This issue was made in Almaty, the largest city in Kazakhstan and a burgeoning centre of LGBTQ culture in Central Asia. This is the sort of place that we expect the bulk of our readership to know little about, and before coming here we were also rather in the dark.
‘Elska Almaty’ features ten chapters, dedicated to the following local participants: Zhassulan S, Nicholas S, Aski K, Roman P, Nurzhan T, Denis Z, Sanzhar A, Samgat A, Edward S, and Nan N.
Ten ordinary local boys from this city’s LGBTQ community, shot both in the city streets and at home, dressed in their own style and often not dressed at all. Each also contributed a personal story, written themselves in either Kazakh or Russian (and followed by English translations) on any subject of their choosing, enabling an even closer connection. These texts touch upon a variety of topics, from stories of falling in love with a closeted celebrity, to chronicles of learning to not just live but flourish as an HIV-positive person, to tales of being a dedicated cat dad who can’t stop growing his feline family.
Extra special thanks this issue goes to: Josiah Blackmore, Frank Dalton, Joe Pinto.
The subject of love: it’s a universal concept. At the time when I started my research, was in desperate need of a story that would help reshape my perception of love in a modern world. When I began my search, many stories I encountered lacked sincerity and depth. I was searching for an out of this world pulsating energy. Then I met Pierre and Jiyeonne, a French-Korean couple who, once they met on a dating app on the 21st of August 2018, have not left each other’s sides since.
Planet A versammelt Werkserien der letzten fünfzehn Jahre zu Bewegungen der Erde und der Elemente, die sich in äußerst unterschiedlichen Zeiträumen und Ausmaßen vollziehen und so in jeweils anderer Relation zum menschlichen Maß in Raum und Zeit stehen. Das Buch gibt einen sinnlichen Einblick in die künstlerischen Prozesse Kati Gausmanns, die natur- und geisteswissenschaftliche Studien, Atelierarbeit und in Fieldwork vor Ort eingesetzte künstlerische Mittel verbinden. Auf poetische Weise vermitteln sich die unterschiedlichen Landschaften, in denen die Werke entstanden sind, und die ihnen zugrunde liegenden natürlichen Prozesse. Ein Essay von Hanne Loreck entfaltet die Komplexität dieser künstlerischen Praxis, ordnet sie in den aktuellen Diskurs ein und zeigt Bezüge zu aktuellen Fragen des Planetaren und des Anthropozäns auf.
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Planet A presents work series from the last fifteen years that focus on the movements of the earth and of the elements which occur across vastly different scales of age and scope, thus establishing a distinct relationship with our human measure of time and space. The book provides a sensual insight into Kati Gausmann’s artistic practice, which combines studies in natural science and the humanities, studio work, and artistic methods deployed in on-site fieldwork. The various landscapes in which the works were created and the natural processes underlying them are poetically conveyed. Hanne Loreck’s essay unfolds the complexity of this artistic practice, situates it within the current discourse, and highlights topical questions related to the planet and to the Anthropocene. Fotografie: Miranda Blennerhassett, Angela von Brill, Astrid Busch, Carsten Eisfeld, Barbora Gallová, Kati Gausmann, Michael Jezierny, Katharina Pöhlmann, Eric Tschernow, Martin Zellerhoff
The works in this publication were commissioned by Fredi Fischli and Niels Olsen. I was asked to remake each of artist’s work as ‘posters’, with the direction that they should be at least 85% ‘Dan Mitchell’. The joke was to appropriate the appropriators. Additionally I included, as subjects, the architect of the show’s design, Petra Blaisse / Inside Outside, and also the curators themselves.
Things got a little confusing between 2020 and 2021 as there were 3 book projects on the go at the same time – the official catalogue for Theft is Vision, the book ‘Dan Mitchell Posters’* (both designed by Teo Schifferli and an unofficial lolz style book/ catalogue of the posters now published here. Only the book of my posters made it to print. Cultural fashion shifts and Covid put paid to the desire to produce a physical publication, appropriation, as a subject didn’t seem to be cool anymore.
Pocket Guide: Dan Mitchell Posters
With: Casima von Bonin. Maurizio Cattelan, Maria Eichhorn, Marie Louise Eman, Syvie Fleury, Isa Genzken, Richard Hamilton, Charline von Hey, Pierre Joseph, Valentina Liernur, Dan Mitchell, Mathieu Malouf, Malcolm Morley, Albert Oehlen, Betty Tompkins and Gili Tal. Exhibition architecture by Petra Blaise / Inside Outside
The notion of ‘Theft’ establishes a site of investigation. This exhibition examines the desire to appropriate – a fundamental theme in the production of art. Throughout art there are typologies that ensue from the appropriation of motifs or of other works of art. As just one form of aggressive theft, the act of citation was already a cultural strategy long before Appropriation Art manifested itself.
At Luma Westbau the following questions are posed from a contemporary perspective: What are the genres established through appropriation today? What does stealing mean for artistic production? Is it an act of removal and subtraction? Or can it be a productive strategy as suggested by the art history of Appropriation Art? In the context of this exhibition, ‘Theft is presented as dialogues and translations between artists. In essence, the exhibition confronts two opposing concepts in appropriation: the desire to appropriate as the idolization of sources or as an attack on and subversion of the established.
The typology of the enfilade a suite of rooms in grand architecture – is reconfigured in translucent plastic inthe exhibition design by Petra Baisse / inside Outside and inserted into the White Cube spacent encloses formative typologies of works of art productively used by numerous artists. The investigation leads to a wild variety of iconic and unexpected results: reconfigurations of Marcel Duchamp’s readymades, Kazimir Malevich’s Black Square, Lucio Fontana’s Concetto Spaziale, Jasper John’s Target, Fra Angelico’s Annunciation, Jacques-Louis David’s Napoleon Crossing the Alps, book illustrations by Bernard Buffet, and Courbet’s L’Origine Du Mode or variations on shopping-bag installations. By gathering these typologies together, the exhibition reveals and contrasts different appropriation strategies in art, and invites to discern and encounter sources, counterparts, and sundry partners in crime.
This book is my record of the stories that took place from the summer of 2022 to the early spring of 2023. This was me taking a break from school during my study abroad in Germany, and these photos helped me to remember the happy and indecisive times of finding mysel!. I have been on the road in Berlin, Hirschaid, Frankfurt, Cologne and Italy, thanks to my friends Long, Junye, Selin, Andreas and Dagmar, as well as my friends in China, for giving me answers when I was lost. Hope this book can bring calmness and strength to those who are struggling and confused.
We have been traveling abroad together for over a decade. Last year (2022), for the first time since the pandemic, we toured several European countries in the summer and fall. It was also a good opportunity to visit two of the biggest art festivals of the year, Documenta 15 in the summer and the Venice Biennale in the fall. This exhibition is a compilation of the records of the journey. As graphic/book/editorial designers, we incorporated what we edited into printed materials under the slogan of “editing a journey”. The fact that we were able to composite our job and hobby in this form further motivated us to continue traveling and learning about the world we have yet to see. We hope that visitors to the exhibition will be able to experience a little of the atmosphere of our travel.
This is a limited edition photo book in 200 copies with images by Peter Wiklund and texts from poems by the Swedish writer Willy Granqvist (b. 1948, d. 1985).
The Swedish word Ängelen means “the angel” (but with an elderly spelling).
Each book is numbered and signed, and has a small unique, handmade cyanotype on the cover.
Dehors par Amélie Lucas-Gary Nus Fleurs Fleuristes Nus Fleurs Fleuristes II NFF III Voyage au Pouliguen Grasse en Avril Les Anciennes Auberges de Jeunesse Nu aux Pavillons-sous-Bois
All shots taken in New York City, in the summer of 2023, by Sara Hirayama.
[Sara Hirayama] Creator of SP∞CE Magazine. Born in 2000, from Tokyo. In her photography, she excels in capturing the beauty of simplicity and the harmonious interplay of colors in everyday life.
SP∞CE Magazine is a media focusing on lifestyles and cultures. “There are ∞ (infinite) ways to live your life.” We hope to be a guiding light for those who yearn for freedom and authenticity but may not yet know the way. The debut issue “vol.00” features the communities around skateboarding and art in our home city, Tokyo. Find yourself, be yourself.
Interviews: – Saeka Shimada (photographer) – Ryo Seijri (skater/artist) – Buggye (skate collective) – Y Town Playaz (skate collective)
