Aesthetica Magazine Issue 56

December / January 2014

In this edition we consider the importance of reflecting upon the things you have done, as well as those you didn’t do and will go on to do in the future. We start with Hello, my name is Paul Smith, which is on now at the Design Museum, London, and looks at the art, fashion and creative ingenuity of one of Britain’s leading designers. We also examine The Desire for Freedom. Art in Europe since 1945 at MOCAK in Krakow, Poland. At MoMA in New York, European art is also being showcased: Isa Genzken’s installations and sculptures are the subject of a massive retrospective, which surveys the layers of her work.

Philippe Parreno takes over the Palais de Toyko, Paris, with his immersive video art, touching upon nearly every aspect of popular culture. In photography, we present an overview of Jim Dow’s Americana, while Cally Whitham’s images of dwellings in New Zealand take a subtle approach to understanding identity. Vivian Maier’s striking street photography was only discovered two years before her death, and with over 100,000 negatives her work defines decades. Maroesjka Lavigne takes us on a journey through Iceland with snowy landscapes. Finally, Marcelo Benfield interrogates location through a bold and daring colour palette.

In film, we speak with Atiq Rahimi about The Patience Stone. Set in Afghanistan, it is an honest portrait of a woman’s need to speak about her past, struggles, fears and dreams in unusual circumstances. We also take a look at ASFF 2013 and offer you an overview of this year’s film festival, as well as access to some of this year’s Official Selection. In music, we look at the power of the music biopic. In performance, we speak with the creators of Blink, which highlights the success new British writers are experiencing. Finally, the last words go to Cornelia Parker about her latest exhibition, which uses glass as its starting point.

Preserving Memories

Hoarding photographs, art books, newspaper clippings and found items that took her fancy, Vivian Maier filled storage lockers with her bric-a-brac and over 100,000 negatives.

Exposing Secrets

Atiq Rahimi’s The Patience Stone is built upon the ancient Persian myth that the syngué sabour is a confessional tool, an object on which you can lay all your secrets, your despairs and your rage.

Subtle Discovery

Maroesjka Lavigne spent four months travelling around Iceland in the months between winter and spring photographing this intriguing country along the way.

Marcel Broodthaers

In this incredibly authoritative volume, Marie-Puck brings back to life her father’s photographs and exhibition chronology.

Documenting Musicians

Over the past decade the number of music documentaries under production has significantly increased, and there doesn’t seem to be a clear cut reason why.

Utopia

Utopia delves back into the White Australia Policy of 1901, which effectively introduced a form of Apartheid as virulent as anything seen in South Africa.

Kelly + Victor

Adapted from Niall Griffiths’ compelling novel, Kelly + Victor is an intense love story with harrowing overtones.

Constructing Sculpture

German artist Isa Genzken’s first major American retrospective at New York’s MoMA will engage the senses and the mind in an all-out immersive exhibition.

Margarita

The self-obsessed family that employs her as a nanny barely notice that Margarita is their domestic Sun until she is fired and it highlights the ways they orbit her.

Cultural Politics

A new exhibition at Museum of Contemporary Art Krakow explores the socio-political undercurrents of European art since 1945 through to the present day.

The Style of Coworking

The Style of Coworking showcases a staggering array of working spaces, including places long-abandoned and reclaimed by enterprising visionaries who infused them with personality and style.

Vuvuvultures

Combining electronics with a punchy rhythm and a splattering of pop, Push/Pull is an endlessly catchy album.

Peter Beard: Into the Wild

Embodying the titles of photographer, collector, diarist and writer, Beard journeyed the path less travelled.

Challenging Signifiers

Parreno transforms the Palais de Tokyo, an experience rather than an exhibition, Anywhere, Anywhere, Out Of The World  is greater than the sum of its parts.

Susanna and Ensemble neoN

A collaboration between singer Susanna Wallumrød and Ensemble neoN, The Forester is a wildly ambitious album that deals with loss, power and loneliness.

Child’s Pose

In the upper echelons of Romania’s nouveau riche Child’s Pose probes into the caustic relationship between a domineering mother and her adult son.

Tristesse Contemporaine

Tristesse Contemporaine is a trio based in France with no French members, which delivers synth pop that sounds equally at home in the mainstream or underground.

Beastmilk

Coming from the same angle as Joy Division, Beastmilk cook up some great songs. Death Reflects Us, in particular, is massive, with huge guitars and perfectly-controlled reverb.

Expanding Narratives

New writing is experiencing a revival and the Soho Theatre is just one of a growing number of venues where emerging writers can make themselves heard.

Unrivalled Iconography

Renowned for impeccable tailoring with unexpected elements lurking beneath each perfect cut, Paul Smith rose from a single, tiny shop in Nottingham.