Aesthetica Issue 87 by Aesthetica Magazine

Aesthetica

THE ART & CULTURE MAGAZINE

www.aestheticamagazine.com

Issue 87 February / March 2019

SEMINAL CONSTRUCTION

RESISTING STEREOTYPES

A SOCIAL CONTRIBUTION

Eamonn Doyle creates a visual map of Dublin through isolated imagery

Commemorating the impact of the Bauhaus through worldwide events

A Lagos-based fashion brand seeks to redefine our perception of gender

Architizer calls upon the public to highlight the year’s best buildings

UK £5.95 Europe €11.95 USA $15.49

RHYTHMS FROM THE CITY

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Welcome Editor’s Note

On the Cover Matias Alonso Revelli's work is awash with blues and oranges, documenting moments in the day that are never completely alike, whilst experimenting with pixellation and layering, moving the viewer into hallucinatory states. The images ruminate around open blue skylines. Instagram: @matialonsor (p. 114). Cover Image: Lucero. © Matias Alonso Revelli.

I saw a world population clock the other day. It exceeded seven billion and the counter was moving up and up, each second. It’s hard to imagine so many people, and it’s even harder to think of the clock stopping. What does this mean for the future? The impact that the human population has on the environment is overwhelming and action is needed to make positive change. What role does technology play in this and how can it help to create a brighter world? Society has been affected by the increase in devices and I believe as humans we are part of an evolutionary moment right now. Our lives have been accelerated and it’s important to take stock of what this means for generations to come. Inside this issue, we look at how Architizer is questioning the definition of what makes a successful building through collaborative practice, ecological impact and sustainability. Given that more people live in cities than rural areas globally, we need to access the importance that architecture plays in supporting social interaction. Lagos-based label Orange Culture is leading in creating fashion that disrupts gender roles but is also using sustainable production methods. It is empowering people in positive ways by reinvesting in their local community – driving the Nigerian fashion industry forward. Made in Dublin by Eamonn Doyle revisits Baudelaire’s flâneur through the ambiguity of the modern-day city. Finally, we celebrate 100 years of Bauhaus through a round-up of key events taking place worldwide, which are surveying the centenary of this art and design movement, and how its legacy is still felt today. In photography we present a range of practitioners – William Bunce, Uwe Langmann, Bethany Murray, François Aubret, Henri Prestes and May Parlar – who are using concept and style to create works which move between fine art, architecture, documentary and fashion. Matias Alonso Revelli, this issue’s cover photographer, questions the definition of an image, asking, is it all just pixels? Finally, Martin Parr’s Only Human opens at the National Portrait Gallery and the curator, Sabina Jaskot-Gill, gives us the last words. Cherie Federico

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contents

Art 20 Regular Features This edition covers shows at The Photographers’ Gallery, London; Melbourne Design Week; and Huis Marseille, Amsterdam, amongst others.

28 Rhythms from the City Eamonn Doyle’s latest monograph explores the Dublin landscape, depicting a sense of isolation, anonymity and musicality through its inhabitants.

34 Sculptural Arrangements William Bunce experiments with composition and visual cohesion, placing inanimate objects at an intersection between playfulness and restraint.

44 Drifting through Time The dreamy works of May Parlar centre around mysterious characters that remain shrouded by overgrown gardens and billowing white sheets.

56 Seminal Construction Institutions from across the globe come together to mark the centenary of the Bauhaus, charting its lasting legacy and timeless, minimal aesthetics.

62 Frozen Landforms Winter is a photographic series by Uwe Langmann that depicts sweeping winter topographies; blank terrains have little by way of human interruption.

72 Balanced Perspective François Aubret’s ambition is to surprise and elate the viewer – indicating both beauty and humour within seemingly mundane, everyday locations.

82 A Social Contribution Architizer calls upon the public to award the year’s best buildings, commending structures that have demonstrated wider ecological responsibility.

88 Desolate Environments The Perfect Darkness is an ongoing collection by Portuguese cinematographer and photographer Henri Prestes, shot in misty, secluded villages.

98 Physical Encounters Bethany Murray’s images present physicality as a language; limbs wrap around tables, windows and seats as if to further connect with interior planes.

108 Resisting Stereotypes Lagos-based Orange Culture attempts to rewrite the history of fashion and culture, calling gender roles into question through androgynous pieces.

114 Delicate Observation Utilising postproduction such as pixellation and layering, Matias Alonso Revelli documents moments in the day that are never truly alike.

Exhibitions

Film

Music

130 Gallery Reviews Including: Jeu de Paume, Paris; Somerset House, London; Hirshhorn, Washington; HackelBury Fine Art, London; Tate Liverpool and Westlicht, Vienna.

134 Poetic Physicality Camille Vidal-Naquet's latest, Sauvage, is a bold, intimate feature that explores the protagonists' bodies as sites of introspection and experience.

136 Electronic Counterparts Bayonne's latest album, entitled Drastic Measures, is available from City Slang – anthems thickly layered with a myriad of recording techniques.

Books

Artists’ Directory

Last Words

138 Spatial Narratives Norwegian architectural firm Snøhetta celebrates three decades of Scandinavian innovation with a sleek new publication titled Collective Intuition.

152 Inside This Issue The featured practitioners utilise many contrasts such as light and dark, interior and exterior, past and present – playing with viewer perception.

162 Martin Parr at NPG London Sabina Jaskot-Gill, curator at the National Portrait Gallery, discusses themes of British identity within Martin Parr's seminal exhibition: Only Human.

Aesthetica Magazine is trade marked worldwide. © Aesthetica Magazine Ltd 2019.

The Aesthetica Team: Editor: Cherie Federico Assistant Editor: Kate Simpson Digital Assistant: Eleanor Sutherland Staff Writer: David Martin

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Advertising Coordinator: Jeremy Appleyard Marketing Coordinator: Hannah Skidmore Artists’ Directory Coordinator: Katherine Smira

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Published by Cherie Federico and Dale Donley. Aesthetica Magazine PO Box 371, York, YO23 1WL, UK (0044) (0)844 568 2001

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Reviewers: Kyle Bryony, Paul Risker, James Mottram, Grace Caffyn, Verity Seward, Sarah Jilani, Lisa Moravec, Julius Pristauz, Rubén Cervantes Garrido, Julia Johnson, Olivia Hampton, Matt Swain.

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Installation view of Diminishing Elation by Geronimo presented by Hub Furniture and Hub General Store as part of the 2018 Melbourne Design Week. Photo: Eugene Hyland.

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Celebrating Ingenuity MELBOURNE DESIGN WEEK “How can design shape the future?” This is the thought leading the discussion at this year’s Melbourne Design Week (MDW). The international event is both an annual celebration and a practical demonstration of how a vibrant creative culture can function as a catalyst for business and technological developments. As society enters an unprecedented period of urbanisation, digitisation and population growth, both design and architecture hold a huge amount of potential for larger positive transformation, offering new ideas at the intersection of industry, politics, history, science, ecology and psychology, amongst others. Thus, innovation – of everyday objects or the built landscape – has the power to reshape the way we live, particularly at a time when the environmental impact of consumer culture is becoming ever more pressing. However, it also raises poignant questions about ethics and aesthetics: how do we balance the creation of something new, whilst ensuring that it contributes to society in a meaningful and responsible way? How can we produce items that are at once beautiful but also functional? How can we be working collaboratively to change the trajectory of the planet? These wide-ranging themes have encouraged the featured practitioners to situate their work in a context of historical and cultural awareness, reaching into the past to map where we’re heading together. Though these dialogues are far-

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reaching, the overarching question is: if design can shape “ Innovation – of the future, is it the best possible one, and for whom? everyday objects or A 10-day programme is presented by the National the built landscape Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, this spring, sparking critical – has the power to debate across the city and beyond. Providing answers reshape the way we to these provocative issues, the event invites visionaries live, particularly from all over the world to put their practice on show and at a time when connect with the general public. Demonstrating the kind of the environmental global reach and energy that MDW commands, last year’s impact of consumer programme included a skyline filled with thousands of culture is becoming colourful, biodegradable balloons courtesy of GERONIMO, ever more pressing.” (Jihan Zencirli) – in the featured image. The LA-based artist has since been championed by Oprah Magazine and by Gywneth Paltrow on her Goop.com lifestyle blog. Taking place at various venues across the region, MDW is an opportunity for practitioners to reflect upon their process – both individually and as part of a group. They are encouraged to share ideas about the future of sustainable solutions, whilst considering how they can improve their techniques in the light of today’s consumer demands. The event also provides a key component of the city’s drive to be seen as the leading hub for design and the arts within Various venues Australia. As such, it offers a number of exhibitions, talks, 14-24 March tours, panels and industry events, centred around creative development and idea generation in the 21st century. www.ngv.vic.gov.au

Transformative Landmarks ARCHITECTURE EFFECTS

Didier Faustino, A Home Is Not a Hole, 2016 Courtesy the artist and Michel Rein; Galeria Filomena Soares; Parque Galería,© Didier Fiúza Faustino, VEGAP, Bilbao, 2018.

Just over two decades ago, on the cusp of a new millennium, and technological circumstances of the museum’s opening. “The Airlock section The current state of architecture is addressed in the main offers a point of Guggenheim Museum Bilbao opened its doors as an institution making pioneering use of digital technologies. Today – Garden area, a vibrant open-plan gallery of life-sized works, departure themed in an age of development barely imaginable in the 1990s which features the premiere of three major projects. El Otro around the year – the museum pushes boundaries once again. The institution, by Mexican designer Frida Escobedo demonstrates a preoc- of the museum’s which was designed by Frank Gehry, takes stock of how ar- cupation with time in a social context, comprising fragments inauguration – a chitecture, art and narrative have been transformed over the from the original glass façade of a building from Mexico City. turning point for intervening years, and how a distinctly 21st century mode The piece reveals layers of material memory, looking at the the emergence of of culture is now reaching maturity. The resulting exhibition hidden archaeology of urban history. A Tent without a Signal, a new digital and from New York-based firm MOS, is a “psychomanteum” – a media culture.” asks: what makes architecture more than just building? This theme is investigated across three threads – Airlock, place for contemplation. The futuristic, fluorescent material Garden and Bubble – creating an environment in which both is woven with metallic fibres to create a Faraday Cage, blockthe material and virtual, the ancient and futuristic are con- ing out mobile and data signals, reclaiming room for introstantly in flux, emphasising the hyperconnectivity of our spection. The potential of spaces to facilitate a deeper conpresent moment. Contributors include Nina Canell, Frida Es- nection to the self is also seen in New York-based partnership cobedo, Mikel Eskauriaza, Didier Faustino, Frank Gehry, An- Leong Leong’s Float Tank 01 – a tilted, individual capsule dreas Gursky, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Oliver Laric, Nikki S. made of steel and insulation foam, reinventing the bath as a Lee, Leong Leong, MOS, MAIO Architects, Nemesis and more. structure for reprogramming body and mind. Finally, Bubble is the virtual dimension of the exhibition, The Airlock section offers an important point of departure themed around the year of the museum’s inauguration in an online collection of media accessible via a smartphone 1997 – a turning point for the emergence of a digitised and app or the museum website which facilitates multiple read- Guggenheim media-centric culture. It was the year artificial intelligence ings. Expanding the show beyond physical dimensions, the Museum Bilbao first beat a world chess champion, and the first robotic rover artwork demonstrates – particularly in juxtaposition with Until 29 April explored another planet. With these poignant moments in the world captured in Airlock – the sheer pace of cultural time, a vast range of archival objects recreate the political change of which Architecture Effects takes stock. guggenheim-bilbao.eus

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Martine Franck, Swimming Pool Designed by Alain Capeilleres, Le Brusc, Var, France 1976. © Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson / Magnum Photos, Courtesy of Peter Fetterman Gallery.

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Reconstructive Methods TOUJOURS PARIS As European culture attempted to come to terms with the true to authentic, documentarian modes of working, whilst “Spanning decades aftermath of two world wars, many artists turned their focus to deliberately creating a sense of nostalgia. This is explained and multiple everyday life, seeking out moments that revealed a unifying by one of the best-known figures of the movement, Robert practitioners, each of commonality – hints of beauty in the seemingly banal. Once Doisneau (1912-1994), who once stated: “I don’t photo- the pieces expresses a desire to stay such creative surge was in French Humanist photography. graph life as it is, but life as I would like it to be.” The extensive collection includes pieces by significant true to authentic Initially emerging in Paris during times of conflict, and often taking the metropolis as its subject, the movement became figures in history, such as Henri Cartier-Bresson (1904-2004), documentarian modes a strong influence on cinema and literature – particularly and Martine Franck (1938-2012), tracing the course of the of working, whilst as the city reasserted itself as a magnet for the world’s movement and its abiding influence through these visionary deliberately creating imaginations. All the featured compositions explore the a sense of nostalgia.” freethinkers following the dark years of Nazi occupation. As a collective, the artists’ principles were built upon boundaries between realism and poetic licensing – from universal dignity, equality and tolerance, echoing the the nocturnal wanderings of Brassaï (1899-1984), to the changing political and philosophical discourse across the emphasis of Cartier-Bresson or Willy Ronis on spontaneity globe. This marriage of ideals is perhaps best exemplified and capturing the “decisive moment.” The journey continues in the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights as it right through to the subtle artifice of Doisneau’s famous Le references Jean-Paul Sartre in 1946: “existentialism is a Baiser de l’Hôtel de Ville (The Kiss by the Hôtel de Ville) (1950). humanism.” Through this open-minded mode of thinking, This instantly recognisable picture documents figures who the individual realises that their freedom is based on being are, in fact, young lovers. What audiences may not know is that the work was staged, in entirety, to exaggerate the responsible for the whole of society, not just themselves. Peter Fetterman Gallery, Santa Monica, takes these ideas as romantic sensibility of the scenario. As such, the exhibition inspiration for its latest exhibition, Toujours Paris, which draws not only transports the viewer back to mid-20th century Paris, Peter Fetterman Gallery, upon some of the most significant figures in 20th century but is a deliberate and timely presentation that reasserts the Santa Monica European image-making. As a whole, the show identifies a spirit of humanism. As a whole, this intriguing presentation Until 23 February common aspirational thread. Spanning decades and multi- depicts the belief in enlightened values and the desire to www.peterfetterman.com ple practitioners, each of the pieces expresses a desire to stay maintain dignity, even in the face of post-war destruction.

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Momentous Creativity DEUTSCHE BÖRSE PHOTOGRAPHY FOUNDATION PRIZE 2019

Roseann on the way to Manhattan Beach, New York, 1978. © Susan Meiselas / Magnum Photos. The Photographers’ Gallery’s Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation Prize 2019 will be on show from 8 March 2019, with winner announced on 16 May 2019.

The Deutsche Börse Photography Foundation rewards the example drawn from a series of incidental encounters with “The award has most significant contribution made to photography in a group of girls from her neighbourhood in Little Italy. The unveiled its shortlist Europe over the last 12 months, offering a generous sum of Kurdistan installation, meanwhile, incorporates images into with those who have found new ways £30,000. Reaching its 22nd edition, the prize has unveiled its an archival process with the wider Kurdish community. Meanwhile, a radical approach to archive materials is at to engage with the shortlist with those who have found new ways to engage with the world around them. This year’s four nominees are Laia the heart of RAF – No Evidence by Messmer (b. 1964). The world around them, Abril, Susan Meiselas, Arwed Messmer and Mark Ruwedel, RAF in question is the Red Army Faction or Baader-Meinhof experimenting with Group, a far-left terrorist organisation active in Germany from innovative techniques artists who tackle social injustices and human rights issues. Abril (b. 1986) is nominated for On Abortion (Dewi Lewis 1970 onwards. Messmer compiles investigative and forensic whilst addressing the Publishing). The first chapter of a long-term project, A History evidence, pulling the threads of surveillance and questioning past as a means to of Misogyny, it presents a timeline of women’s access to clin- the place of documentary in shaping our cultural conscious- illuminate the present.” ics and treatments. Globally, many women are still forced to ness. He notes: “I am not interested in using photos to illusresort to illegal or risky methods, leading to approximately trate the past. Instead, they are the theme of my work.” The traces left upon the landscape are also the central sub47,000 deaths each year. Abril presents a meticulously researched collection of visual, audio and textual evidence, ex- ject for Ruwedel (b. 1955) nominated for Artist and Society. Dating between 1995 and 2012, the featured pieces merge posing the many stigmas that persist around female health. Meiselas (b. 1948) is perhaps best known for reportage concept with documentary, expressing the influence of land images from conflict zones in Central America, notably the art on abandoned railways, nuclear testing sites and empty Nicaraguan revolution of 1978-1979, but for this award she desert homes, all echoing historic process for image-making. Pulling the artists together is a sense of belonging and The Photographers’ is nominated for the retrospective exhibition Meditations, presented at the Jeu de Paume, Paris. Covering the 1970s to the social introspection. As Brett Rogers, Gallery Director, states: Gallery, London present day, her work addresses ethnic and religious conflicts “Each year those selected uniquely expand the capabilities of 8 March - 2 June and the sex industry, through seminal, provocative images. the medium. The 2019 shortlist continues this legacy.” The One of the featured works from Prince Street Girls – Roseann winner is announced on 16 May at The Photographers’ Gal- www.thephotographers on the way to Manhattan Beach, see below – is a compelling lery, London, before touring to Eschborn / Frankfurt. gallery.org.uk

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Untitled (Prologue II), The Stranger‘s Notebook, 2016. © Dawit L. Petros. Courtesy Tiwani Contemporary and The Walther Collection.

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Intertwining Narratives RECENT HISTORIES Until the last decade of the 20th century, image-making in involved, whose origins range from Cameroon to Kenya, “The sheer physical relation to Africa was largely seen – in Europe – through the Ethiopia and Ivory Coast. Rather than attempting to define scale and cultural light of travel and ethnographic photography, mostly from a prescriptive concept of what makes their work distinctly diversity of the western perspectives. However, Nigerian art critic and curator “Afrikaans,” however, the images are allowed to speak for continent can be seen Okwui Enwezor has played an important role in the eman- themselves, through their overlapping motifs and powerful in the number of cipation of contemporary African art, having hosted one of themes. In this way, the show ranges not only in space but in practitioners involved, the first retrospectives at Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, time, from the pioneering figure of Goldblatt to the youngest whose origins range New York: In / Sight: African Photographers, 1940 to the Pre- featured photographer, Lebohang Kganye (b. 1990), who from Cameroon to Kenya, Ethiopia sent (1996). Enwezor has, since then, been heavily involved finished her training in Johannesburg as recently as 2011. One key subject is how artists relate to the power and scale and Ivory Coast. in The Walther Collection, New York / Neu-Ulm, which joins forces with Huis Marseille, Amsterdam, this spring for Recent of the landscape, expressing how it has come to embody the Histories – a detailed survey of diverse voices traversing past impacts of colonialism, war and industrialisation. Pieces by and present, providing their own impression of the continent. Em’kal Eyongakpa, Délio Jasse, Mame-Diarra Niang and MiThe exhibition introduces new pieces alongside several chael Tsegaye, for example, collectively address the impacts generations of well-known practitioners – including David of social, economic and political developments on not only Goldblatt (1930-2018), who, as the initiator of the Market nature, but on public spaces and contemporary architecture Photo Workshop in Johannesburg, was a mentor figure to – key locations which shape daily life and a wider sense of many of the featured artists. Goldblatt, in turn, has had a identity. Elsewhere in the show, stories of migration and diaslong association with Huis Marseille, becoming a strong in- pora become more personal, notably from artists who travel fluence on its collection and being involved in a number of extensively such as Mimi Cherono Ng’ok, or those who live permanently outside the continent, such as Mame-Diarra seminal shows such as Apartheid & After (2014). Recent Histories’ title refers to the complex stories included Niang and Dawit L. Petros. What connects all voices across Huis Marseille, Amsterdam in the presentation. Though there is a strong contingent from the images is the notion that Africa is a state of mind, a per- Until 3 March South Africa, the sheer physical scale and cultural diversity vasive influence that endures – for both the artwork and the of the continent can be seen in the number of practitioners viewer – long after it has been left behind. www.huismarseille.nl

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Defining Citizenship IN TRANSIT

Gohar Dashti, from the series Stateless. From the exhibition In Transit. © Gohar Dashti.

In Transit is a necessary exhibition to see this season. It Spain’s Galicia region to the UK, seeking better economic “Communicating a focuses on the “limbo-like experience of living between opportunities. Tanya Habjouqa – the founder of the first all- sense of purgatory different cultures,” telling the “stories of immigrants who female photography collective in the Middle East – is also and boredom, the traverse no man’s land, existing between home and hope.” featured in the show’s stellar presentation. With interests impacting images SF Camerawork, San Francisco, through the vision of Curator including the representation of otherness, dispossession and express each of Peggy Sue Amison (Artistic Director for East-Wing, a platform human rights, the award-winning journalist and educator the inhabitants as someone who for photography in Doha, Qatar), explores humanity’s contributes expressive images filled with sensitivity. Lastly, Gohar Dashti has spent the last 13 years combining is ‘tolerated’ but complex and wandering search for stability, providing a rich interests in anthropology and sociology. Having studied at not accepted into tapestry of perspectives from across the world. This culminates in photography, performance and film- the Fine Art University in Tehran, she has since been awarded the community.” making from five practitioners based in Germany, Jordan, several scholarships and residences across the globe, exLebanon, Iran and the UK. The first is Stefanie Zofia Schulz, hibiting at the V&A, London; Museum of Fine Arts Boston; whose eye-opening series, Duldung / Toleration, documents Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago; and Nathe residents living in Germany’s largest collective housing tional Gallery of Art, Washington DC. She has been widely estate for asylum seekers. Communicating a sense of purga- lauded for her affective pieces that place the viewer in isotory, the images express each of the inhabitants as someone lated environments – as an on-looker for humans left behind. The Stateless series, included at SF Camerwork this season, who is “tolerated” but not accepted into the community; they are not allowed to stay, nor are they able to go elsewhere centres around a strange place with no identity, filled with safely. In a similar vein, George Awde – an artist born in anonymous individuals hoping for a better life. Through Boston of Lebanese origin – draws on nationality and sexu- dusty planes and groups of abandoned people, the powerful compositions reflect upon the global effects of conflict, SF Camerawork, ality, focusing on people living on the margins of Beirut. Daniel Castro Garcia has revisited many of Europe’s political strife and terrorism. Huddled together, and with San Francisco refugee hotspots since 2015, telling the stories of displaced strewn belongings, the characters grip each other in an act of Until 15 March individuals through the lens. His book, Foreigner: Migration desperation. Ultimately, Dashti asks the powerful question: into Europe, was inspired by his parents, who moved from “where will migrants be welcomed with open arms?” www.sfcamerawork.org

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1. Werner Bischof, Girls, St. Moritz, Schweiz, 1948. © Werner Bischof Estate / Magnum Photos. 2. Bill Viola, Tristan’s Ascension (The Sound of a Mountain Under a Waterfall), 2005. Video/sound installation. Performer: John Hay. Courtesy Bill Viola Studio. Photo: Kira Perov. 3. Daria Martin, Tonight the World, 2018. Anamorphic 16mm film transferred to HD, 13 minutes. © Daria Martin, Courtesy Maureen Paley Gallery, London. 4. Peluquería, 1979 © Ouka Leele. 5. Peter Kennedy, Neon Light Installations, 1970-2002. Neon, composition board and synthetic polymer paint, 235cm x 1192.2cm x 8.6cm. Purchased 2004, Collection of Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, Sydney. © Peter Kennedy. Image: National Gallery Singapore.

10 to See RECOMMENDED EXHIBITIONS THIS SEASON

Winter in Swiss Photography

Paracelsus Forum, St Moritz Until 21 February

www.bildhalle.ch Zurich’s Bildhalle gallery presents a group exhibition featuring classical and contemporary works in Swiss photography on the subject of winter. The show includes a number of vintage prints by Albert Steiner, Werner Bischof, Sabine Weiss and Douglas Mandry. Dramatic topographies are reduced to clean, white planes, as the featured artists explore worlds blanketed by heavy planes of snow.

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www.royalacademy.org.uk When video artist Bill Viola (b. 1951) encountered a collection of drawings by Renaissance master Michelangelo, a connection was made between the two individuals. Both practitioners, though born centuries apart, use the body to convey both physical and spiritual states. In Life Death Rebirth, two radically different mediums are placed in contrast to reveal common themes of transcendence, the sacred and the emotional.

www.barbican.org.uk Daria Martin’s (b. 1973) solo commission Tonight the World is part of the Barbican’s 2019 season Life Rewired, a series considering what it means to be human in an age of radical technological transformation. Martin combines film and computer gaming technology to create a dream-like environment in which visitors can explore the vivid memories of her grandmother, an artist who fled from the Holocaust.

www.foam.org Food photography has become a staple of social media platforms such as Instagram in recent years, making the dining experience public and hyper-real. However, images relating to food have a rich history, from the visual arts to scientific images and photojournalism. What we eat can represent an identity, offering information about economic circumstances, religious beliefs and daily routines. Feast for the Eyes reveals the many meanings of a meal.

Bill Viola / Michelangelo

Royal Academy, London Until 31 March

Tonight the World

Barbican Centre, London Until 7 April

Feast for the Eyes

Foam, Amsterdam Until 3 March

Minimalism

National Gallery Singapore Until 14 April

www.nationalgallery.sg Subtitled Space. Light. Object, this first major minimalist exhibition in southeast Asia looks back over the emergence of an influential movement and its continuing legacies from the 1950s to the presentday. It considers the history of Asian philosophies such as Zen Buddhism, as well as the incurring interest in both absence and presence as juxtaposing concepts. More than 150 pieces come together in this survey.

6. Don McCullin, Near Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin, 1961. Tate Purchased 2012. Courtesy of the artist. 7. Richard Misrach, Orange grove, Brownsville, Texas / Campo de naranjas, Brownsville, Texas, 2015. © Richard Misrach, courtesy Fraenkel Gallery, San Francisco; Pace/MacGill Gallery, New York; and Marc Selwyn Fine Art, Los Angeles. 8. Viviane Sassen, Fellow Vlei. © Vivianne Sassen, courtesy of the artist. 9. Jack Lueders-Booth, from the series Women Prisoners, MCI Framingham (Massachusetts Correctional Institution at Framingham), 1978–85. Courtesy the artist and Gallery Kayafas, Boston. 10. Max Pinckers, She Will Use the Birds, from the series The Fourth Wall, 2012 © 2012. Max Pinckers.

Don McCullin

Tate Britain, London 5 February - 6 May

www.tate.org.uk One of Britain’s best-known war photographers – who has reported from places including Vietnam, Northern Ireland, and recently the Syrian conflict – Sir Don McCullin is the focus of Tate’s latest exhibition. This retrospective comprises scenes of working-class life in the East End of London and the industrial north of England, as well as landscapes from around his Somerset home. The pictures are accompanied by McCullin’s brutally honest commentaries.

www.pier24.org Often considered as an “alternative national anthem,” Woody Guthrie’s 1940 folk song This Land Is Your Land combines a panoramic vista of the USA. At Pier 24, a diverse selection of established and emerging photographers express the complexities of the country. Featuring: Dawoud Bey, Guillermo Galindo, Jim Goldberg, An-My Lê, Richard Misrach, Paolo Pellegrin, Daniel Postaer, Bryan Schutmaat, Alec Soth, Brian Ulrich and Donovan Wylie.

www.nrw-forum.de As part of the programme of events surrounding the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus – the design school which was founded by Walter Gropius in Weimar in 1919 – NRW Forum Dusseldorf examines the impact of the school upon 20th century photography, bringing key pieces into dialogue with present-day artists. Figures such as László Moholy-Nagy and Lucia Moholy feature alongside the likes of Viviane Sassen and Wolfgang Tillmans.

This Land

Pier 24, San Francisco Until 31 March

Bauhaus and Photography

NRW Forum Düsseldorf Until 10 March

Prison Nation

Aperture Gallery, New York 7 February - 8 March

www.aperture.org At a moment when 2.2 million people are incarcerated in the USA, 3.8 million people are on probation, and 870,000 former prisoners are on parole, how can images tell the story of mass imprisonment when those behind the bars don’t have control over their own representation? Aperture’s inspiring exhibition creates a visual record of a national crisis with pieces from Lucas Foglia, Emily Kinni, Jesse Krimes and 10 others.

25 Years!

Fotomuseum Winterthur Until 10 February

www.fotomuseum.ch To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Fotomuseum Winterthur, the gallery has invited partners, friends and colleagues to choose their favourite works from the collection. The displayed photographs create a compelling archive. Including: Lewis Baltz, Luigi Ghirri, Nan Goldin, Paul Graham, Roni Horn, Sherrie Levine, Gordon Matta-Clark, Max Pinckers, Pipilotti Rist, Alec Soth, Joel Sternfeld, Christopher Williams and Bruno Zhu.

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Rhythms from the City Made in Dublin EAMONN DOYLE HAS QUICKLY MOVED FROM MUSIC PRODUCER AND DJ TO STREET PHOTOGRAPHER, DOCUMENTING DUBLIN'S INHABITANTS THROUGH AN ANONYMOUS LENS.

Eamonn Doyle (b. 1969) has walked up and down O’Connell of the entire run of 750 books. Michael Hoppen, the photogStreet – the longest thoroughfare in Dublin – for most of raphy collector and gallery owner in Chelsea, London, got his life. He would often take the route to get to work, as in touch to ask Doyle if he might like gallery representation. the founder of the Dublin Electronic Arts Festival and both Within two years, Doyle was at the forefront of a solo show as the Dead Elvis and D1 independent record labels. Flick to part of the prestigious Rencontres d’Arles festival. This timeline of events can largely be drawn to these en2019: Thames & Hudson publishes a major monograph of Doyle’s images, entitled Made in Dublin. A rhythmic, pulsing dorsements; however, the simplicity of the images has transcollection, the book produces a map of the urban landscape fixed a myriad of viewers, and is what continues to appeal to through three bodies of work – i, ON and End. – bouncing contemporary audiences across the globe. As Parr’s Flickr between its inhabitants and translating the over-bearing post continues: “These hunched street walkers of Dublin express so much character, yet we never see their faces. It’s so background hum into bold, visual compositions. So where did the journey begin? Having graduated with powerful. The directness is brilliant.” Creating a concise and a photography diploma in 1991, Doyle barely touched a distilled image is often the end result of many hours honing camera for more than 20 years, instead accruing major acclaim and perfecting an artistic process, with a lot of time spent as a producer, DJ and music manager. The Irish Times notably searching for, and understanding, the exact way one intends stated that D1 was “one of the most important chapters in Irish to capture a nebulous thing. With that in mind, Doyle’s apmusic history.” Following this, Doyle began to lose interest proach was wholly inspired by great literary icons. No discussion of Irish literature can be complete without in the industry in an age of heavy postproduction and preprepared tracks. Instead, he steadily became enamoured by reference to James Joyce (1882-1941). However, Joyce's the daily routines of his elderly neighbours – strangers who influence extends far beyond this; he is also the first name to passed his front door on their way to the city centre to collect be recalled when thinking about the “flâneur” – the aimless wanderer, a term to be considered in Doyle’s provocations a paper, pensions or daily provisions as a ritual habit. Circa 2008, Doyle dug out a camera and began to cap- of the landscape. As The Guardian’s Sean O’ Hagan writes ture them – without showing anyone the results – until self- in the book’s introduction: “The poet Patrick Kavanagh publishing the early iterations of his first collection, i. He then believed that the parochial was universal, that all human life posted two limited edition copies: one to Alec Soth, the other was contained in the small, rural Irish parish he grew up in. to Martin Parr. On April 1 2014, Parr circulated the book James Joyce adhered in his own way to the same principle. through his Flickr account, pronouncing it “the best street Having fled Ireland for a long exile in Europe, he evoked the photobook in a decade.” Within a fortnight, he had sold out atmosphere, people and places of his native Dublin, with an

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“It’s a sympathetic series, capturing both the strength and the fragility of all citizens as a picture of the world around us – mothers, fathers, sons and daughters who are easy to ignore when ploughing one’s own way through a busy urban setting.”

By the time the Arles exhibition rolled around, Doyle had almost forensic eye for minute geographical detail.” However, it was Samuel Beckett (1906-1989), the absurdist followed up with two further bodies of street documentation: and avant-garde playwright, who truly influenced Doyle; i ON and End. Seen together, the three bodies of work was directly inspired by the short production Not I. “I was interrelate to communicate a striking portrait of a modern and obsessed with Beckett when I started taking these photos. multicultural urban Ireland. Beyond that, they demonstrate He understands Dublin, but he strips away the context of his an artist adept at creating from the flux of the street the characters. I started taking images that pare everything back.” extraordinary within the ordinary, tying Doyle’s interests in The first work that communicated this methodology was literature, and background in electronic music and altogether of a solitary woman covered by an ornate head-scarf and representing the rhythms of life. “The city’s concrete, brick, powder-purple coat, shot close-up and from behind, with her tarmac, dirt and dust are as much characters as the people. face hidden from view. “The older face is such a loaded cliché These factors are certainly musical beats and textures within in this type of image-making,” Doyle noted. “With Beckett’s the score of the whole city, including a huge element of writing, it’s not what’s said that’s intriguing, but what’s not. I repetition, but a repetition of individual characters.” Niall Sweeney expands upon the notion in the new wondered whether you can apply that to photography?” With that, Doyle begin to craft a unique style, being as monograph: “Made in Dublin is the city as cinema, just close as possible to subjects without disturbing them, stand- as revealed itself in real time through the lens of Doyle, ing on his toes to capture them from above. This can be seen restating the intertwined looping dramas, its light and in the featured compositions – bright orange jumpers, polka texture, psyche and the movements of its people, as they dot shirts, bold yellow coats and the edges of skirts provid- unfold and pass through. It is about the shapes and beats ing limited information about their wearers. The intention was that they, that we, unconsciously go through together as one. to capture each passer-by unposed, unaware and uncommu- The photographs have been made over a short period, in the nicative – smoking a cigarette or crossing the road, enacting same place and in no particular order, with thematic patterns a routine or hurrying home. “If they noticed what I was doing, and subjects emerging as the work grows exponentially.” Commenting upon the evolution of the series from start I’d stop straightaway,” he says. “I wanted them oblivious.” Doyle also wanted his subjects in isolation, with no other to finish, Doyle notes: “With my first book (i) most of the present figures. He would focus on the elderly and, often, people seemed to be in some state of stasis with no sense the impoverished, as well people from different ethnicities. of movement around them. The work was preoccupied It’s a sympathetic series, capturing both the strength and the with figures consumed by introspection. The dramas in the fragility of all citizens as a picture of the world around us – following book (ON ) are far more environmental. They are mothers, fathers, sons and daughters who are easy to ignore contextualised a lot more against the backdrop of the city.” Like his literary influences Doyle has also become a notable when ploughing one’s own way through a busy urban setting.

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penman of the streets – with a camera as his medium, rather than the written word. “There’s going to be an inevitable sense of the flâneur with any kind of street photography,” Doyle says, when asked about this. “Beckett and Joyce were both doing two very different things with their texts and using language in very different ways. I can relate to both and feel like replicating both in visual terms depending on my mood.” In sharp contrast, however, is the fact that both literary icons were exiled from Ireland – and wrote primarily in Paris. The ability to express, through words, the sense of a place without being physically in it is something that, at this point in time, evades photography. But, tantalisingly, that may change and may hint at a possible future evolution of Doyle’s artistic process. “It will be fascinating to see what happens as technology allows for total discretion with camera implants, total recall and whichever much more highly developed version of Google Street View is coming down the line,” he says. Although Doyle will undoubtedly get a new rush of interest in his street photography with the Thames & Hudson publication, he has recently – for complex and personal reasons – withdrawn from the urban environment. On the exact same day that Parr made that fated endorsement, Doyle learned his mother, Kathryn, was diagnosed with cancer. She died in March 2017, after a five-year-long battle. “But she never managed to escape the grief of losing her son,” Doyle says. Sorting through her possessions, he found piles of notebooks that had been hidden from the family. His mother, he realised, had written countless letters to Doyle’s brother, Ciarán, who, in 1999, had died at the age of 33. “There were thousands of them,” he says. “She’d written a letter to him every day. They were like private prayers.”

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The death of his mother, whom he cared for privately, as he became internationally known, hit him hard. The realisation, in addition, that he had never properly allowed himself to grieve for Ciarán, came as a double shock. Doyle was, at the time, exploring a series on the west coast of Ireland, focusing on the kinship between traditional Gaelic song and north African music – a lineage developed over ancient trading lines. The work, by his own admission, wasn’t coming together. Kathryn, as a figure, a muse and a constant emotional icon in Doyle's mind, provided another point of departure away from the coast. As a result, he created his most recent series, K. A dramatic development from the metropolitan trilogy, it centres on a female figure wreathed in a Gaelic veil, a garment used for mourning. Doyle revisited locations and captured – at first light and dusk – the figure situated in many of the bucolic places he visited on holiday when he was a child. It’s a devastatingly powerful series, which, after its premiere at Paris Photo in 2018, looks set for involvement in many festivals and exhibition spaces over the next year. Further to this, Doyle will have his first solo exhibition at RHA Gallery, Dublin, and will present a video installation at Photo London with Michael Hoppen Gallery (16-19 May). He will also be honoured with a retrospective at Fundación MAPFRE, Madrid, this September, proof of his widespread acclaim. Crossing cities and continents across 2019, Doyle is a key visual icon for the 21st century, and one to watch for the future. He is an artist who demonstrates the empathic and deeply human qualities of photography in an age of disconnect – a rare skill that should be celebrated. Where and what he does next is anyone’s guess, but one thing’s for sure: wherever he wanders next, it will be worth following.

Words Tom Seymour

Made in Dublin is published 7 March courtesy of Thames & Hudson. www.thamesandhudson.com www.eamonndoyle.com

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Sculptural Arrangements William Bunce

William Bunce (b. 1987) is a still-life photographer and director working across editorial and advertising. His numerous collaborative series experiment with narrative and visual cohesion, arranging inanimate objects at an intersection between playfulness and restraint. Skyshapes presents three distinct colour schemes, inspired by the main time lapses within the day â&#x20AC;&#x201C; morning, noon and night. Bunce and set designer Lisa Jahovic translate elements from the natural world into clean, aesthetically pleasing images that present a myriad of possibilities. Just as the sun sets differently everyday, so too are the models re-arranged in a unique and intriguing fashion each time. Also featured in the following pages are works from the Paper series â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a collection made with set designer Alice Rigby. Blockcolour platforms bend to the whim of geometric design. www.willbunce.com.

William Bunce. Image from the series Skyshapes. Set Design and Art Direction: Lisa Jahovic.

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William Bunce. Image from the series Paper. Set Design: Alice Rigby. Special thanks to Stilletto for retouching.

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William Bunce. Image from the series Paper. Set Design: Alice Rigby. Special thanks to Stilletto for retouching.

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William Bunce. Image from the series Skyshapes. Set Design and Art Direction: Lisa Jahovic.

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William Bunce. Image from the series Skyshapes. Set Design and Art Direction: Lisa Jahovic.

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William Bunce. Image from the series Paper. Set Design: Alice Rigby. Special thanks to Stilletto for retouching.

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William Bunce. Image from the series Paper. Set Design: Alice Rigby. Special thanks to Stilletto for retouching.

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William Bunce. Image from the series Skyshapes. Set Design and Art Direction: Lisa Jahovic.

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William Bunce. Image from the series Skyshapes. Set Design and Art Direction: Lisa Jahovic.

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Drifting through Time May Parlar

New York-based May Parlar (b. 1981) is a photography and video artist creating visual narratives that centre around the notion of belonging. With a background in architecture and sustainable design â&#x20AC;&#x201C; and having moved between 30 countries in the last 10 years â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Parlar has since become interested in examining the human condition in relation to surrounding landscapes. Each image translates the contrasting experiences of being and performing within gravity-defying realities and ambiguous timeframes. The works instil a sense of the uncanny in the viewer; characters wander through realities as nomads rather than citizens. Balloons are suspended mid-air; ethereal desert planes host static figures that are swathed by bleach-white sheets; overgrown gardens swallow characters in mid-conversation. Parlar has been shortlisted for the 2019 Aesthetica Art Prize, with images on display at York Art Gallery, 8 March - 14 July. www.mayparlar.com | www.aestheticamagazine.com/art-prize.

May Parlar, Turkey, 2018. Photography Assistant: Tahir Ayparlar.

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May Parlar, Turkey, 2017. Photography Assistant: Tahir Ayparlar.

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May Parlar, Cambodia, 2018. Photography Assistant: Derin Cubukcuoglu.

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May Parlar, Turkey, 2018. Photography Assistant: Nihal Durgun.

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May Parlar, Spain, 2018. Photography Assistant: Malte Voss.

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May Parlar, Turkey, 2017. Photography Assistant: Segah Sak.

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Seminal Construction Bauhaus 100 BAUHAUS IS CELEBRATED THIS YEAR; AT ITS CENTENARY, THE SCHOOL CONTINUES TO ASSERT ITS LEGACY WITH CLASSIC AESTHETICS AND COLLABORATIVE SENSIBILITIES.

“Together let us desire, conceive and create the new structure design objects or minimalist sculptures, the mind almost of the future, which will embrace architecture and sculpture immediately draws a connection to inspirational Bauhaus and painting in one unity,” remarked Walter Gropius (1883- alumni including Marcel Breuer (1902-1981), Wassily 1969) in the 1919 Programme of the State Bauhaus in Kandinsky (1866-1944) and Gerhard Marcks (1889-1981). Weimar. This early declaration revealed the ethos of the However, rather than focusing on the group’s thoroughly internationally acclaimed school for decades to come. For documented history, it is perhaps more apt to highlight at Gropius, and the throngs of artists, architects and designers this time – just as the world begins its celebration of the who flocked to the institute, cooperation and creativity centenary – Bauhaus’ contemporary relevance. This year is worked hand in hand. Makers of all disciplines shared indeed an essential time to revisit the cutting-edge output of the notion that only by collaborating, sharing ideas and this timeless group, and it is important to discuss why it has embracing the technological advancements of the day, come so far in our minds as a movement of great significance. Amongst the writers turning their attention to the institute would innovation be possible, and in extension, would they carve a place for visual arts in a world becoming increasingly on the occasion of its 100th anniversary is Alan Powers, an defined by its technological achievements in manufacturing. authority on 20th century art and design and a Professor It goes without saying that the school’s legacy has had at New York University in London and the London School an indefinite impact on cultural production at large; its of Architecture. His soon-to-publish book, Bauhaus Goes widespread influence can clearly be seen within the work of West (28 February, Thames & Hudson), addresses just how numerous modern-day practitioners, with notable names far-reaching the ideas of the German school have spread including Wolfgang Tillmans, Viviane Sassen and Thomas through culture. In this comprehensive, weighty compendium, Ruff (all of whom can be seen in Bauhaus and the Photograph: Powers traces the emigration of the minimalist ideology from New Visions of Contemporary Art at NRW-Forum, Düsseldorf, Weimar to Britain in the 1920s, 1930s and onwards. Through open until 10 March. Turn to page 23 to find out more.) Its these pages, he contends that everything from the group’s aesthetics further extends to the household, with countless values to its design practices – and even its name – greatly reinventions of the designs circulating around contemporary impacted the communities of the west. One excerpt reads: homes. The Barcelona Chair (1929) by Ludwig Mies van “‘The best thing Gropius did was to invent the name,’ said der Rohe (1886-1969) and Lilly Reich (1885-1947) is one Mies van der Rohe. Even Gropius might not have understood such example – featured in the following pages – a piece in 1919 how accessible this unique brief neologism would internationally recognised for its “less is more” mentality. be to non-German speakers, compared to the long-winded Indeed, when one encounters sleek home furnishings, chic compound nouns that denoted the rival schools.”

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Courtesy of Knoll.

“It goes without saying that the school’s legacy has had an indefinite impact on cultural production at large; its widespread influence can clearly be seen within the work of numerous modern-day practitioners.”

Previous Page & Left: Barcelona® Chair, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Courtesy of Knoll.

The author continues to explain that, through exhibitions, the centenary events know no bounds. Traversing film, phopublications and a number of visits to England from Gropius, tography, literature, sculpture, installation and design, the Breuer and László Moholy-Nagy (1895-1946) – that took wide-ranging programme is a fitting representation of the place shortly after the school had closed due to mounting institution through diversity. To borrow the words of the Conpressure from the Nazis – that the UK was introduced to the structivist sculptor, theorist and lecturer Naum Gabo (1890sensibilities of the movement’s iconic design. In re-examining 1977): “I consider morals and aesthetics one and the same, the relationship with Britain, Powers re-writes a chapter in the for they cover only one impulse – to bring our life and all country’s history, asserting that the Bauhaus gave way to our actions into a satisfactory relationship with the events of global innovation, beyond its prominence in Germany. This the world as our consciousness wants it to be.” In Germany alone, these varied celebrations include included the introduction of arts education for children by Marion Richardson (1892-1946) and the London County Original Bauhaus at Berlinische Galerie, running 6 September Council – challenging the pre-existing postulation that the to 27 January 2020), Experiments in Light and Movement at LWL Museum of Art and Culture, Munster (until 3 March) and 1920s were a period of creative stagnation in the UK. It comes as no surprise that Powers’s book finds itself in 100 Years of Bauhaus: One Million a series of performances in good company this year. It’s Nice That ’s A / W 2018 edition Berlin by Uli Aigner (b. 1965), which includes the tracking of of Printed Pages, for example, dedicates three covers in red, one million porcelain vessels over the course of her lifetime, yellow and blue text, displaying 42 of nearly 600 glyphs looking at their global reach as symbols of the everyday. that German designer Sascha Lobe and his team have The objective of this series is to connect people from all walks created for the Bauhaus Archiv. Further afield, and into of life, located in all corners of the world through a humble the throes of institutions worldwide, the centenary is being material, that she explains, can be made from the earth by marked with a deluge of exhibitions, performances and talks. any one of its inhabitants. Also taking place this year is the V&A, London, for example, is hosting a 10-week course next instalment of the Triennale der Moderne in the cities focusing on the diaspora that followed the school’s closure of Weimar, Dessau and Berlin. This insightful programme and the ways in which it is ingrained in society, down to the investigates the modern-day significance of UNESCO World text screens on our smartphones (running until 27 March). Heritage sites that are affiliated with the school. Other countries are, of course, joining in the commemoThese are accompanied as well by the production of limitededition pieces, and even the release of a film from Opendox, rations. A solo exhibition highlighting the textiles of Anni directed by Alysa Nahmias. The New Bauhaus re-examines Albers recently closed at Tate Modern in London, and a widethe colossal impact Moholy-Nagy had on Chicago – all ranging retrospective featuring objects by 60 Bauhaus practitioners opens this February at the Museum Boijmans van aimed at further unravelling the narrative of the movement. Multi-disciplinary, and connecting past, present and future, Beuningen in Rotterdam; netherlands ⇄ bauhaus: Pioneers

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Courtesy of Knoll.

of a new world runs 9 February - 26 May. Seminal exhibitions were also hosted earlier this year in New Delhi, Lagos and São Paulo, including three Bauhaus Imaginista shows. In Chicago, the Goethe Institut recently mounted the show A Little Piece of Bauhaus which featured the disorienting and engrossing neon-light installations of Berlin-born sculptor Monika Wulfers, heavily inspired by Oscar Schlemmer (1888-1943) and his acclaimed Triadic Ballet (1922). In addition to the galleries and publications unpacking the endeavours of the wider Bauhaus circle, it is also necessary to highlight the existence of a market that exists today for the designs, especially given that the globalised desire for minimal aesthetics – in many industries – is booming. With an eye toward the future and a thoroughly progressive outlook, the institute was also one of the first in art history to declare equality amongst genders, fostering the work of its pioneering female members such as Anni Albers (18991994) and Gunta Stölzl (1897-1983). The school was indeed ahead of its time. It is no wonder, then, that connoisseurs of this generation still look to the movement for inspiration – and it enters seamlessly into people’s homes to this day. Home-furnishing purveyor Knoll is one such brand helping to do this. With the tagline “Modern Always,” the company has issued an entire line of legacy décor that truly reflects the intuitive projects from the era. Included in its many offerings is a re-issue of van der Rohe’s tantalisingly curvilinear Brno and MR chairs – his seemingly gravity-defying barstools that were originally produced in collaboration with Phillip Johnson (1906-2005) for the now-iconic Four Seasons Restaurant at the Seagram Building in New York. The American architect forecasted the timelessness of the project

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when he stated: “If there really is no new way to be found, we are not afraid to stick with the old one that we found.” Knoll’s other best-selling pieces include Breuer’s beguiling Wassily chairs, which were influenced by the frame of a bicycle, and inspired in part by constructivist theories of the Netherlands-based De Stijl movement, popularised by painters Piet Mondrian (1872-1944) and Theo van Doesburg (1883-1931). Those seeking to add such classic, popular products to their home can also look to Tecnolumen, the world’s only authorised manufacturer of Wilhelm Wagenfeld’s (1900-1990) table lamp, and the CooperHewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum in New York, which offers a chess set conceived by Josef Hartwig (1880-1955) [eschewing traditional pawns and bishops, the shape of each piece evokes the way it moves across the board]. The appetite of consumers, makers, readers and museumgoers for Bauhaus-inspired content and creations further supports the notion that there is still much to be learned from these 20th century trailblazers. The emulation of their collaborative and thoroughly modern spirit is both warranted and necessary, and 2019 is filled to the brim with inspiring events that bring the planet together in a celebration of classic forms, insightful structures and collective ideas. Here, again, Walter Gropius’ 1919 words serve as a poignant reminder that by accepting that makers in all fields – and perhaps even all of humankind – are more alike than they are different, real progress can be made. “In rare moments of inspiration, transcending the consciousness of his will, the grace of heaven may cause his work to blossom into art. But proficiency in a craft is essential to every artist. Therein lays the prime source of creative imagination.”

Right: Barcelona® Chair, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe. Courtesy of Knoll.

Words Stephanie Strasnick

www.bauhaus100.com www.knolleurope.com

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Frozen Landforms Uwe Langmann

Winter is a photographic series by German artist Uwe Langmann (b. 1985) that depicts sweeping topographies blanketed by clean, white expanses of snow. The works are a perfect example of form complementing subject matter. The undulating heaps of snow are captured with little other details, perpetuating the idea of coldness through blank, isolated locations. Langmann masterfully captures the land as it is submerged by the supremacy of nature; manmade icons fall victim to the powerful mounds of ice. Sheds, fences and poles protrude from the clean lines of the ground with little indication of life. Profoundly satisfying, the images invite viewers to marvel at the simplicity, devoid of intrusion from a digital, globalised world. Langmann has won many awards, most notably being named Photographer of the Year at One Eyeland Awards. He is also longlisted for the Aesthetica Art Prize 2019. www.uwelangmann.com | www.aestheticamagazine.com/art-prize.

White Island, 2012. ÂŠ Uwe Langmann.

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Silent, 2016. Â© Uwe Langmann.

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Ad Infinity, 2011. Â© Uwe Langmann.

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A Forest, 2018. Â© Uwe Langmann.

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Threshold, 2017. Â© Uwe Langmann.

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Winter 026, 2017. Â© Uwe Langmann.

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Winter 016, 2013. Â© Uwe Langmann.

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Ponder, 2017. Â© Uwe Langmann.

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Winter 005, 2016. Â© Uwe Langmann.

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Balanced Perspective François Aubret

François Aubret (b. 1986) is a French photographer currently living in Los Angeles. His practice revolves around the creation of "graphic encounters" – a series of clean, colourful works that document the hidden geometries of urban civilisation. Each piece juxtaposes manmade structures with nature – concrete and painted buildings provide bold, textural relief in contrast with compressed skylines. Aubret’s aspiration is to surprise and elate the viewer – indicating both beauty and humour in homogenised landscapes and revealing order and symmetry within seemingly mundane locations. He has been featured in many publications such as Phroom and Noice, and has exhibited at MNML at Galerie Minimal, Berlin, as well as the 2018 edition of PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai. He has also been longlisted for the Aesthetica Art Prize 2019. www.francoisaubret.com | www.aestheticamagazine.com/art-prize.

François Aubret, Staple, 2017.

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Franรงois Aubret, Stall, 2017.

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Franรงois Aubret, Lot, 2018. Photograph represented by Galerie Minimal (Berlin, Germany).

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Franรงois Aubret, Palm, 2018. Photograph represented by Brownie (Shanghai, China).

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Franรงois Aubret, Babylon, 2018.

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Franรงois Aubret, Lisbon 02, 2018.

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Franรงois Aubret, Nantes 03, 2018.

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Franรงois Aubret, Score, 2018. Photograph represented by Brownie (Shanghai, China).

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Franรงois Aubret, Block, 2017. Photograph represented by Galerie Minimal (Berlin, Germany).

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A Social Contribution The World’s Best Architecture ARCHITIZER CALLS UPON THE GENERAL PUBLIC TO DEFINE WHAT MAKES A SUCCESSFUL BUILDING – COLLABORATIVE PRACTICES, ECOLOGICAL CONSIDERATION AND SOCIAL APPEAL.

“The best architecture may be crafted from concrete, glass, functional forms. In essence, the structures included affect wood and stone,” writes Managing Editor of Architizer, Paul human beings on multiple levels, contributing to the wider Keskeys, “but when it all comes together, it amounts to so narrative of the landscape whilst we move through it together. The sheer magnitude of architecture as a practice – the much more: it is a social condenser, an atmospheric cauldron, a visual delight. It is a spirit lifter, an educator, a calming in- space it occupies, both physically and theoretically – lends fluence, and, maybe, a home.” Keskeys’ meditation on the itself to a competition of this design, and it’s one to follow value of, and need for, innovative modern structures serves for years to come. Buildings are, indeed, experienced by the as the introduction to his latest title, The World’s Best Archi- many, not the few, and should therefore be critiqued and tecture, released by Phaidon. This appropriately titled com- contemplated in a manner reflective of this fact. Through pendium shares a selection of more than 130 imaginative asking individuals which buildings resonate most with them, projects which have been chosen by readers as 2018’s most the results encompass a wider assortment of practitioners superlative and exciting new builds. He continues: “Architects than in other competitions. Ranging from Patrick Schweitzer shape every space where people spend their lives,” reads & Associés’ red-roofed Faculty of Architecture and Design in the online description for the yearly poll, “so we created the Rwanda to a mountain-side performing arts space by METAProject – offering spectacular views of snow-covered slopes A+Awards to remind the world of how important this is.” In honouring the structures that mean the most to – the publication's images and texts reveal the properties consumers – rather than relying on critics and leading that earnestly make a building the best it can be. Keskeys states: “Whilst the projects in this book are incredindustry organisations – Architizer is bending an ear to those who arguably should matter most in this field: the public. ibly diverse – both in terms of geography and typology – “The programme’s aim is not to produce more starchitects,” they share traits which elevate them from being simply good writes Keskeys. Instead, the honorees “illustrate the essential to being truly exceptional.” Through these pages, it becomes ingredients of amazing buildings, defined not by the ‘inner evident that chief amongst the winning factors is a structure’s circle,’ but by everyone who uses and participates in the materiality. Beside the dozens honoured is Rojkind Arquicreation of the built environment.” Whilst few featured tectos’ sand-coloured Foro Boca Concert Hall, an imposing selections are built for public use, they impact those around and magnificent homage to concrete. Situated in the small them both directly and indirectly: they permanently alter the Mexican city of Boca del Río, this stately, beachfront space aesthetics of a skyline; take centre-stage on a daily commute; mirrors the craggy surface of the nearby seawall. Also of note in the materials category is Zeitz MOCAA, motivate tourism, bringing new populations to remote cities; and inspire passersby through a culmination of beautiful, another formidable concrete design, this time produced

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Martin’s Lane Winery, Kelowna, BC, Canada. Olson Kundig, 2016, Jury Winner. Image: Nic Lehoux (page 16).

“In honouring the structures that mean the most to consumers – rather than relying on critics and leading industry organisations – Architizer is bending an ear to those who arguably should matter most in this field: the public.”

Previous Page: Stage of Forest, Jilin, China. META Project, 2017, Popular Choice Winner. Image: Schran Image (page 72). Left: Carrara House, Lagos, Portugal. Mario Martins Atelier, 2017, Popular Choice Winner. Image: Fernando Guerra / FG+SG (page 149)

by Heatherwick Studio. Located in Cape Town, this former silo houses Africa’s first major museum to be devoted to contemporary art from the continent and its diaspora. The practitioners called upon a network of thick tubes to support the institution, removing elements of the old silos that no longer serve the space aesthetically or functionally. Steven Holl Architects should also be mentioned here for their Maggie’s Centre in Barts, London. This three-storey former town home is a support centre for individuals and families affected by cancer. Described by Holl’s firm as “a vessel within a vessel,” this luminous, translucent-polycarbonate construction emanates a soft, white glow that is reassuring to both its inhabitants and neighbours. The structure provides a destination, serving its functional purpose whilst responding to the emotions of its visitors intuitively and sensitively. Other categories consider the intelligent, and in some respects, essential, ways in which buildings respond to and work with the natural world. As global environmental concerns pertaining to climate change continue to mount, architecture’s role in offering a brighter ecological future has become crucial. Listed as an eco-friendly standout is Plano Humano Arquitectos’ Capela De Nossa Senhora de Fátima in the municipality of Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal. This lean-to of the future is situated within the National Scout’s Activities Camp and offers panoramic views of the surrounding natural landscape. With open access at both ends of the tent-like structure, the space is illuminated by the morning sunrise, which fills the chapel with luminous colour and rich, ethereal ambiance. Evening and winter light brings in cooler tones that accentuate the tranquillity of the construction, providing synergy between nature and manmade construction.

Meanwhile in Milan, Zaha Hadid’s massive CityLife Shopping District tows the line between a sprawling urban oasis and a monumental green space, playing host to a number of homes, office spaces, piazzas, shops, a cinema, a school and a 42-acre park. Towering above the city’s Tre Torri, this LEED gold-certified complex comprises, internally, a twisting labyrinth of engineered-bamboo flooring, as well as ceilings and columns that introduce elements of the organic world into this cosmopolitan shopping centre. Alongside the other environmentally considerate structures favoured is the Fleinvær Refugium in Norway. This Arctic Circle artist’s retreat was conceived by TYIN Tegnestue Architects and Rintala Egertsson, and is home to a suite of modest yet mindful Kebony-wood cabins that embrace the rugged topography outside. Each of the projects is dedicated to a specific pursuit: there are sleeping houses, a sauna and studio, and a creative-idea space designed to inspire its guests. Readers have also gravitated towards the terrain-mimicking Martin’s Lane Winery in Kelowna, British Columbia. At once simple and savvy, the building was envisioned by the Seattle-based firm Olson Kundig. Its blueprints draw many parallels between the winemaking process and the regional geography, celebrating the fickle yet beloved grape that is cultivated here: the Pinot Noir. Built on a hill, the angles of this construction allow for sweeping views of nearby Okanagan Lake and for the painstaking gravity-flow production of Pinot Noir wine – known, for its capriciousness, as the Heartbreak Grape – to take place. Voters in this poll also applaud social components – smart structures that foster collaboration and community building. In an age of increasing disconnect and political uncertainty

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Capela de Nossa Senhora de Fátima, Idanha-a-Nova, Portugal. Plano Humano Arquitectos, 2018, Jury and Popular Choice Winner. Image: João Morgado (page 74).

across Europe, it’s not hard to see why. ZAV Architects of Tehran employs cutting-edge sandbag construction to forge a much-needed gathering place, known as the Rong Cultural Center, on Hormoz Island in Iran. The designers involved describe it as such: “Rong is an urban space that people can walk on. It has harmony with the island’s geomorphology and is iconic at the same time.” In a similar vein, Matthew Mazzotta – a Loeb Fellow at Harvard University – conceived a camouflaged storefront that morphs, as if by magic, into a stage and seating area for local theatrical productions. Located in Lyons, Nebraska, this whimsical structure was named the 2018 Project of the Year by Deezen. One overarching theme – not explicitly enumerated in the text but that encompasses many of the listed entries – is imagination. The buildings that uplift and inspire voters are those that share a deep and wondrous sense of playfulness. The imaginative project selected by participants in this year’s competition is the ultra-photogenic Tianjin Binhai Library by the Netherlands-based practice MVRDV. Instagrammers the world over will recognise this 362,740 square-foot flexible cultural facility in China’s Binhai district, which features a radiant spherical auditorium and a beguiling suite of floorto-ceiling bookcases. Images of this camera-ready creation have been shared across social media widely for the past year – a search of the location hashtag yields thousands of posts highlighting the facility’s extraordinary height, its unusual, undulating form and otherworldly scale. The popularity of MVRDV’s Tianjin hub speaks to the extraordinary ability that architecture has to connect and excite people across the globe via photography, literature and social media – further developing tourism through digital

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platforms and online identities. Those who can’t make the Right: Refugium, Fleinvær, pilgrimage to this Binhai literary gem – or other blockbusters Fleinvær Norway. TYIN tegnestue Architects and Rintala Eggertsson Architects, like BIG’s candy-coloured LEGO House in Billund, Denmark, 2017, Popular Choice Winner. or Sanjay Puri’s shapely and futuristic Mathura city hostel, Image: Kathrine Sørgård (page 217). known as The Street – have an awareness of and interest in contemporary constructions thanks to these practitioners’ unusual and outside-the-box approach. Technology enables those interested in the subject to have virtual exposure to buildings, thus making the opinions and reactions of the general public even more timely and appropriate. The best places, as demonstrated in this book, do not merely arouse one to look up, snap a photo, and post it to Instagram, or to simply pass by without inspiring thoughts or questions – they invigorate, amuse and connect people from all walks of life. Accessibility, it seems, is high on the list. The very existence of the Architizer awards and this related publication points to the notion that what makes an individual structure compelling is also what makes design, as a practice, deeply exciting: it’s for everyone to experience, enjoy and contemplate. Successful buildings, like those highlighted within the pages of this title, not only consider the needs of a specific client, but also the needs of humanity – the diverse Words communities, neighbours and passersby who engage with Stephanie Strasnick the material both directly and indirectly. The planet’s future inhabitants will also reap the benefits of forward-thinking, energy-saving, eco-conscious and sustainable design, and Architizer: The World's those voting in this year’s poll understand this. Looking Best Architecture is ahead is, therefore, on the agenda. Keskeys’ introduction published 8 February again offers an apt summation of why each structure merits courtesy of Phaidon. a place in the canon: “It is the power of good architecture [that makes us] perform ordinary tasks exceptionally well.” www.phaidon.com

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art

Desolate Environments Henri Prestes

The Perfect Darkness is an ongoing series by Portuguese cinematographer and photographer Henri Prestes (b. 1989), shot in secluded and isolated villages surrounded by dense fog, heavy rain and snow. The collection highlights moments of melancholy; deep black and aquamarine palettes cut across the compositions, with small glimpses of humanity emerging from the corners. Large shadows take precedence in the viewerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s eyeline; tree trunks, hooded porches and empty roads are set within unfolding stories. Audiences become part of short, filmic instances, invited to fill the gaps inbetween. What remains are eerie vignettes that frame the everyday with a veil of tension. Prestesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; images communicate a wider feeling of desolation and anticipation. Hazy skies, obscured floodlights and ominous doorways lure onlookers into a psychological playground, waiting for what comes next. www.henriprestesp.com.