Aesthetica Magazine Issue 38

December / January 2011

We’ve introduced some new sections this issue, as well as more features. In art, Aware: Art Fashion Identity opens at the Royal Academy and examines this multi-faceted relationship. We survey four contemporary Greek sculptors’ works in conjunction with Greece’s network of histories and recent economic climate. David Spiller renegotiates the label of Pop Artist, with his new show at Beaux-Arts London. This Must Be the Place interrogates location within the context of street photography. And French photographer, Gilles de Beauchêne creates interplay between fine art and advertising.

In film, we present the finalists of the Aesthetica Short Film Competition, and celebrate how they are driving the genre forward. Elliot Grove from Raindance offers part two of his guide to budget filmmaking, and we have included reviews of the latest DVD releases. In music, French Horn Rebellion chat about their debut, while we engage with the sounds of chiptune (read the article to learn more). Writer, Dinaw Mengestu re-invents the past with his new book, How to Read the Air and Rula Jebreal discusses her text, Miral, which is now a major motion picture. In theatre, we examine the democratisation of performance, and finally, Alan Haydon from De la Warr Pavilion discusses the impact of the changing economy on the arts.

Nancy Spero: The Work

This monograph explores Spero’s entire body of work, giving due weight to the (anti) narratives of language and voice.

Designs for Small Spaces

The modernist concentration on the design of an abstract yet integrated space has been replaced by the post-modern reaction, which pays closer attention to small scale design and its meaning.

Comfort and Joy: A Novel

After a telling dinner party, in which everyone seems to have some sort of awakening and massive revelation, Clara’s life changes once again.

I Still Dream About You

Set in Alabama, the novel reveals what it is like to overcome the shadows of a country’s past whilst also adoring the place you consider “home.”

Bar Balto

This new work is a gripping whodunnit focused around the death of the town’s bar owner. Everyone has a reason to dislike Joël Morvier and no one is shy about offering opinions.

Rula Jebreal

Rula Jebreal is an award-winning journalist who specialises in foreign affairs and immigration rights issues.

Inconvenient Spoof

A new theatre company challenges the idea of a cultural hierarchy and aspires to make work that is intelligent and provocative without being exclusive.

Truth & Lies on the Road to Nashville

In How to Read the Air, Dinaw Mengestu explores family relationships and one man’s need to reinvent the past, present and future to deal with his memories.

Gregory and the Hawk

Gregory and the Hawk’s new album does not invite easy comparison, yet there is something eerily familiar about it.

Paul Smith

The Maxïmo Park front man already has an enigmatic character, an art-rocker who reads poetry and that type of thing.

White Noise Sound

The beauty of this album is that it’s stylised with up-tempo tracks. There’s constant energy even when the music drifts into more cosmic places.

Brian Eno

Having collaborated with almost everybody active in the progressive music scene since the 1970s, Brian Eno has joined forces with Jon Hopkins and Leo Abrahams for his latest creation.

Caro Snatch

Til You’re No Longer Blinkered is a collection of experimental tracks combining spoken word, operatic melodies and a fiery mindset.

Ensemble

A bilingual gem of an album, Excerpts is the latest offering from Montreal-based songwriter and composer, Olivier Alary, the man behind Ensemble.

French Horn Rebellion

We caught up with French Horn Rebellion to chat about their learning curve, influences and the cinematic storytelling that culminated in their first album.

Electronic Memories in Music

Imagine if that old games console in the attic could play you a tune. Chiptune music takes its inspiration – and its source material – from the unlikeliest of sources, and is creating its own superstars.

Alan Haydon

Alan Haydon has been Director and Chief Executive of the De La Warr Pavilion for the past 10 years.

The Fish Child

Set in Buenos Aires, The Fish Child is the story of a clandestine romance. Two young girls in love hatch a plan to return to Lake Ypoá in Paraguay to live together.

White Material

The latest feature film from Claire Denis focuses on Africa and depicts a former French colony. There is revolution – the army against a band of rebels, fuelled by the provocative allegations of a radio DJ.

Shed Your Tears And Walk Away

Jez Lewis’ documentary explores the underbelly of the quaint tourist town, Hebden Bridge in Yorkshire.