Aesthetica Magazine Issue 53

June / July 2013

Inside this issue, we start with an overview of Alfredo Jaar’s new installation, Venezia, Venezia, at this year’s Chilean Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. It examines the increasingly complex global networks in today’s culture and how they can be represented on a world stage. A New Sculpturalism: Contemporary Architecture from Southern California opens at MOCA Los Angeles and surveys the post-war built environment of the city. Rodney Graham presents six new light boxes at Lisson Gallery, London, which question representation, art history and form.

Also at this year’s Venice Biennale, Jasmina Cibic represents Slovenia with For our Economy and Culture, which renegotiates the understanding of artists’ works from the former Eastern Bloc. In photography, we look at the highlights of this year’s Rencontres d’Arles, as well as presenting a selection of works from Searching for the Seventies, on now in Washington DC. Photography also comes from Miles Aldridge, James and Karla Murray, as well as a new series by Formento & Formento.

In film, we chat with Ben Wheatley about A Field in England, which will be the first UK film to be released in cinemas, on DVD, on Film4 and on VOD on the same day. We also speak with the Artistic Director of Edinburgh International Film Festival and present the highlights from this year’s event. In music, we look at how musicians are crossing over into new territory through sound art, while Sonny & The Sunsets discuss their new album Antenna to the Afterworld, which celebrates the collision of post-punk beats and new wave. On stage, the venerable Robert Wilson introduces his latest collaborative production, The Old Woman, which premieres at this year’s Manchester International Festival. Finally, Michael Craig-Martin talks about his extensive body of work, including a new collaboration with Glyndebourne. Enjoy the issue.

Michael Craig-Martin

Transforming everyday objects into vibrant constructs, Michael Craig-Martin has shaped the artistic landscape of Britain, both through his own work and his influence on other practitioners.

World Press Photo 13

Each year photographers from around the world participate in the World Press Photo Contest, and the results are nothing short of magnificent.

Flying Blind

Polish director Katarzyna Klimkiewicz is clearly on the ascendant; her debut feature, Flying Blind, is about as human and intelligent as they come.

I Wish

Following successfully in the footsteps of such masters as Yasujiro Ozu, Hirokazu Kore-eda rejects action and relentless pace in favour of quiet family drama.

The Purple Book

Taking its name from notorious 1890s graphic design periodical The Yellow Book, The Purple Book presents a lavish marriage of art and literature.

Wampire

Serving up sounds from a wide-ranging palette, one of Wampire’s stand-out strengths is the fact that their music is nearly impossible to categorise.

Beyond the Hills

Set in Moldova, which houses some of Europe’s most deprived people, this dark tale charts the loaded and complex friendship between two young women.

Sparrow and the Workshop

Murderopolis  is the third album from Glasgow-based trio Sparrow and the Workshop, and it is a leap forward in craft and assuredness.

Gary Hume

Beginning his career with the unconventional decision to redesign hospital doors, Gary Hume’s signature style was established early.

Cornelia Parker

Cornelia Parker’s work presents lines of enquiry and invites viewers to consider the fragility of the human experience.

Contemporary Asian Photography

Contemporary Asian Photography attempts to explore, problematise and ultimately dismantle the concept of a uniform Asia, reducible to geographical components of Near, Central and East.

Lore

Lore follows a teenage girl journeying across a land overrun with Allies with her four siblings as they battle to the safety of their grandmother’s home 900km away.

Beware of Mr Baker

Beware of Mr Baker couldn’t be more of an accurate title for this invigoratingly humorous biopic of one of the greatest drummers the world has ever seen.

To the Wonder

Terrence Malick’s latest consideration on the maelstrom of the human psyche uses landscape and weather as metaphors for changes in emotion and mood.

Miles Aldridge

Enamoured by colour and glamour, Miles Aldridge makes work dripping in jewels, lipstick and fluorescents, transporting his subjects into a surreal feminine space.

The Epstein

The Epstein reaches its sophomore album with a more experimental edge than its critically welcomed debut displayed.

The Woodentops

80s rockers The Woodentops release an all-encompassing retrospective collection of the highlights of their career to date.

Crystal Fighters

Crystal Fighters’ second album is so blissfully executed that its infectious rhythms are bound to induce partying in a cave, field, beach or just about anywhere.

The Essential Robert Indiana

The Essential Robert Indiana collates the artist’s significant body of work alongside text by Martin Krause, based on ongoing conversations with Indiana

Searching for the Seventies

The DOCUMERICA Project began as an Environmental Protection Agency programme, and evolved into a striking historical document of the environmental problems and achievements of the 1970s.