The aesthetic formation of ideology is a long-standing tradition, most notably expressed through religious icons in civic governance, with statues dominating public squares, hilltops, and architecture worldwide. The assembly of icons is not confined to one root set of beliefs; instead, it manifests as a multitude of ideas and beliefs, shaped through form and placed […]
In general, most photography can and often does function as propaganda. It can do so through its design and contextual arrangement, but its meaning depends largely on the intention behind its placement, which shifts over time and can be shaped toward different goals depending on who uses and broadcasts it and for what purpose. This […]
As a species, we have become addicted to the spectacle of political theater. Events are organized to engage our sensitive minds in the furor of ideological division, and arguments become tribal tools meant to manifest the supposed will of Western democracy, though little of this exhibitionism uncovers the true vessel of political life, fueled by […]
The ideas of usefulness and aesthetic appearance often come into conflict over time in architecture. Decay, cracks, erosion, and palimpsests of change clash and defy our natural sense of wholeness when we look at buildings that have persisted over decades, if not centuries. I am thinking particularly of 19th and early 20th-century buildings, those that […]
Jonathan Meese is one of those artists compelled by an unseen, yet pernicious, towering force that many of us cannot recognize as anything else but a steam engine powered by Satan and maybe curry wurst, lager, and a cartoonish desire to paint the times as a disgraceful embodiment of human spirit, causality, scum, and victory. […]
The life of Sarah Schumann should be much better known to the world. As a proponent of the New Women’s Movement, a talented painter, collagist, designer, and all-around life of post-war intrigue suggests a profound tie to the German movements of the mid-century, and yet, like many artists, particularly female artists of the Twentieth Century, […]
I was sent this lovely book about the choreography and performance art of Hermann Heisig by Spector Books, one of Germany’s finest publishers, at the suggestion of their team. I tend to value suggestions like these from a publisher known for a wide output, as they offer a thoughtful dialogue between parties. I get to […]
What strikes me as an interesting premise in Florian Merdes’s book Steamcracker is the enforced myopic rendering of details and patterns, which turns the book and its intense sequences into something minutely chaotic. There is a world underneath the surface of things, a rhythm and a dedication to line that emanates in Florian’s book. […]
In 1870-1871, during the siege of Paris, better known as the Paris Commune, several ingenious actions were carried out throughout the year to continue the communards’ defense first against the Prussians, then the Thiers government, which sought to suppress the resistance within the heart of Paris. Both of these actions were the result of harnessing […]
And then there was the night—archives from the edge of hell—chimerical dissonance—six cloven hoof Satyrs. Bachanalian. Excremental. Grain, dissolve. Pushing the sword of Damocles in until the hilt fractures on the bone of the pubic mound. A horsehair away from piercing the veil. Scrutinize, Labotomize. Forever roam. Necessarily hexed, vexed, encouraged by nebulous worlds […]
Between the Skin and the Sea is the new book by German artist Katrin Koenning. Katrin lives abroad in Australia, and that will factor into the discussion regarding her latest book, published by Chose Commune, the wonderful French publisher who put out her book with equally talented Sarker Protick in 2016, entitled Astres Noirs. […]
Without knowing much about architecture, what I find fascinating is that it is one of the forms of art that its artists can layer with the fantastical and still deliver a direct utility. Of course, most architects and architecture do not work toward abstraction; instead, they look at the medium as one for function […]