Aesthetica Issue 98 by Aesthetica Magazine

Aesthetica

THE ART & CULTURE MAGAZINE

www.aestheticamagazine.com

Issue 98 December / January 2021

PLAYING WITH TRADITION

ARCHIVE AND MONTAGE

MODES OF REPRESENTATION

Architects who move from immersive game design to community activism

Hassan Hajjaj blends North African culture with western iconographies

Photography that merges interior and exterior within fictional worlds

NGV Triennial explores portraiture as a vehicle for expressing personal identity

UK £5.95 Europe €11.95 USA $15.49

ALTERING THE BLUEPRINT

Aesthetica 1

2 Aesthetica

Aesthetica 3

4 Aesthetica

Aesthetica 5

6 Aesthetica

Aesthetica 7

8 Aesthetica

Aesthetica 9

10 Aesthetica

Welcome Editor’s Note

On the Cover Los Angeles fashion photographer Natasha Wilson has a mutual passion for art and travel. These two interests come together in various shoots, which tap into the culture of a given location. Her process includes painting a blend of colours over images in post-production (p. 58). Cover Image: Photographer / Creative Director: Natasha Wilson. Model: Grant Uba. For: Adidas Superstar Campaign.

Here we are, at the end of one year and the start of a new one. We’ve all changed a lot: there's so much we’ve been through and learned together. Technology has become further integrated into daily lives – and we use it for pretty much everything – mostly because we do not have a choice. Fear has also played a big role in 2020. Back in March, the idea of being in lockdown was alarming, even frightening. It’s a bizarre cultural shift to be nervous to touch a door handle in a public place or to brush past someone on the street. I am nostalgic for the days before the pandemic, and I want them back. However, we must remember: we are nearing a vaccine. Beyond this, there is a huge amount of relief and joy to be found knowing Trump will be gone from the White House. It's enough to end an incredibly tough year and tie it with a bow, starting 2021 with hope. That is a wonderful feeling. Inside this issue we look at NGV Triennial in Melbourne. It’s a large-scale exhibition of international contemporary art, design, fashion and architecture. Featuring more than 100 practitioners from more than 30 countries, this year’s presentation asks us to consider the world as we know it, but then think carefully about what we’d like it to be in terms of representation and inclusivity. This is a crucial moment of change and opportunity. We also speak with Hassan Hajjaj – known as “the Andy Warhol of Marrakech” – about identity politics. Through his wonderfully detailed images, we are able to reframe important narratives. Suzanne Moxhay, an Aesthetica Art Prize finalist, speaks to us about blurring the lines between interior and exterior; nature and technology. These images grapple with idealism and dystopia. In photography, Alia Ali, Kate Theo, Eugenia Falqui, Markus Guschelbauer, Ismail Zaidy and Natasha Wilson question our relationships with both the natural and manmade world – and by extension – our perceptions of each other. There is so much to learn here. Finally, the Last Words go to Magda Keaney, Curator at the National Portrait Gallery, to discuss this year’s Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize. Cherie Federico

Aesthetica 11

106

100

12 Aesthetica

contents

Art 14 News Coverage of Mary Ellen Mark at San Diego Museum of Art; Alec Soth at Foam Amsterdam; and Gregory Crewdson at Galerie Templon, Paris.

20 10 to See This edition's recommended shows include solo presentations of Barbara Kruger, Isaac Julien, Barbara Kasten, Boomoon and Sarah Sze.

24 Archive and Montage Suzanne Moxhay's photography is reminiscent of empty sets, uniting the exterior and the interior, drawing from collected material and ambiguity.

30 Cultural Examination Alia Ali's photographs use cloth and fabric to hide identities, asking questions about how we define and separate through what we can or can’t see.

42 Focusing on the Detail Eugenia Falqui breaks away from TripAdvisorworthy compositions of Bangkok, shooting the surreal and often humorous sides of the city.

52 Altering the Blueprint Today’s architects aren’t just designing buildings. They’re working across multiple disciplines to tackle ecological responsibility and social justice.

58 Dynamic Framework Los Angeles fashion photographer Natasha Wilson has a passion for art and travel; she taps into the culture of locations whilst shooting.

70 Surreal Presentation Fine Art. Surrealism. Fantasy. These are the pillars of Kate Theo’s practice, featuring graphic yellow suns, black crescent moons and folded curtains.

82 Playing with Tradition Hassan Hajjaj blends North African culture with western iconographies. Framed images subvert and democratise fashion logos and brands.

88 Searching for Intimacy Ismail Zaidy's alluring compositions play with proximity and distance, featuring siblings as symbols of both connection and estrangement.

100 Modes of Representation The 2020 NGV Triennial explores portraiture as a vehicle for expressing both personal and global identities across continents and cultures.

106 Organic Assemblage Markus Guschelbauer creates pastel-coloured installations that represent our desire to organise and control our interactions with nature.

Exhibitions

Film

Music

116 Gallery Reviews This issue we explore the works of Leila Alaoui at Somerset House, Paul Graham at Huxley-Parlour and Helmut Newton at Hamiltons Gallery.

120 Aesthetica Film Festival The winners of this year's festival have been announced. We provide an overview of the 10th Anniversary Edition, which took place virtually.

122 Opportunity and Promise You Me At Six has crafted its most experimental album to date. The new record is about finding peace and acceptance in what has been and gone.

Books

Artists’ Directory

Last Words

124 Beyond the Binaries Following on from Why Drag? and #GAYFACE, Magnus Hastings is back with another impressive collection celebrating queer identity and visibility.

140 Featured Practitioners This issue's selection includes artists who respond to the world in new ways, moving fluidly between both traditional and experimental techniques.

146 Magda Keaney We speak to the Senior Curator of the National Portrait Gallery about this year's Taylor Wessing Photographic Portrait Prize exhibition.

Aesthetica Magazine is trade marked worldwide. © Aesthetica Magazine Ltd 2020.

The Aesthetica Team: Editor: Cherie Federico Assistant Editor: Kate Simpson Digital Content Writer: Eleanor Sutherland Digital Assistant: Saffron Ward

Advertisement Enquiries: Megan Hobson (0044) (0)844 568 2001 advertising@aestheticamagazine.com

ISSN 1743-2715. All work is copyrighted to the author or artist. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be used or reproduced without permission from the publisher. Published by Cherie Federico and Dale Donley. Aesthetica Magazine 21 New Street, York, YO1 8RA (0044) (0)844 568 2001 Newstrade Distribution: Warners Group Publications plc. Gallery & Specialist Distribution: Central Books. Printed by Warners Midlands plc.

Advertising Coordinator: Megan Hobson Artists’ Directory Coordinator: Katherine Smira Production Director: Dale Donley Operations Manager: Cassandra Weston Technical Coordinator: Andy Guy

Contributors: Greg Thomas, Diane Smyth, Beth Webb, Matt Swain, Gunseli Yalcinkaya Reviewers: Kyle Bryony, James Mottram, Chris Webb, Jack Solloway, Jennifer Sauer, Robyn Cusworth, Olivia Hampton, Eleanor Sutherland

Artists’ Directory Enquiries: Katherine Smira (0044) (0)844 568 2001 directory@aestheticamagazine.com Subscriptions: subscriptions@aestheticamagazine.com (0044) (0)844 568 2001 General Enquiries: info@aestheticamagazine.com Press Releases: pr@aestheticamagazine.com Follow us: aestheticamagazine.com facebook.com/aestheticamagazine twitter.com/AestheticaMag pinterest.com/AestheticaMag instagram.com/AestheticaMag

Aesthetica 13

news

On the Riverbanks AT THE STREAMS Ute Mahler (b. 1949) and Werner Mahler (b. 1950) grew up February 2020, they continued to the Volga. Visits to other in the former German Democratic Republic (1949-1990). rivers, including the Rhône and Tagus, are also on the cards. Whilst much of the duo’s output is rooted in realism, they Together with five other photographers, they founded the Ostkreuz Photo Agency in 1990, named after the S-Bahn sta- are not limited to documentary work. In July this year, the tion – the busiest traffic hub in Berlin. Now, Galerie Springer, artists produced their first fashion spread in 27 years with Berlin, is opening the exhibition At the Streams, highlighting Frankfurter Allgemeine Magazin. It is a throwback to the artists’ a new and previously unpublished series. It marks the EMOP early days, when they earned money with fashion photogra(European Month of Photography 2020) – Germany’s larg- phy. “We often alluded to elements of the GDR in these comest festival dedicated to the production of lens-based media. missions, taking models onto the street, taking very serious For this series, both photographers toured Europe’s major portraits,” they explained. “Some of these never got printed rivers and streams – the Elbe, Rhine/Waal, Danube, Po and due to our wider motives. Our portrayals of women did not Volga – considering their social, ecological, political, eco- correspond to the state ideals. Those in charge wanted to see nomic and historical significance. These emotionally power- the models looking more optimistic.” The series – which is part of Galerie Springer’s exhibition – ful images depict scenes of life on waterways, using portraits and architectural structures to tell authentic stories. “We do was produced at a small location on the Elbe riverbank and not stage any of our pictures,” Ute Mahler and Werner Mahler retains much of their signature style. The monochrome comhave said. “We start with a documentary approach and show, positions were made using a large format camera and depict through subjective photographs, what we have found. In this models exploring and engaging with the landscape. Young way, we discover a sense of reality. It is our reality, however. people stand outside old caravans or gather around outdoor dining tables. Models find pathways to the river, an intriguing History becomes tangible when it’s about real people.” In these images, groups of people gather on the banks, counterpoint to the documentary shots, with crows hovering enjoying a summer’s day or evening bonfire. The artists atop telephone poles and children running into the distance. began the project, which is captured entirely in analogue This new and unusual collection overlaps in many ways with black-and-white, at the Elbe, the Rhine and the Danube At the Streams: highlighting the depth, complexity, longevity in Bulgaria in 2019. The Po followed in autumn, and, in and range of Ute Mahler and Werner Mahler’s oeuvre.

14 Aesthetica

“For this series, both photographers toured Europe's major rivers and streams – the Elbe, Rhine/Waal, Danube, Po and Volga – considering their social, ecological, political, economic and historical significance.”

At the Streams Galerie Springer, Berlin Until 30 January galeriespringer.de

Image as Transformation DAWOUD BEY: AN AMERICAN PROJECT

“Just make work that you believe matters. Audiences have the potential to go back out into the world with new information, and a transformed world view. This may sound like an ambitious agenda, but it is the only agenda.”

Dawoud Bey: An American Project High Museum, Atlanta 12 December - 14 March high.org

Dawoud Bey, A Couple in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, NY (detail), 1990, courtesy the artist and Sean Kelly Gallery, Stephen Daiter Gallery, and Rena Bransten Gallery. © Dawoud Bey.

Dawoud Bey was born in 1953 in the borough of Queens, Class Pictures – striking, large-scale colour portraits of high New York City. Now a world-renowned photographer, he first school students, shown alongside stories and notes written began to develop an interest in images as a teenager, receiv- by the subjects. He continued this project across the USA, foing a camera from his godmother in 1968. The following year, cusing on teenagers from a wide range of economic, social he saw Harlem on My Mind at The Metropolitan Museum of and ethnic backgrounds. It gave them space to reveal their Art – an exhibition widely criticised for its failure to include a thoughts, fears and dreams – challenging stereotypes of adolescence. “Bey’s portraits are remarkable for their keen significant number of artworks by African Americans. Bey was inspired to develop a new documentary project sensitivity and for how they elicit and honour their subjects’ about Harlem, and took to the streets, producing portraits sense of self, which is partly an outcome of the artist’s colwith residents from the historic neighbourhood. The series laborative practice,” notes Sarah Kennel, the High’s Donald premiered at the Studio Museum in 1979, when Bey was just and Marilyn Keough Family Curator of Photography. The retrospective also includes several poignant bodies 26 years old. “I wanted to make images that contributed to the conversation about Harlem in visual culture,” Bey writes of work exploring African American history and collective in On Photographing People and Communities, published by memory. The Birmingham Project, for example, was created Aperture in 2019. “If you’re serious about learning your art in 2012 to remember those killed in the 1963 bombing of form, it’s important to learn about the history of the subject.” the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. The Four decades later, Bey continues to create powerful and pictures, and an accompanying video, are stirring reminders tender photographs that portray a diversity of African Ameri- of lost lives – and the enduring effects of systemic racism. can stories and experiences. Now, the High Museum of Art, An American Project highlights Bey’s powerful and memoAtlanta, presents a full career retrospective – spanning a rable engagement with community, history and place. He larger portfolio of work from early pieces in 1970s Harlem writes to a new generation of artists: “Just make work that you to his most recent landscape series shot in 2017, which reim- believe matters and that has the capacity to transform. Audiagined the sites of the Underground Railroad in Ohio. ences have the potential to go back out into the world with After honing his skills in street photography, Bey moved new information, and a transformed world view. This may towards the studio. By the early 2000s, Bey was making sound like an ambitious agenda, but it is the only agenda.”

Aesthetica 15

Gregory Crewdson, Alone Street (2018-2019). Tirage pigmentaire monté sur Dibond / Archival pigment print mounted to Dibond. 127 x 225.80 cm – 50 x 88 x 7/8 in. ©Courtesy Templon, Paris – Brussels.

news

States of Disillusion AN ECLIPSE OF MOTHS Compared to previous series, including Cathedral of the “I want the viewer to “I have been making pictures in the same general area in western Massachusetts for 25 years now. I drive around and Pines (2013/2014), this new work pans further outwards, interpret their own around in my car, and when a location is right, I just know. I looking at the American landscape through its expansive meaning. The figures am very familiar, in particular, with Pittsfield, MA, and have geography and polarised perspectives. Crewdson notes: “I are often caught in a favourite spots that I like to scout for pictures. I have been made all the Cathedral of the Pines pictures in very remote state of contemplation fascinated with one taxi depot in particular for years, and the locations. That series was more intimate, and had a particular or longing or a search neighbourhoods that surround it. There's a certain kind of focus on nature: the relationship between exterior and inte- for meaning, but I architecture and feeling there that I am drawn to. These pic- rior spaces, dislocation and longing. Some of those themes hope that there is also tures were all made essentially within a small geographical carry into An Eclipse of Moths, but here I was more interested a feeling of optimism, area.” Gregory Crewdson (b. 1962) has been internationally in the urban landscape and placing smaller figures within a redemption and some acclaimed for his unique style – combining documentary vaster view. These prints are larger – and more panoramic – sort of transcendence.” voyeurism with a lustrous vision of contemporary life. He is a to emphasise that relationship between the characters and master of conceptual narratives played out within the every- the emptied-out settings that surround them.” Though these works are filled with inertia and disillusion, day, often taking domestic settings as a focus. His latest series, An Eclipse of Moths, comprises 16 images shot in the middle of health and political crises with the 2020 shot over the last two years, ruminating around downed presidential campaign in full swing, Crewdson is keen to state streetlights, abandoned baby carriages and decommissioned that the photographs were not made with any overt social carnival rides. These outdoor scenes, in post-industrial New or political commentary in mind. However, he recognises England, offer room for a cast of classic, haunted characters – his work is, at least, indirectly influenced by the state of full of equal parts yearning and ennui, which the title reflects: the world. He explains: “I think I see this influence more in “The name comes from a real term for a grouping of moths retrospect, rather than a real intention at the time. However, An Eclipse of Moths that are drawn to a light source. I liked that metaphor in terms I want the viewer to interpret their own meaning. The figures Galerie Templon, Paris of the figures in the pictures, being drawn to street lamps and are often caught in a state of contemplation and longing, or Until 23 January porch lights. Like moths, they are attempting to use the lights a search for meaning, but I hope that there is also a feeling of optimism, redemption and some sort of transcendence.” to find their way in the midst of feeling lost, or disoriented.” templon.com

16 Aesthetica

Proximity and Vulnerability I KNOW HOW FURIOUSLY YOUR HEART IS BEATING

Sonya and Dombrovsky, Odessa, 2018 © Alec Soth / Magnum Photos.

Alec Soth (b. 1969) is widely recognised as a chronicler of spaces. From then on, he became deeply immersed in the “For this series, Soth life on the margins. His breakthrough into the industry came inner worlds of others: “In order to try and access these lives, worked at the sitters' homes with a slow as a Magnum photographer with the 2004 series Sleeping by I made all of the photographs within interior spaces.” Unlike many of Soth’s previous visual narratives, the choice large-format camera, the Mississippi – a collection of images documenting various of geographical location was not preconceived, but the result almost exclusively people and places across the southern state. As he travelled, he captured the often-overlooked elements of a series of chance encounters and a fully-fledged embrace using natural light. It of life in the USA, recording an eclectic mix of subjects, from of spontaneity. “Whilst these rooms often exist in far-flung was a laborious, timeempty gas stations at night to abandoned flags and furniture places, it’s only to emphasise that these pictures aren’t about consuming approach scattered along the riverbanks. Soth’s most recent project, any place in particular. Whether a picture is made in Odessa that required subjects I Know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating, marks a change or Minneapolis, my goal was the same: to simply spend time to remain still for extended periods.” of direction. The body of work, which is currently on view at in the presence of another beating heart.” In 2020, the need for human contact has been at the foreFoam Amsterdam, is vastly more intimate – comprising close front of global conversation and personal emotions. A desire portraits accompanied by still lifes of personal belongings. Soth explains: “After the publication of my last book – for connection is a theme that runs throughout Soth’s portwhich was about social life in America – I went through a folio, with windows and doors appearing like portals between long period of rethinking my creative process. For over a year isolated spaces and potential connection beyond; from priI stopped travelling. I barely took any pictures at all. When I vate to public. For this series, he worked at the sitters’ homes returned to photography, I wanted to strip the medium down with a slow large-format camera, almost exclusively using to its primary elements. Rather than trying to make some natural light. It was a laborious, time-consuming approach sort of epic narrative, I wanted to simply spend time looking that required subjects to remain still for extended periods. I Know How Furiously The resulting images close the distance between subject and Your Heart is Beating at other people and briefly glimpse their interior life.” The starting point was a portrait Soth made in 2017 of the voyeur, drawing attention the tension and proximity between Foam Amsterdam then-97-year-old choreographer Anna Halprin in her home them. I Know How Furiously Your Heart Is Beating is a poetic Until 6 December in California. It sparked an interest in focusing on individuals series filled with vulnerability and honesty. The portraits will and the intricacies of their private settings and domestic hold your gaze: holding a mirror to us, as we are, when alone. foam.org

Aesthetica 17

Mary Ellen Mark, (detail), Lakeasha and Takeasha Edwards, 21 years old, Lakeasha older by 5 minutes, 2002. Large-format Polaroid. Collection of Cam and Wanda Garner. Copyright: Estate of Mary Ellen Mark, Courtesy: Howard Greenberg Gallery.

news

Beyond Appearances MARY ELLEN MARK: TWINS Over the summers of 2001 and 2002, Mary Ellen Mark The camera is enormous and was wheeled into position. The “The interviews (1940-2015) brought a team of assistants and a large- conspicuous nature of this contraption eliminates any of the demonstrate format Polaroid camera to Twinsburg, Ohio, for the annual candid spontaneity of the more traditional Polaroid snap- a diversity of Twins Days Festival. The resulting series captures the physi- shots most of us are used to. It is well-suited to formal, posed experiences and cal similarity, and subtle differences, of identical twins. Cory portraits. The cool, calm atmosphere belies the hot, frenzied outlooks. When we take time to truly Woodall, Assistant Curator at The San Diego Museum of Art atmosphere of the festival in the midst of summer.” The featured image depicts Lakeasha and Takeasha Ed- consider each other, (SDMA), explains: “Mark engaged the twins in conversation, getting to know them in the short time they had together wards, both 21 years old (Takeasha older by five minutes.) we find that we during the photoshoot. She worked with them in determin- The portrait is confident and assured – both twins taking a cannot always trust ing their poses and facial expressions. Some are depicted mirror-image gesture. The minute shifts in stature and outfit our assumptions and goofing around, whilst others embrace, or are straight-faced. draw the eye: Lakeasha wears multiple necklaces; Takeasha that it is rewarding These choices help to communicate the sitters’ personalities several rings on her hands. Lakeasha holds her feet further to take a closer look.” and what image they wanted to represent themselves: light- apart; Takeasha pivots her feet closer together, pointing her hearted, loving or self-controlled. Later, after the photo- hip further outwards – towards her sister. Beyond these intriguing compositional nuances, Mark’s shoots had occurred, Mark conducted phone interviews with the twins to better understand their experiences and attitudes. process – both formally and conceptually – draws attention to the idiosyncrasies of the portraits, drawing on the Polaroid Snippets from these interviews are included.” At SDMA, the works are installed in groups based on subject, print as a unique object. This sense of individuality is imporstyle and theme. The lack of background places the viewers’ tant for SDMA as it brings the show into 2020 dialogues. focus entirely on the sitters (or standers). The only contex- Woodall explains: “This exhibition allows us to consider that Mary Ellen Mark: Twins tual clues come from the poses, expressions and clothes, despite appearances, no two people, or types of people, are The San Diego which were chosen independently. “Mark wanted to capture ever exactly the same. The interviews also demonstrate a di- Museum of Art the twins as themselves, not necessarily in the context of the versity of experiences and outlooks. When we take the time to Until 7 March fair. She realised the best way to present the pristine details truly consider each other, we find that we cannot always trust was with a highly specialised large-format Polaroid camera. our assumptions and that it is rewarding to take a closer look.” sdmart.org

18 Aesthetica

Discovery and Documentation UNEARTHED: PHOTOGRAPHY'S ROOTS

Charles Jones, Broccoli Leamington, c.1895-1910, © Sean Sexton, Photo copyright Dulwich Picture Gallery.

“Since the 1800s, photography has gone from being an study and share an understanding of nature’s “architecture.” “At times like this, Moving into the 21st century, Richard Learoyd's (b. 1966) it's important to abstract concept to an integral part of our lives. Now, the lines between documentary and fantasy have never been camera-obscura still lifes are made using antiquated pro- remember that we so blurred.” Unearthed looks at the relationship between cesses. The compositions are pale and melancholy, with are nature too; human beings and nature, as told through the lens. Curator flowers wilting on wooden plinths in front of pallid grey we have endured. and Creative Producer, Alexander Moore, explains: “For the backgrounds. Meanwhile, Welsh artist Helen Sear's (b. 1955) Difficult choices will first photography exhibition here at Dulwich Picture Gallery Wildflower Arrangement comprises multiple “portraits” of the undoubtedly have to it was important to make a 200-year narrative accessible. The Daucus Carota. Pictured against an opulent blood red fabric, be made in the coming show is chronological; the rooms mirror certain movements.” the flower is carefully poised, referencing magic realism and years and I hope the It begins with the camera’s invention in 1840, highlighting surrealism, whilst adopting Elizabethan and Stuart portrai- preservation of both some of the first known Victorian images by William Henry ture. Mat Collishaw’s (b. 1966) Auto-Immolation is emotive, nature and the arts Fox Talbot (1800-1877). “In general terms, photography as videos of burning orchids are trapped within Gothic arches. will be on the agenda.” was considered more of a science in Victorian times, but Collishaw taps into ancient religious concepts – combining Fox Talbot’s obsession stemmed from his frustration as an LED technology with sacred ideals to shock and captivate. artist. Rather than becoming one then the other, I prefer These are just some of the 41 practitioners included in Unthe idea that photography has, and always will be, both a earthed – a seminal show intended to offer inspiration when science and an art.” This early duality between expression we perhaps need it most. Moore continues: “I do want the and investigation can also be seen in by Anna Atkin’s (1799- exhibition to provide hope. Most of the species have existed 1871) cyanotypes: camera-less photograms of algae. through wars, depressions, diseases and wider corruption. At Unearthed: The advent of the camera allowed for quick documentation times like this, it’s important to remember that we are nature Photography's Roots of the landscape, making it an important tool. At the centre of too; we have endured. However, we must also consider our Dulwich Picture Gallery, Unearthed is Japanese inventor Ogawa Kazumasa, who cre- priorities. Difficult choices will undoubtedly have to be made London, Dates TBC. ated colourful photographs 30 years before the discovery of in the coming years and I hope that the preservation of both colour film. Other innovators include Karl Blossfeldt (1865- nature and the arts will be on the agenda. It is these things dulwichpicture 1932), who captured close-up views of plant specimens to that have brought us through difficult times in the past.” gallery.org.uk

Aesthetica 19

art

10 to See RECOMMENDED EXHIBITIONS THIS SEASON

Though current restrictions differ across the world, with some shows only feasible to view digitally, our round-up considers some of today's most hard-hitting topics from the changing role of the curator to the lack of racial equality, even as we move into 2021.

Scenarios

Aspen Art Museum | Until 4 April

aspenartmuseum.org Can a photograph be an abstraction? This is the question Barbara Kasten (b. 1936) has been asking for over 40 years. Influenced by Constructivism, the Bauhaus School and László Moholy-Nagy, the Chicago-based artist is best known for work that plays with geometric shapes, light and colour. Scenarios, a new show at Aspen Art Museum, draws on a recent series of non-photographic works, titled Progressions. The exhibition is immersive: audiences are encouraged to approach, walk around, and examine the pieces from all angles.

Kim Lim

Hyperborea

Tate Britain, London | Until 5 March

tate.org “Being ‘female’ and ‘foreign’ was never a problem as a student – later, I realised that there was a difference; but what was important in the end was what I did and not where I came from.” Kim Lim (1936-1997) was a Singaporean-British sculptor and printmaker of Chinese descent. Lim experienced a great deal of racial prejudice and gender inequality throughout her 40year career. She responded by creating a unique visual language: an attention to curve, line and surface made her a key figure in the minimalist movement. Tate celebrates her life work.

The Photographers' Gallery, London | Until 24 January

thephotographersgallery.org.uk Evgenia Arbugaeva (b. 1985) is an award-winning photographer who grew up in a secluded port city on the shore of the Laptev Sea, Russia. Now based in London, the artist remains connected to her birthplace, recording the remote landscapes of the Russian Arctic. The Photographers’ Gallery presents four visual stories connected to real human experiences. These include images of Dikson, a derelict ghost town illuminated by the Aurora Borealis, and the Chukchi community, which continues to uphold traditions from their ancestors.

Thinking of You. I Mean Me. I Mean You. The Art Institute of Chicago | Until 14 February

artic.edu Barbara Kruger (b. 1945) is a searing critic of popular culture. She uses bold graphics, sharp contrasts and direct statements to expose the power dynamics that influence us, from the construction of our identities to the information we consume. Kruger’s rigorous interrogation of stereotypes, advertisements and slogans are imbued with humour, anger, curiosity and empathy. The Art Institute of Chicago re-acquaints audiences with a dynamic and ground-breaking voice, which is just as courageous today as it was in the early 1980s.

Street. Life. Photography Fotomuseum Winterthur | Until 10 January

fotomuseum.ch How has urban life changed in the last 70 years? To what extent has our relationship with public spaces been altered since the rise of social media, at the hands of gentrification and homogenisation? Fotomuseum Winterthur invites viewers to take a journey through 220 images, exploring a simultaneous sense of proximity and distance. Crowds are at once anonymous and inherently visible – individuals lost in the bustle and blur of activity. Over 36 photographers capture the spectacle, speed and drama of metropolitan landscapes.

20 Aesthetica

Aesthetica 21

22 Aesthetica

Night Into Day Fondation Cartier, Paris | Until 7 March

fondationcartier.com “As an artist, I think about the effort, desire and continual longing to make meaning of the world around us through materials – to try and locate a kind of wonder, but also a kind of futility that lies in that very fragile pursuit.” Sarah Sze’s (b. 1969) expansive installations combine film, architecture and sculpture. For a solo show at Fondation Cartier, Paris, Sze considers the sensory and psychological repercussions of mass media dissemination: how digital images change and fragment our understanding of objects, time and memory.

Waterfalls Flowers Gallery, London | Until 9 January

flowersgallery.com For over four decades, South Korean artist Boomoon (b. 1955) has produced large format images focusing on the infinite and ungovernable presence of nature. Flowers Gallery displays a series of photographs portraying a waterfall in Skógafoss, Iceland. The tightly cropped compositions – devoid of all other context – draw the viewer’s focus to the abstract beauty of water rippling downwards, shape-shifting and moving with uncontrollable force. Boomoon notes: “The water keeps falling self-recursively, aimlessly and meaninglessly.”

Lessons of the Hour

McEvoy Foundation for the Arts, San Francisco | Until 13 March

mcevoyarts.org Isaac Julien’s (b. 1960) Lessons of the Hour is a poetic meditation on the life and times of Frederick Douglass (1818-1895) – a visionary African American writer, abolitionist and a freed slave, who was also the most photographed man of the 19th century. The show's centrepiece is a multi-screen film installation, which re-imagines the life of a man who struggled for equality as a global citizen. Julien reflects, heartbreakingly, that there are lessons yet to be learned, and the effects of systemic racism are still felt in 2020.

JR: Chronicles Saatchi Gallery, London | 3 December - 21 March

saatchigallery.com JR (b. 1983) is a TED prize-winner, an Oscar-nominated filmmaker named one of TIME’s 100 most influential people in 2018 – a street artist whose identity is unconfirmed. He has received global acclaim for bringing together diverse groups, creating dialogues around women’s rights, immigration and gun control. JR photographs individuals and pastes the images, sometimes illegally, in spaces reserved for advertisements. Saatchi demonstrates how JR has expanded the meaning of public art through increased visibility and agency.

Infinite Identities Huis Marseille, Amsterdam | Unti 28 February

huismarseille.nl Infinite Identities: Photography in the Age of Sharing presents the work of eight artists who use Instagram to develop and communicate ideas surrounding their practice. The exhibition demonstrates the power and potential of social media to expand beyond the gallery walls into a virtual, accessible realm. Huis Marseille asks topical questions: How is the internet going to change long-standing museum processes in the future? How did the pandemic bring about new digital bubbles of inspiration? What role might the curator play in 2021 and beyond?

1. Barbara Kasten, Crossover (Düsseldorf) 2016. Installation view of Less is a Bore at K10 Arthena Foundation, Düsseldorf, Germany Image courtesy the artist and Bortolami, New York; Thomas Dane Gallery, London; Kadel Willborn, Düsseldorf. 2. Photograph of Kim Lim at work at her studio, London, 1966. Courtesy of Turnbull Studio. 3. From the series Dikson. © Evgenia Arbugaeva. Courtesy the artist and The Photographers’ Gallery. 4. Barbara Kruger, Untitled (Forever), 2017. Digital print on vinyl wallpaper. Dimensions variable. Amorepacific Museum of Art, Seoul. Installation views: Sprueth Magers, Berlin, 2017-2018. 5. Natan Dvir, Juicy Couture 01, from the series Coming Soon, 2008-2014 © Natan Dvir . 6. Sarah Sze, Slice, 2018. Mixed media, wood, stainless, steel, acrylic, video projectors, archival pigment prints, ceramic and tape. Dimensions Variable © Sarah Sze. Photo Credit: Sarah Sze Studio. 7. Waterfall #7803, 2017, Archival pigment print . © Boomoon, Courtesy of Flowers Gallery. 8. Isaac Julien, The North Star (Lessons of the Hour), 2019. Framed archival pigment print on Hahnemühle Photo Rag Baryta 315g paper mounted on aluminium. Courtesy of the artist, Jessica Silverman, San Francisco and Victoria Miro, London/Venice. 9. JR, The Chronicles of Clichy-Montfermeil, 2017 (detail). Duratrans prints, lightbox. © JR-ART.NET. JR: Chronicles is organised by the Brooklyn Museum. 10. Sub-saharan migrants wait to be rescued by aid workers of Spanish NGO Open Arms in the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday, July 25, 2017. © Santi Palacios.

Aesthetica 23

art

Archive and Montage Suzanne Moxhay MOXHAY'S COMPOSITE IMAGES ARE INSPIRED BY CINEMATIC WORLDS: BLURRING THE LINES BETWEEN INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR; PAST AND PRESENT; FACT AND FICTION.

Suzanne Moxhay’s (b. 1976) work developed out of an in- into the same plane. When I started making images, I took terest in the constructed domain of film, where natural and inspiration from these techniques. I deconstructed postcards artificial elements merge to immerse the viewer in a fictional and remade them on a tabletop in a three-dimensional way. world. She creates photomontages reminiscent of empty I then re-photographed them, and that became my method sets, uniting the exterior and the interior, drawing from an – introducing another layer of artifice. Postcards, inherently, archive of her own photographs, material collected from old present an idealised view, and I took this idea further. I’ve inmagazines and printed imagery. The audience is involved in corporated other methods into my work since, such as modthe construction of these visuals, which play with anomalies el-making, props, painting and digital manipulation. I like to of texture, surface, depth, scale, movement and architecture. create images that are ambiguous – that invite the viewer to Moxhay has exhibited widely, both nationally and interna- engage with the construction of the scene, in terms of how it tionally, and her work is held in many significant public and was made as much as the suggestion of narrative. private collections across the world, including the University of the Arts Collection, The Royal Academy of Arts, The Cooper A: Pluralities are an integral part of your process. What Union New York, the FSC, the Lodeveans Collection and is the function of layering textures and historical referOxford University. She has featured in numerous publications ences beyond the aesthetics of the composition? including The Guardian, a-n Magazine and Art World Magazine, SM: Working with montage requires a particular way of thinkand has been profiled on the BBC Culture Show. She was also ing. Even if you have some idea of the direction you want to go in, you inevitably have to be guided by the material. I shortlisted for the Aesthetica Art Prize in 2016. originally used old magazines, but nowadays I predominantA: You often use a combination of methods – including ly use my own photographs. I have built up a large archive painting, photography and model-making. How did you and I look for connections across this collection. These can develop each of these techniques individually, and how be formal – like following a path of light from one frame to another – or conceptual, based on the subject matter. do they come together to inform your practice today? SM: I’ve always been fascinated by the artifice of cinema, where you are often looking at a composite. In old films this A: Why did you pursue photography, not filmmaking? is particularly apparent; the backdrops are clearly paintings; SM: Of course, a film unfolds over time unlike a still image. cityscapes are actually models made on the miniature scale. However, film borrows a lot from painting in terms of lighting, The camera has the effect of flattening out differences be- tone and composition. It is this crossover that intrigues me. tween these forms of representation – bringing everything I always found it interesting that after watching a film I’d

24 Aesthetica

Aesthetica 25

26 Aesthetica

Suzanne Moxhay, Palms (2019). Archival Pigment Print. Courtesy of the artist.

“The attic has been a source of idea generation as it has been left virtually untouched for decades. It contains a series of unusually shaped and dilapidated rooms. I've been inspired by its decoration, such as layers of old wallpaper. ”

Previous Page: Suzanne Moxhay, Hybrid (2019). Archival Pigment Print. Courtesy of the artist. Left: Suzanne Moxhay, Casement (2017). Archival Pigment Print. Courtesy of the artist.

often be left with the impression of seeing certain pictures, but then on re-watching, I realised they were never there. I used to think that stills were taken directly from the film, but actually they are set up separately, like tableaux which are able to communicate more of the story within a single frame. I mirror this process: constructing scenes that are suggestive but fairly tenuous, allowing the viewer to bring their own interpretation. I do not include people in the scenes because this would disrupt the emptiness and openness; it might hinder the space in which the imagination unfolds. A: In a world ruled by constant information overload, news headlines, polarised politics and notifications, do your images deliberately lean into solitude or serenity? What value is there in the sensation of emptiness? SM: I want to encourage viewers to look slowly, rather than presenting something that can be read, seen or digested instantly. This goes against the grain of the way we generally consume photography today. My spaces are empty, but there is a lot of detail, which is revealed gradually. I often include elements like floating leaves or pieces of paper, which somehow makes the space visible – almost solid. Perhaps this does produce a feeling of serenity, and it reflects the process when I’m in the studio: quite cut off from the world. It takes me a long time to produce work, and I think that slow process comes across in the final pieces. However, there is also a sense of unease within these suspended moments. A: Your most recent series, Conservatory, includes staged scenes where patches of 18th and 19th century decoration still remain. How did you find these locations? How

much do these settings dictate the final composite? SM: I am lucky to have a studio in an old building – a Georgian mansion in South London – where I often set up scenes. The attic has been a source of idea generation as it has been left virtually untouched for decades. It contains a series of unusually shaped and dilapidated rooms. I’ve been inspired by their curious objects and decoration, such as layers of old wallpaper which are each representative of different eras. A: In the Victorian era, floral wallpaper and terrariums were brought into the home in an attempt to reconnect with nature in a world that was going through rapid industrialisation into urbanism and so-called “progress.” How do you explore the representation of nature in the domestic space and our changing relationship with it? SM: I remember reading a short story by Thomas Pynchon called Entropy (1960), in which the main character creates a tropical microclimate in his apartment – a kind of alternative environment that is sealed off from the city. I saw a connection between this story and the Victorian interiors left peeling in my studio. In the 19th century, people brought the natural world inside the domestic space through floral decoration and the cultivation of exotic plants. These plants were available for the first time because they could be transported in their own miniature micro-climates, in the form of the terrarium or Wardian cases. As the world was becoming increasingly urbanised, people were recreating organic landscapes inside their living rooms in a highly controlled way. My images build on this idea, using a combination of living plants and renders like with the patterned wallpaper. There’s a play between “real” things and their representation. I’m

Aesthetica 27

Suzanne Moxhay, Double (2018). Archival Pigment Print. Courtesy of the artist.

also interested in the breakdown between interior and exterior – the foliage appears to have broken through the walls. A: You also interject symbols of the digital age – including electrical cables and screens – which take over the space. What is the relevance of these items; are you trying to provoke a sense of unease or anachronism? SM: The practice of bringing different objects into the same realm collapses the differences between them, for example the roots of plants and electrical cables. This is echoed in the way that natural objects and hardware can be associated through their lack of design: both of these are determined by their function, so they have an organic quality. They are also concealed in the fabric of the home, like wires in walls or under floors; they are not meant to be seen. Horror films often exploit the idea that there is a hidden, threatening presence within domestic spaces. The home becomes an uncanny and psychologically charged place. The most disturbing scenes often occur in the extremities of the house – in the basement or the attic. I play with these visual idioms. A: Though your practice is very much about creation, construction and rebuilding, there is a certain amount of disorder and decay in the final images – from crumbling steps, abandoned plastic bottles, broken windows, graffiti and broken floorboards. Are you interested in presenting disarray and disorganisation in a new age very much defined by sanitation, power and control? SM: I don’t really think of my work as being about disorder or decay, though these themes are valuable. I depict things which are falling apart simply because this allows me to ex-

28 Aesthetica

plore all four corners of the composition and create anomalies within the image. It also reinforces the disintegration which exists formally in the texture – in the contrasting qualities of the source material I use. There is a relationship with ruins as a subject matter, but it’s more about the idea of the image itself falling apart or in the idea of producing a space that is awkward and does not quite fit together, ultimately because it has been built up from different visual fragments. A: In a year of lockdowns, nationalised tier systems and widespread curfews, the contrast between exterior and interior has been completely juxtaposed and exaggerated. How has your work been given a new sense of meaning, either literally or figuratively? Do you view the pieces differently now, or did they already touch on familiar tropes that have only become over-emphasised? SM: I have been examining the difference between inside and outside for some time. I often try to call attention to this boundary and complicate it. These contrasts could be literal: what’s inside a room is different to what’s outside through the window. However, I’m more concerned with the psychological dimension: of what we think of as being “inside” or “outside.” This boundary is not straightforward. Being in lockdown means that you can’t just go inside and be alone in your room, and you can’t just go outside to do what you'd normally do there, because resources have been taken away. It means that our definitions have to be reconfigured. What also complicates things is we’re now being connected to the outside world through images on-screen, rather than through actually being there, so there is a layer of representation that separates us, and in a sense, this encloses us.

Right: Suzanne Moxhay, Rockery (2019). Archival Pigment Print. Courtesy of the artist.

Words Kate Simpson

Suzanne Moxhay's work is on show at the Royal Academy, London, until 3 January. royalacademy.org.uk suzannemoxhay.com

Aesthetica 29

art

Cultural Examination Alia Ali

“I come from two countries that no longer exist: Yugoslavia and South Yemen. My parents are migrant linguists: speaking seven languages between them, they share only English. I grew up and moved around Sana’a, Sarajevo, Istanbul, Ho Chi Minh City, Wales, New Orleans, Los Angeles and Marrakech. As a female artist who exists on the border of identifying as a West Asian, Eastern European and US citizen, my work explores cultural binaries and challenges culturally sanctioned oppression.” The following images come from Alia Ali’s (b. 1985) ‫ ] ليس [ أنا‬// I AM [NOT] and BORDERLAND series: portraits swathed in fabrics from 11 regions across the world. Ali uses cloth to conceal the physical identities of the figures, whilst asking questions about how we define and separate through what we can or can’t see. She asks: What are the fabricated barriers in society that promote the idea of “us” and “them”? alia-ali.com.

BORDERLAND, series by Alia Ali (2017). Courtesy of Galerie Peter Sillem.

30 Aesthetica

Aesthetica 31

32 Aesthetica

BORDERLAND, series by Alia Ali (2017). Courtesy of Galerie Peter Sillem.

Aesthetica 33

BORDERLAND, series by Alia Ali (2017). Courtesy of Galerie Peter Sillem.

34 Aesthetica

BORDERLAND, series by Alia Ali (2017). Courtesy of Galerie Peter Sillem.

Aesthetica 35

‫ ] ليس [ أنا‬I AM [NOT] series by Alia Ali, (2018). Courtesy of Peter Sillem.

36 Aesthetica

BORDERLAND, series by Alia Ali (2017). Courtesy of Galerie Peter Sillem.

Aesthetica 37

BORDERLAND, series by Alia Ali (2017). Courtesy of Galerie Peter Sillem.

38 Aesthetica

BORDERLAND, Yemeni Series, by Alia Ali, (2019). Courtesy of Galerie Peter Sillem.

Aesthetica 39

BORDERLAND, series by Alia Ali (2017). Courtesy of Galerie Peter Sillem.

40 Aesthetica

BORDERLAND, series by Alia Ali (2017). Courtesy of Galerie Peter Sillem.

Aesthetica 41

BORDERLAND, Yemeni Series, by Alia Ali, (2019). Courtesy of Galerie Peter Sillem.

art

Focusing on the Detail Eugenia Falqui

Bangkok is Thailand’s cultural and commercial centre. In 2019, it was the world’s second most visited city. Year on year, there are approximately 22.78 million tourists, and on Instagram there are roughly the same amount of images tagged with #bangkok. Eugenia Falqui (b. 1993) breaks away from all this tourism, shooting the surreal, unexplored and often humorous sides of the city. She explains: “This is my take on a place that has been my home for two years. I am not Thai. I do not pretend that my images offer an insider’s look at the city, but I’m compelled to explore scenes often neglected in promotional images. There are no TripAdvisor-worthy compositions here; I strike a contrast with the temples that have been photographed a thousand times. I often wonder: if those popular attractions could speak, what would they say?” Falqui is the winner of the Aesthetica Next Generation Award, in partnership with London College of Communication. instagram.com/eugeniafalqui.

An orange rain jacket hangs in a room where the gatekeeper of a condominium usually sits. Due to COVID-19, gatekeepers are encouraged to sit outside instead. Image courtesy Eugenia Falqui. From the Bangkok Dreaming series.

42 Aesthetica

Aesthetica 43

44 Aesthetica

8 March 2020. Closed rolling shutter of a shop in Chinatown during the COVID-19 spread. Image courtesy Eugenia Falqui. From the Bangkok Dreaming series.

Aesthetica 45

A green wall painted in the height of the pandemic in April 2020. Image courtesy Eugenia Falqui. From the Bangkok Dreaming series.

46 Aesthetica

A red tiny chair in the sun with red cups in a tray on it. Image courtesy Eugenia Falqui. From the Bangkok Dreaming series.

Aesthetica 47

A plant casting its shadow on a closed yellow rolling shutter of a shop in Chinatown area. Image courtesy Eugenia Falqui. From the Bangkok Dreaming series.

48 Aesthetica

A green bush in the Saranrom park close to the Royal Grand Palace. Image courtesy Eugenia Falqui. From the Bangkok Dreaming series.

Aesthetica 49

A shop sign in the heart of Chinatown on a bright blue-sky background. Image courtesy Eugenia Falqui. From the Bangkok Dreaming series.

50 Aesthetica

A red pickup truck found in Soi Sukhumvit 15- Asok area. Image courtesy Eugenia Falqui. From the Bangkok Dreaming series.

Aesthetica 51

A parking lot exit sign in Asok area. Image courtesy Eugenia Falqui. From the Bangkok Dreaming series.

art

Altering the Blueprint Radical Architecture of the Future TODAY’S CREATIVE ARCHITECTS AREN’T JUST DESIGNING BUILDINGS, THEY’RE WORKING ACROSS VARIOUS DISCIPLINES TO GRAPPLE WITH ECOLOGICAL RESPONSIBILITY.

On a patch of scrubby hillside in western Spain is the Plasen- the physical and sensory world, or our perception of it. There are western precedents for Galilee’s radically excia Auditorium and Conference Center. It sits like an extraterrestrial landing capsule – a strange geomorphic play on panded understanding of design, from the counter-cultural the landscape. It emerges from the surroundings whilst look- firms of the 1960s – Archigram, Ant Farm – to the intermeing completely alien to them, making such light contact with dia ethos of 1910s-1920s Constructivism. But don’t call the work in her book modernist, Galilee warns (or post-modernthe ground that it seems it could take off any moment. Architecture critic and curator Beatrice Galilee (b. 1982) de- ist, or anti-modernist). “If it’s a reaction to modernism then scribes the building as “part chrysalis, part meteorite – an ex- that puts modernism at the centre, and that’s something I’m traordinary luminous centre designed by wrapping all of the trying to step away from to decolonise my thinking … Central functions of a theatre, a dance hall, an exhibition space and Europe doesn’t need to be so present in the discourse.” Her career shows a commitment to widening and democconference auditoriums into a tight ball.” Created by Spanish firm SelgasCano, the Plasencia Auditorium was designed ratising discussions and definitions of architectural practice to make as small a footprint as possible in every sense. Of that matches this aim, in particular her work from 2014 to the building’s 86,000-square-foot volume, only 4,300 feet 2019 as a curator at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New touch the ground, whilst the translucent “skin” – made of the York, where she initiated In Our Time: A Year of Architecture in durable, air-filled plastic ETFE – is self-cleaning and easy to a Day, an annual conference presenting the developments in install, barely adding any weight to construction and offer- the discipline. She now runs The World Around, a platform for three-dimensional design focused on the expertise of artists ing up to 45 per cent reductions in solar heat gain. The Plasencia Auditorium is one of 79 projects selected by and activists to solve social and environmental issues. This is not to say that the radical architecture Galilee is inGalilee for Radical Architecture of the Future, which maps out a bold route forward. “You could also call it ‘radical ways of terested in represents a bland, globally homogenous vision. thinking about architecture’”, she notes, a necessary qualifi- The work she showcases reveals a deep sensitivity to the parcation, given that, under Galilee’s stewardship, “architecture” ticularities of place and space, in a way which indicates just incorporates everything from game design to community how many cultures and locations Galilee has connected with activism, inhabitants including insects and data. “It’s provoca- as a writer and curator. Freddy Mamani’s New Andean Architive to think that all of these myriad disciplines have architec- tecture, for example, has transformed swathes of his adopted tural agency, but they all represent different ways of working hometown of El Alto, Bolivia, into a panorama of technicolwith space,” she says. What binds these endeavours together, our abstraction. Mamani’s designs have a vivid appeal that Galilee suggests, is their creative or critical intervention into easily crosses cultural boundaries, but they are rooted in

52 Aesthetica

Aesthetica 53

54 Aesthetica

Photo: Iwan Baan – Selgas Cano, Plasencia Auditorium and Congress Center, Plasencia, Spain.

“Another key quality of radical architecture is sustainability. Sometimes this means ensuring that buildings have a harmonious – rather than parasitic – relationship with local cultures and economies.”

Previous Page: Photo: Iwan Baan - Selgas Cano, Plasencia Auditorium and Congress Center, Plasencia, Spain. Left: Photo: Iwan Baan - Selgas Cano, Plasencia Auditorium and Congress Center, Plasencia, Spain.

the visual imagery of his Aymara people, a historically oppressed ethnic group that makes up a quarter of Bolivia’s population (and the majority of El Alto’s). Just as Mamani’s startling designs are the product of a profound connection to place, other designs offer futuristic variations on regional cultures. The Fuyang Cultural Complex, near the Chinese city of Hangzhou, was created by Amateur Architecture Studio using construction materials common in the nearby village of Wencun, including rammed earth and crushed rubble, and was inspired by the landscape paintings of a 14th century Yuan Dynasty artist. The bright limestone walls of the Palestinian Museum, in the West Bank city of Ramallah, are built on the ruins of fieldstone walls once used by local farmers, whilst the jet-black window shades and angular contours of the site respond to its shape through agriculture. It’s this kind of awareness of historical and social context that prevents designers from lapsing into a eurocentric mindset. In many cases, attention to the locale also means working directly with communities to improve their economic and social circumstances. Mamani’s first undertaking in El Alto was a cultural centre funded by micro-loans, whilst Amateur Architecture only agreed to build the complex at Fuyang if the regional government also funded the restoration of Wencun, which, like many remote Chinese villages, had experienced significant depopulation and fallen into disrepair as a result of China’s turbo-powered urbanisation. The Palestinian Museum – designed by Irish / German firm Heneghan Peng – is the base for a humanitarian group supporting Palestinian communities in the West Bank and Gaza strip, in addition to Lebanese refugee camps.

This relates to another key quality of radical architecture: sustainability. Sometimes this means ensuring that buildings have a harmonious – rather than parasitic – relationship with local cultures and economies, but the term also has a more obvious, ecological thrust. At the root of much radical architectural thinking is a concern with finding the most efficient, least exploitative way of using materials, energy and labour. This has led some practitioners away from building altogether – more towards the preservation and reuse of existing structures and materials. Opalis, for example, is an online directory of retailers trading in salvaged materials created by the Belgian firm Rotor DC to mitigate the wasteful effects of renovation and demolition. Rotor assists first-hand with the repurposing of materials such as tiles, window frames, concrete panels and steel pipes (the manufacture of concrete alone generates around eight per cent of global carbon dioxide emissions.) If forward-thinking designers are asking themselves if they must build at all, the scope of architecture becomes far more expansive than simply signing off on construction plans. Indeed, Interdisciplinarity is another thread that runs throughout Galilee’s methodology. Working with the lexicon of performance art as much as building design, the Mexican Firm Lab.Pro.Fab launches initiatives such as Aerial Domesticity, a “happening” in a Mexico City square that recreated the typical interior spaces of mass-housing schemes by placing them in transparent pods on cherry-pickers, giving viewers an insight into cramped living conditions. Meanwhile, Diller Scofidio + Renfro’s Mile-Long Opera utilised the unusual shape of New York’s High Line park, located on a former railway line, to stage an eight-night

Aesthetica 55

Photo: Iwan Baan - Selgas Cano, Plasencia Auditorium and Congress Center, Plasencia, Spain.

spectacle combining design, music and poetry. Composer David Lang and poets Anne Carson and Claudia Rankine helped the team to script and score the work, whose performers, stretched along the 2.5-kilometre length of the park, repeated sections of a libretto based on interviews with New Yorkers from a range of backgrounds. In other cases, an intermedia focus means retreating from physical space altogether. Many designers are now creating virtual worlds using technology which can be inhabited with as much sensory and emotional investment as any physical structure. Chinese artist Cao Fei, for example, used the immersive computer game Second Life to create her own online world, RMB City, a satirical shadow-realm crammed with the stereotypical features of modern China, from identikit skyscrapers to souvenirs and shopping malls. Based on a similar formal conceit but in a different spirit, production designer Hannah Beachler’s realisation of Wakanda, the fictional African home of Marvel super-hero Black Panther, is based on projections of how the visual cultures and economies of countries such as Senegal, Kenya and Uganda might have developed had they not been colonised. The Vault of Life, by Seoul-based firm Mass Studies, envisages a new ecology library and seed bank in the demilitarised zone between North and South Korea: which, because of the lack of human incursion, has become the unlikely home to a vast array of diverse wildlife. In fact, much “radical architecture” is now made for nonhuman life: from AI to animals. Given the urgency of the questions we face about our relationship with the non-human world, from labour automation to the ongoing mass extinction event, three-dimensional design that embod-

56 Aesthetica

ies more equitable ways of living alongside non-human life might be the most radical of all. Junya Ishigami’s Art Biotop Water Garden in Nasu, Japan, for example, is an artificial water meadow containing 318 trees uprooted from a nearby section of land to make space for a hotel. Threaded with 160 artificial ponds and intersecting pathways, surrounded by moss and wildflowers, and irrigated by a subterranean network of pipes, this wetland glade is a hyperreal artificial environment. However, it is also a natural landscape, with micro-habitats for insects and indigenous fauna. This space demonstrates how our intervention with ecosystems can offer preservation rather than destruction. So, how optimistic should we feel about the ability of architecture, in Galilee’s expanded sense, to solve the problems that it also exposes, with regards to the environment, economy and society as a whole? She is cautiously hopeful on this front: “In the past, people have turned to architects as civic and thought leaders, and I think that they can lead on these issues. Right now, it isn’t, but it could.” Galilee points to Eyal Weizman’s Forensic Architecture, which uses sophisticated technologies such as detailed three-dimensional modelling – alongside documentary research and interviews – to visualise human rights violations around the world, including violence committed by states, police forces, militaries and corporations. “Who could have imagined that architects would be on the forefront of thinking about human rights abuses and interstate conflicts. We’ve got some really good ideas.” Galilee’s methodology, at its best, can show us how to live in more sustainable, empathetic, site-specific ways – with a clearer sense of our responsibilities to the non-human world.

Right: Photo: Iwan Baan - Selgas Cano, Plasencia Auditorium and Congress Center, Plasencia, Spain.

Words Greg Thomas

Radical Architecture of the Future is published by Phaidon this January. phaidon.com

Aesthetica 57

art

Dynamic Framework Natasha Wilson

Los Angeles fashion photographer Natasha Wilson has a mutual passion for art and travel. These two interests come together in various shoots, which tap into the culture of a given location. Her process usually includes painting a blend of hues over the images in post-production, reducing the colour palette to exist in its own cohesive world. The following pages are filled with energy, using locations as the starting point for inspiration across styling, composition and camera angle. Painted yellow concrete pairs with tie-dye dresses; barbed wire fences connect with intertwined arms. Bright orange corrugated iron acts as a stark backdrop for crisp white styling. Wilson moves between storage containers and abandoned shop fronts, finding intrigue in assuming places. She has been commissioned by a range of high-profile clients including Grazia, Skullcandy, Adidas and Nike, amongst many others. IG: @natashawilson.co.

Photographer / Creative Director: Natasha Wilson. Model: Grant Uba. For: Adidas Superstar Campaign.

58 Aesthetica

Aesthetica 59

60 Aesthetica

Photographer / Creative Director: Natasha Wilson. Model: Jasmine Davis. For: Air to Be.

xxxxxxx

Aesthetica 61

62 Aesthetica

Aesthetica 63

Photographer / Creative Director: Natasha Wilson. Model: Grant Uba.. For: Adidas Superstar Campaign.

64 Aesthetica

Photographer / Creative Director: Natasha Wilson. Model: Jasmine Davis. For: Air to Be.

Aesthetica 65

66 Aesthetica

Aesthetica 67

Photographer / Creative Director: Natasha Wilson. Models: Grant Uba and Quin Saunders. For: Adidas Superstar Campaign.

68 Aesthetica

xxxxxx

Photographer / Creative Director: Natasha Wilson. Model: Jasmine Davis. For: Air to Be.

xxxxxxx

Aesthetica 69

art

Surreal Presentation Kate Theo

Fine Art. Surrealism. Fantasy. These are the pillars of Kate Theo’s (b. 1979) images, which are inspired by Brooke DiDonato’s (brookedidonato.com) uncanny female figures and the vivid worlds of Leta Sobierajski (letasobierajski.com). For Theo, photography is an instrument for self-discovery. She notes: “I depict the processes that are often going on in people’s minds: dealing with negativity, self-deprecation and being overwhelmed – especially in today’s climate. The scenes are only partially real; most of what is going on is left open to interpretation amongst shades of blue, red, yellow and green. The works, though minimal, are carefully composed. I allow room for audiences to perhaps find something of who they are and who they are not; what they like and what they don’t.” Beyond graphic yellow suns, black crescent moons and folded curtains, there are moments of sensitivity and playfulness in these unassuming compositions. instagram.com/katetheo79.

Kate Theo, Enigma (2020). Courtesy of the artist.

70 Aesthetica

Aesthetica 71

Kate Theo, Not Forget (2019). Courtesy of the artist.

72 Aesthetica

Kate Theo, Pride (2019). Courtesy of the artist.

Aesthetica 73

Kate Theo, Imitate (2020). Courtesy of the artist.

74 Aesthetica

Kate Theo, Everything Will Be Alright (2020). Courtesy of the artist.

Aesthetica 75

Kate Theo, Butterfly (2020). Courtesy of the artist.

76 Aesthetica

Kate Theo, Self-Ignorance (2020). Courtesy of the artist.

Aesthetica 77

Kate Theo, Contrast (2020). Courtesy of the artist.

78 Aesthetica

Kate Theo, Ordinary (2020). Courtesy of the artist.

Aesthetica 79

Kate Theo, Time to End Breast Cancer (2020). Courtesy of the artist.

80 Aesthetica

Kate Theo, Without Words (2019). Courtesy of the artist.

Aesthetica 81

art

Playing with Tradition Hassan Hajjaj HAJJAJ'S IMAGES DEMOCRATISE FASHION LABELS AND PATTERNS, BLENDING NORTH AFRICAN CULTURE WITH WESTERN ICONOGRAPHIES TO EXPLORE COMPLEX IDENTITIES.

Hassan Hajjaj (b. 1961) is a Moroccan-British photographer saw something in my work. Next thing I knew, she was making who has been named the “Andy Warhol of Marrakech.” Blend- me step into the art world – something I had never really ing the glossy aesthetic of fashion shoots with Moroccan tra- dreamt of doing. It might be why I always want to welcome dition and street culture, his bold, detailed images challenge people who do not usually attend exhibitions or galleries. culture-specific beliefs, predominantly western perceptions of the Hijab and female disempowerment in Islam. These al- A: You moved to Britain when you were 12 – in the 1970s luring, multi-layered compositions fuse contemporary North – and have since lived and worked between Morocco and African culture with familiar western iconography. They do the UK. How do you tease out the connections and conso through appropriation, subversion and adaption, blur- tradictions between these countries; your dual heritage? ring boundaries through contrasting patterns – from stacked HH: Moving to London ultimately gave me another persoup cans to Louis Vuitton prints. These eye-catching art- spective about where I came from. This has since been a works reflect the artist's neo-nomadic lifestyle and the per- driving force behind my work. I'll always remember the feeling of the technicolour film I'd left behind when I arrived in sonal relationships he has formed along the way. Hajjaj’s work is in the collections of prestigious institu- London. I got there on a grey day and people were weartions including Guggenheim, Abu Dhabi, UAE; MAXXI Na- ing quite dark, dull coloured clothes. It felt like a black and tional Museum, Rome; Museum of African Contemporary white movie. I come from blue skies, blue seas, colourful Art Al Maaden (MACAAL), Marrakech, Morocco; Los Ange- garments and markets. That initial contrast has since been les County Museum of Art (LACMA); Brooklyn Museum, a huge influence in my use, and understanding, of colour. New York; Newark Museum, New Jersey; Victoria and Albert Museum, London and The British Museum, London. He has A: How do you connect inspiration from the club, hip-hop exhibited at Somerset House, London; National Gallery of and reggae scenes of London as well as North African Victoria, Melbourne; and Saatchi Gallery, London. His most tradition – from the historic to the contemporary? recent exhibition, The Path, was a touring show commissioned HH: When I look at my images, I can see the journey I’ve taken: meeting great people who have agreed to be in my work and by New Art Exchange, Nottingham, curated by Ekow Eshun. enrich it. My first series was called Graffix from the Souk, and was a way of sharing where I came from to my London friends. A: Did you always plan to be an artist? HH: It was totally accidental. I never really planned to be an I always enjoyed our exchanges of food: Caribbean, Indian, artist. I've always taken photos for pleasure, but I guess the Brazilian. I experienced new forms of music and culture which turning point was meeting Rose Issa, who had a gallery and broadened my horizons, and it's interesting to see that it did

82 Aesthetica

Aesthetica 83

84 Aesthetica

Dotted Peace, framed photography by ©Hassan Hajjaj, 2000/1421.

“I wanted my photos to have finished frames – borders which would help to 'complete' them. Aesthetically, it comprises repeated motifs like Zellige patterns and local products in Moorish design.”

Previous Page: Pois Bleu, framed photography by ©Hassan Hajjaj, 2000/1421. Left: Three Women, framed photography by ©Hassan Hajjaj, 2002/1423.

not dilute, but expand, my identity. Moroccan culture is very generous and hospitable in its nature, and through my installation I want to share this inherited generosity and hospitality. A: You move between portraiture, installation, sculpture, and performance. How would you define your images? Do you think they sit within a particular style or genre? HH: I offer a specific kind of aesthetic and method which has been inspired by studio photographers like Seydou Keïta or Malick Sidibé – but doing it my own way. For me, it’s all in the subtlety of layering. I also find that there's a limit to photography, so I extend the images further into videos, in which I allow playfulness and humour to take hold. A: The images are also framed, often by found items such as canned vegetables, Sprite cans and tomato soup tins, which clash against the patterned clothing. How do these items speak to the photographs – formally, thematically and compositionally? How do you decide which items to use? Where do you source them from and is this important in terms of how they tap into your identity? HH: The idea to use objects as frameworks came from my early work in the 1990s. I wanted my photos to have finished frames – borders which would help to “complete” them. Aesthetically, it comprises using repeated motifs like Zellige patterns – handmade mosaic tiles – and using local products in Moorish design. Sadly, I often find that lots of people see the tin cans before the image itself, but, in a way, it has made them universally accessible – it has allowed my work to be for everyone, to see something familiar as a pathway into the photograph. There are a lot of iconographies that different

people can relate to in different ways. However, these frames go beyond the aesthetics and add nuances. The items I choose indicate more information about the sitter as well: what they are like, where they are form or what they do for a living. A: You often adopt and appropriate well-known logos, from camouflage print to Louis Vuitton patterns, as well as signs and symbols from around the world that often appear in advertising and mass media. How do you draw attention to these icons to subvert eurocentric ideas? HH: I've always loved graphics, and I wore some of these prints when I was young (not the real brands, of course.) When you go to the Souk in Morocco there are a lot of brands. These are important, but the sellers aren’t malicious or scheming in what they sell. They don't pretend that the clothes are the real thing and they’re not – they’re not even a copy. The sellers are just trying to make these patterns accessible – to sell ideas from brands that weren’t made for us. I carry this idea into my work by democratising logos. A: How do you plan the colours and patterns within the images? How do you hope to draw the viewer’s eye, and to what? In an age filled with constant noise and information, how do these clashing textures feed into this, and provide exaggeration or subversion? HH: I use clashing colours because it makes me feel something. I remember reading, in a western magazine, that there are certain colours that don’t “go” together. I disagreed. One time I was on a shoot and I felt compelled to mix brown and blue. That was the point for me where I stopped thinking and started feeling intuitively. It seems to work for me.

Aesthetica 85

Kesh Angels, framed photography by ©Hassan Hajjaj, 2010/1431.

A: Dakka Marrakchia depicts women posing like fashion models on streets and rooftops, with designer clothing, heart-shaped sunglasses and mopeds. The images in this series often take a low angle, looking upwards at the figures. How are these works a deliberate rebuff of stereotypes of Islamic women as subjugated? Can you tell us more about the women that you shot? HH: When I made this body of work, I took pictures of friends around me who were henna artists, dancers and neighbours. Really, the series was a reaction to a French fashion shoot I had been on. They used Morocco as a backdrop, but they didn’t incorporate any real cultural aspect of the place. It was only a pretty background. So, I decided to re-create what I had in my mind: portraying local women and showcasing their real opinions and attitudes. This really reflected the kinds of women I grew up with: strong figures. I played with fashion and accessories to highlight and subvert stereotypes, whilst keeping it inherently Moroccan. Camo was big in fashion – referencing military pants and jackets – but there were no Djellabas with this print. I want to show that, even if our clothing looks "traditional", trends carry through to all parts of the world and are fed into all cultures and materials. A: In My Rockstars, you turn focus to British personalities, concentrating primarily on figures such as jazz musician Kamaal Williams, demonstrating Britain as dynamically diverse. You’ve also produced many portraits of international musicians and artists – including Billie Eilish, Cardi B and Madonna – bringing them into your unique aesthetic. To what extent do you feel that you disrupt the idea of hierarchy and celebrity through these portraits?

86 Aesthetica

HH: My Rockstars is a long, ongoing project, highlighting our commonalities and resisting these divisive times. It started with me shooting pictures of those who I deemed to be "rockstars" in my eyes. Eventually, this led to me photographing other well-known figures from across the world. However, this was not something I was initially looking at doing – I was really just trying to document popular culture in all its complexity and diversity. It’s very important to understand that the celebrities I have photographed are not integral to my practice, even though, of course, they are getting the most attention. This is a condition that's reflective of the world we live in, where notoriety is valued, and that’s inherently interesting to note. Hopefully we will find more of a balance in future and less of a weighted system between those known and unknown. In the meantime, please check out all of my Rockstars – this extends to those whom I define as celebrity. A: What, to you, is the definition of an artist? How do you see your role today? Is there something that you strive for when you embark on a new project or commission? HH: To remain true to myself is my first priority. I believe I'm here to bring certain aspects of culture and society forward. It's not my place to comment, but to show something in a new way. I love it when my photography creates debates. For example, I’m often referred to as the “Andy Warhol of Marrakech” in the press. This presents an intriguing question as to whether this comparison is relevant or not. Is it just easier to introduce a Moroccan artist in the western world in this way? With this framework? I don’t know, but there is a conversation to be had here. The veil was also a strong, controversial subject and I’m happy to see that it’s less so these days.

Right: Pois Poulet, framed photography by ©Hassan Hajjaj, 2000/1421.

Words Kate Simpson

instagram.com/ hassanhajjaj_larache. taymourgrahne.com.

Aesthetica 87

art

Searching for Intimacy Ismail Zaidy

“For me, photography is a family affair; we support each other in developing concepts. I shine a light on that subject, as well as the distance and lack of communication many of us experience with family members.” Ismail Zaidy (b. 1997) – known as L4artiste – was born and raised in Marrakech, Morocco. The 3aila series includes the photographer’s youngest brother, Othmane, and sister, Fatima, amongst a number of other unidentifiable characters. Connections, literal, emotional and conceptual, are integral to the work. Figures are gathered on rooftops and desert planes: tied, hidden or huddled together under folds of material. These compositions play with both proximity and distance, fluctuating between intimacy and estrangement. Zaidy’s creative process begins with gathering props from flea markets – including fabrics and Djellaba robes – before choreographing the figures, standing on sandy planes, against concrete or open skylines. instagram.com/l4artiste.

Courtesy of Ismail Zaidy – L4artiste.

88 Aesthetica

Aesthetica 89