvel at the abundance of wildlife and enjoy life without worrying if it’s about to self-destruct. But how do we get there? And can it really be … easy? And fun? And free? How to Save the World for Free will galvanize you to think and live differently, covering all key areas of our lives, from food and travel to politics and sex. You will feel better, live better and ultimately breathe better in the knowledge that every small change contributes towards saving our world.[/expand] read Review
26 Feb Children
The photographs in Children date from different eras, as can be seen from the different kinds and styles of portraiture. Looking at these children, some of them accompanied by a mother or father, siblings or friends, we wonder at first why they were picked for this collection. [expand title="more"]Leafing through the pages, it gradually dawns on us that these are the soft fresh faces of future writers, mathematical geniuses and other famous or infamous people—including some future dictators. And then we begin puzzling over the features and expressions on their faces: Could this sleepy-looking kid be—or rather have become Jimi Hendrix? What about this ill-humored youngster amid his classmates: Arthur Rimbaud in the making? Is this here a wee Angela Merkel? And over here Al Capone as an unwashed rascal? Is that dapper lad there really a pint-sized Pope Francis? And that cheerful child Osama Bin Laden?!? We’re in for some big surprises indeed![/expand] read Review
10 Feb Dorothy Iannone
Since the 1960s, Dorothy Iannone has attempted to represent ecstatic love, "the union of gender, feeling, and pleasure." Today her oeuvre, encompassing painting, drawing, collage, video, sculpture, objects, and artist's books, is widely recognized as one of the most provocative and fruitful bodies of work in recent decades in terms of the liberalization of female sexuality, and political and feminist issues. [expand title="more"]Created in 1969, when she was living with Swiss artist Dieter Roth, "A Cookbook" is a perfect example of how she mixes daily life and an existential approach, culminating in her vision of cooking as an outlet for both eroticism and introspection. A book of real recipes full of visual delights, "A Cookbook" contains densely decorated pages with patterned designs, packed text, and vibrant colors. Personal sentences are interspersed among the lists of ingredients, revealing the exultations and tribulations of her life between the lines of recipes. Filled with wit and wordplay, associations between aliments and idiosyncratic thoughts—"At least one can turn pain to color" accompanies the recipe for gazpacho; "Dorothy’s spirit is like this: green and yellow," is written next to the ingredients for lentil soup—" A Cookbook" constitutes a mundane but essential self-portrait of the artist as a cook and a lover.[/expand] read Review
28 Jan 2G Fala
Fala is a young architecture practice founded in 2013 in Porto, and led by Filipe Magalhães, Ana Luisa Soares and Ahmed Belkhodja. Hedonistic yet restrained, the studio takes lightness and joy very seriously. [expand title="more"]Their projects can be characterized by a strong tendency towards autonomy, or better: towards an emerging independence of architectural language. Many of the refurbishment projects in Porto were initiated by private investors, trying to make a fortune by real estate speculation. After the economic crisis of 2008 the downtowns of Porto and Lisbon were confronted with a rampant boom in tourism. Speculation was propelled by special governmental measures such as the relief of a far-reaching protection against dismissal or the easy availability of golden visas. This may be the reason why some of Fala’s projects come across like topical declinations of the same program: separation of auxiliary functions from the main space, zoning of the plan, opening and staging of the view onto a small courtyard.[/expand] read Review
06 Nov Hong Kong Barricades
In October 2014, Lele Saveri was in Hong Kong when thousands of people, guided by a group of students, took to the streets to demonstrate against electoral reform: what would go down in history as the ‘Umbrella Revolution’ was underway. [expand title="more"]Saveri was there by chance, but he immediately realised that he was standing before a historic event. He moves through the streets, coming into contact with people, shooting photographs. The barricades, put up using temporary fencing and various objects, strike him in particular by virtue of their structure: they are the symbol of the determination and resistance of the demonstrators, the image of a protest which does not burn out in a single season but which is still alive today. Along with the text by Joshua Wong (leader of the movement, shortlisted for the Nobel Peace Prize 2017), the photographs gathered in this volume tell of the genesis of a struggle for democratisation and emancipation, and more in general, against oppression.[/expand] read Review