Aesthetica Magazine Issue 42

August / September 2011

Many of the features in this issue are about time and awareness. In art, the V&A’s latest blockbuster show, Postmodernism: Style and Subversion 1970 – 1990 explores architecture, design, popular culture, film and fashion and the manner in which they challenged modernism. Phenomenal: California Light, Space, Surface opens in San Diego and investigates how artists like Robert Irwin and James Turrell appropriated and utilised light as a medium. The first major UK retrospective of French artist, Charles Matton, opens at AVA, London and presents his miniature boites. Investigations of a Dog from the FACE collection emphasises today’s social reality, and we also give you a snapshot of this year’s Arles Photography Festival and introduce the work of Lara Jade, one of fashion photography’s rising stars.

In film, it gets gritty with Break My Fall. We also chat with Xanthe Hamilton, the Director of Branchage Film Festival in Jersey, about the rise of the boutique festival experience. In music, Scottish band FOUND discuss art, winning a BAFTA and their new album. We also consider the rise of app music and how this is changing the way music is produced. In performance, we preview Re-Triptych from New York-based Chinese choreographer Shen Wei; complete with stunning visuals and inspiring movement.

Finally, we chat with artist Mariah Robertson about her show on now at Baltic, which investigates analogue techniques with work sprawling across the gallery. Enjoy!

The Redstone Book of the Eye

Called “a compendium of visual surprise”, Julian Rothenstein’s collection of images is an interesting voyage of exploration.

See Yourself Sensing

Schwartzman has captured the present in this text. Exploring the relationship between the body, design and technology, the book is perplexing and provocative.

Contemporary Art: World Currents

In this comprehensive guide, Terry Smith lays the groundwork for a new approach to contemporary art, emphasising its relationships to all aspects of life.

Wild Abandon

Set on a communal farm in Wales, Wild Abandon follows Kate and her younger brother Albert as they deal with the day-to-day struggles of living in a community outside the status quo.

The Night Circus

A charming blend of fantasy and reality, Morgenstern has created a truly enchanting novel that is fiercely imaginative and cleverly developed.

The Artist of Disappearance

Set in modern India, The Artist of Disappearance is a triptych of novel­las, referring to shadows of the past, drawing on India’s recent history as a backdrop

Shen Wei Dance Arts

Shen Wei Dance Arts presents Re-Triptych as part of the 2011 Edinburgh International Festival, bringing the sentiments of Asia to the West.

Brian Olive

Two of Everything is an upbeat blend of funk, jazz, soul and psych, layered with rasping brass and syncopated drums.

Submotion Orchestra

Submotion Orchestra’s debut, Finest Hour, combines a sublime cinematic landscape providing a unique take on dubstep, soul and jazz.

The Voluntary Butler Scheme

The Voluntary Butler Scheme is the vehicle for Rob Jones, a singer-songwriter from Dudley. He accompanies himself, with help from friends and his mum.

Shimmering Stars

With an old school rock-and-roll style sound and a wistful, California-dreamy quality, the music of Violent Hearts transports us to the era of the high school dance and dates at the drive-in.

Astrid Williamson

The breathy, ethereal sounding vocals of singer-songwriter Astrid Williamson take centre-stage throughout Pulse – an album best listened to when in a reflective mood.

Roll the Dice

Having gained fans like Caribou and Kieran Hebden, Roll the Dice present an album that is intense and grand in its offering, with an overriding narrativeof urban exploration and experimentation.

FOUND

FOUND began as an art collective, who played music at their exhibition openings. This experimental spirit carried through to factorycraft, recorded at Chemikal Underground’s own Chem 19 studio.

App Music

Tablets like the iPad are changing the way music is made – not only how it’s recorded, but how it’s released and marketed. We look at a real game-changer.

The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec

From the director of The Fifth Element, Leon and Joan of Arc, Luc Besson’s latest offering The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sec is a movie based on a comic of the same name by Jacques Tardi.

Countdown to Zero

Lucy Walker’s documentary provides a terrifying insight into the world of nuclear weapons and offers a persuasive argument for disarmament.

Outside the Law

Outside the Law is a controversial revisiting of Algeria’s struggle for independence through the eyes of three brothers who lose their home in Algeria.

Bomb It

Bomb It explores the high octane and politically charged world of graffiti and the street artists who feel compelled to make their mark in the world.

My Dog Tulip

Ackerman’s dog, Queenie, came to represent the “ideal friend” who, as an openly gay writer in the 1950s, he was unable to find in the company of people.