The past two years have rocked the art world. It has been a time for evaluation and careful consideration. We have started to take stock, look at our value systems and put things into perspective. This has had a profound effect on the work that we are producing today. In some respects, bringing it full circle; fuelling the debate about conceptual art, tackling people’s expectations, which can only lead to further innovation.

It has been a decade to remember, especially related to the developments in technology. We’ve become so co-dependent, always contactable and never alone. One of the largest travesties of this new phenomenon is the disappearance of silence, when you have your phone-come-music-personal-planner-entertainment-guide-to-life; in fact it’s social overload.

This issue of Aesthetica explores many of these topics, from the V&A’s major exhibition Decode: Digital Design Sensations to the Lyon Biennale. Inside there’s also a report on Barbara Kruger’s retrospective, Paste Up. Finally, a look at the imagination of Tim Burton, with his show at MoMA including 700 images of the filmmaker’s work.

In film, we have a chat with Yojiro Takita on his Oscar-winning film Departures and part one of our step-by-step guide to becoming an animator. While in music, there’s an examination into the creative strategies that bands employ to get ahead today, and a catch up with A.A. Bondy on his new album. Also a preview of I am Yusuf and This Is My Brother, which opens at the Young Vic this winter, and to conclude, an interview with Simon Robson and an extract from the fantastic new book Diamond Star Halo by Tiffany Murray. This issue takes a closer look at the creative exploration of today’s most exciting artists.