Aesthetica Magazine Issue 57

February / March 2014

Experimentation is the key component to innovation. It’s essential to try new things and to gather your inspiration from as many sources as possible. This means that you have to step outside of your comfort zone from time to time, and engage with something that you might not normally encounter. Inside Issue 57, we begin with a discussion around the parameters of photography and the role that light, colour and subject play with What Is a Photograph?

Martin Creed’s first survey show, What’s the point of it?, explores the artist’s minimalist and thought-provoking approach to transforming everyday materials into moments of profound discovery. Isaac Julien’s latest seven-screen installation, Playtime, premieres at Victoria Miro, London, and it explores the dramatic and complex theme of financial capital. Sensing Spaces presents the work of seven internationally renowned architectural firms that are pushing the boundaries of space and design. In photography, we look at the expansive Henri Cartier-Bresson exhibition at the Pompidou Centre, which features over 500 photographs and celebrates the life and work of the artist 10 years after his death.

Alex Prager’s Face in the Crowd opens in Los Angeles taking the idea of anonymity to its limits. We also introduce the work of three exceptional photographers: Ryan Schude, who takes surrealist and painterly photographs, while Samantha VanDeman captures isolation through vacated spaces, and finally, our cover photographer Sam Heydt uses bold colour to explore cultural dichotomies.

In film, we speak with Bruno Delbonnel, cinematographer of the Coen Brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis about creating that perfect frame, which tells a compelling story. We also chat with Asghar Farhadi about his latest release The Past, and how he exposes the drama that occurs between family members. In music, we look at how bands are joining forces with fashion labels, merging two worlds in new and interesting ways. Fuerzabruta is in full force with their immersive and groundbreaking performance. Finally, the last words go to Richard Deacon about his latest exhibition opening at Tate Britain this winter. Enjoy the issue!

Illustration Now! Fashion

It’s easy to forget that every dress, coat and shoe begins as an illustration. Julius Wiedemann draws attention to the industry’s reliance on this skill.

Unoccupied Spaces

Regularly seeking out abandoned spaces with her camera, VanDeman finds traces of past inhabitants in the remaining furniture, letters and possessions.

Liberty: British Colour Pattern

Referred to by Oscar Wilde as “the chosen resort of the artistic shopper”, Liberty has maintained its creative relevance for more than a century.

Ásgeir

In The Silence is the debut of Icelandic singer-songwriter Ásgeir, who is already something of a sensation in his homeland.

A Social Experience

Fuerzabruta returns to the Roundhouse, bringing with it an exciting celebration of carnival and street theatre in which reality is disregarded in favour of dreams.

Artistic Intersections

Filmmaker and artist Isaac Julien’s PLAYTIME at Victoria Miro is an ambitious new body of work exploring the dramatic and nuanced subject of capital.

Becoming Traviata

Becoming Traviata takes a look behind the curtain of Jean-François Sivadier’s re-imagining of Verdi’s masterpiece, as it moves around the demise of its namesake, Violetta Valéry, the “fallen woman.”

The Selfish Giant

The Selfish Giant follows two scrappy 13-year-olds as they reject a school system that doesn’t accept them.

Richard Deacon

A leading British sculptor, Richard Deacon’s work was on display at Tate Britain in a large chronological survey featuring around 40 individual pieces..

A Brush with the Real: Figurative Painting Today

Marc Valli’s introduction reminds the reader of the value inherent in painting and its place in the digital world.