fifty wish. Hernc. Berlin Photobook Distribution

Posted in illustration on November 25th, 2023
Tags: , , , , ,

“Putting aside momentarily the work and setting out to explore the curious world and the next path, I write down 50 wishes for the future me after the journey. Emptying the jealousy and the restless heart that have filled me during this time, I make a commitment by jotting down 50 items on my wishlist, ready to make room for new things.

As I write about what I need to let go of and what I want to embrace, I look forward to the stories that may unfold for me in the future, in whatever form they may come.”

Order here

THE LINE. Atlas of Remoteness. Midwest USA. Luis Hilti; Matilde Igual Capdevila (Eds). Infinite Publication Series – Institute for Linear Research.

Posted in geography, photography, writing on November 23rd, 2023
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

THE LINE – Atlas of Remoteness documents the exploration of contemporary landscapes by walking along a straight line around the Earth. The present volume focuses on a series of walks in the American Midwest, from Wisconsin to Nebraska and across the Mississippi River.

Authors: Mary Dahlman Begley, Gabriel Cuéllar, Sophie Durbin, Meg Lundquist, Jakob Mahla, Athar Mufreh, Derek Ronding, Drew Smith

Series design by: Studio Krispin Heé (Krispin Heé, Tim Wetter)

Realization by: Luis Hilti & Matilde Igual Capdevila

Atlas of Remoteness is a project by the Institute for Linear Research published by the Infinite Publication Series.

Order here

HaFI 018 – Skip Norman: On Africa. Skip Norman. Harun Farocki Institut; Motto Books

Posted in Film, history, Motto Books, writing on November 17th, 2023
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

HaFI 018 reprints a document containing the script of Skip Norman’s film On Africa (1970). Norman, born in Baltimore in 1933, had left the U.S. in the early 1960s to study German, theater, and medicine in Göttingen. In 1966 he moved to Berlin to join the newly founded German Film and Television Academy (DFFB). By 1969, he had made the films Riffi (1966), Blues People (1968), Cultural Nationalism (1969) and the graduation film Strange Fruit (1969). He shot On Africa together with Joey Gibbs after graduating from the school. The filmmaker about his film: “The starting point is the relationship between Europe’s prosperity and Africa’s poverty; Europe’s destruction of societies and cultures, and the simultaneous use of Christianity and racial theories as justification for a massive exploitation of the colonized.” On Africa was first shown at the Festival in Mannheim in 1970 and then broadcast on television by WDR in 1972.
The script is accompanied by images from the film, and followed by five short commentaries by Sónia Vaz Borges, Madeleine Bernstorff, Marie-Hélène Gutberlet, Tom Holert, and Volker Pantenburg.

Das Heft enthält das Skript für Skip Normans Film On Africa (1970). Norman, 1933 in Baltimore geboren, hatte die USA zu Beginn der 1960er Jahre verlassen, um in Göttingen Deutsch, Theaterwissenschaft und Medizin zu studieren. 1966 zog er nach Berlin, um an die neugegründete Deutsche Film- und Fernsehakademie Berlin (DFFB) zu wechseln. Bis 1969 entstanden die Filme Riffi (1966), Blues People (1968), Cultural Nationalism (1969) und der Abschlussfilm Strange Fruit (1969).
On Africa entstand gemeinsam mit Joey Gibbs nach Normans DFFB-Abschluss. In Normans Worten: „Der Ausgangspunkt dieses Films ist das Verhältnis zwischen Europas Wohlstand und Afrikas Armut; Europas Zerstörung von Gesellschaften und Kulturen, und gleichzeitiger Einsatz von Christentum und Rassentheorien als Rechtfertigung einer gewaltigen Ausbeutung der Kolonialisierten.“ On Africa wurde am 7. Oktober 1970 bei der XIX. Internationalen Filmwoche Mannheim in der „Informationsschau“ aufgeführt; 1972 lief der Film im WDR.
Das Skript wird begleitet von zahlreichen Bildern aus dem Film und kontextualisiert durch fünf Kurzessays von Sónia Vaz Borges, Madeleine Bernstorff, Marie-Hélène Gutberlet, Tom Holert und Volker Pantenburg.

Order here

La résistance des bijoux – Contre les géographies coloniales. Ariella Aïsha Azoulay. Ròt-Bò-Krik

Posted in geography, politics, writing on July 24th, 2023
Tags: , , , , , , ,

À la mort de son père, Juif d’Oran naturalisé français puis israélien, Ariella Azoulay découvre dans un document que sa grand-mère portait le prénom Aïcha. En deux récits mêlant autobiographie et théorie politique, l’autrice serpente entre les catalogues de bijoux, les photos trouvées et les collections d’objets pillés, pour déployer par fragments l’histoire de sa famille et mettre en parallèle les colonialismes français en Algérie et sioniste en Palestine. Entre ces projets impériaux, elle saisit bien des continuités, à commencer par la volonté obstinée de détruire l’enchevêtrement séculaire des mondes juifs, arabes et berbères, un entrelacs qu’elle revendique pour mieux le restaurer.

-​

Ariella Aïsha Azoulay est écrivaine, chercheuse, cinéaste expérimentale et commissaire d’archives anticoloniales. Née en 1962 dans la colonie sioniste de Palestine, elle est professeure à l’université Brown où elle enseigne la théorie politique, la résistance aux formations impériales et les imaginaires anticoloniaux réclamant le retour, la restitution et le tikkoun olam, la réparation du monde. Autrice d’une dizaine de livres parus dans de nombreux pays, elle a publié entre autres Potential History: Unlearning Imperialism (Verso, 2019) et From Palestine to Israel: A Photographic Record of Destruction and State Formation (Pluto Press, 2011). Inédit, La Résistance des bijoux est son premier livre traduit en français.

Order here

Why do hoodie strings taste so good? Ignacy Radtke.

Posted in research, Self published on June 20th, 2023
Tags: , , , , , , ,

This text is an attempt to explain the importance of comfort regulation, through sensory stimulation. Whether that be from fidgeting, through masturbation to cuddling and other activities. This thesis is about self-regulation and the objects which visualise that need. From the Freudian psychoanalysis idea of child development through transitional objects introduced by Donald Winnicot to Dakimakura phenomena in otaku culture in a Japanese society that seeks closeness to cute pastelle vibrators which are overflowing the sex toys market. The attempt to answer this question: “Why do hoodie strings taste so good?” seeks to answer the overarching need for constant adjustment to the environment we live in.

I’m intrigued by the need for biting, sucking, and tapping random objects. The fidgeting era is here! We are overwhelmed by all kinds of spinners, popping toys, anti-stress devices, dopamine booster, etc. What is it all about and why have fidget spinners became such a hype in the recent years? Have you ever considered why your hoodie strings taste so good? Have you caught yourself while compulsively sucking them in the metro or at the bus stop? This thesis will endeavour to answer these questions. The answer might be much easier and more pragmatic than we think. In contradiction to my deep analysis in the following sections, one of the reddit users wrote in response to the above question: Why do hoodie strings taste so good?

“Just don’t do it! After sucking them a few times, they become bacteria factories/colonies, so taste (and probably smell) evolves over time. Don’t suck and chew them!! They do, however, work as good, reachable things to practise finger dexterity – to tie knots into and practice rope binding”.

Order here

Urofagia. Dale Gass Barry.

Posted in novel, Self published, Uncategorized, writing on April 18th, 2023
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

The harsh realities of life in Berlin are laid bare in this short novel. From the piss drenched corners of the club scene, to the inevitable slide into madness. This is not therapy. This is not an addiction. It’s a fetish – of course it is. UROFAGIA – a love story with no boundaries. 

Order here

Healing The Museum. Grace Ndiritu. Motto Books

Posted in Exhibitions, Monograph, Motto Books, politics, research, writing on March 31st, 2023
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

“Healing The Museum” is a mid-career monograph looking at Grace Ndiritu’s diverse practice over the last twenty years, which encompasses performance, film, shamanism, social actions, painting, publications, textile work, and collection research. The large selection of artworks included in the publication are in a dialogue with each other, further enriched by in-depth conversations with Brook Andrew, Gareth Bell-Jones, and Philippe Van Cauteren, and written contributions from Ifeanyi Awachie, Ann Hoste, and Hammad Nasar. The monograph’s publication coincides with the eponymous exhibition at S.M.A.K.–Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst in Ghent.

Order here

Die Aufstellung. Rebekka Bauer. Verlag Marian Arnd

Posted in Exhibition catalogue, history, photography, writing on March 28th, 2023
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

Die Aufstellung thematisiert die Weitergabe von Traumata des 2. Weltkriegs im Wohnhaus meiner Familie. Ausgangspunkt ist ein Archiv von 500 Metallobjekten, die mein Großvater, ein ehemaliger Wehrmachtssoldat, über mehrere Jahrzehnte im Keller unseres gemeinsamen Wohnhauses fertigte. Die Objekte werden in der handwerklichen Routine zu Trägern des Traumas. Um den Einfluss der unausgesprochenen Kriegserlebnisse auf den Familienalltag zu zeigen, setze ich die Metallgegenstände sowohl mit Kriegsfotografien als auch Familienfotos ins Verhältnis, die Ausschnitte aus dem Alltag meiner Familie bis in die frühen 2000er Jahre zeigen.

Order here

Mizna 23.2 – The Black SWANA Issue. Safia Elhillo (Ed.). Mizna

Posted in Journals, poetry, politics, writing on March 24th, 2023
Tags: , , , , , , , , ,

Mizna: The Black SWANA Issue, guest-edited by Safia Elhillo and produced by an all-Black takeover team, explores the infinitely varied and kaleidoscopic nature of the Black SWANA experience.

Mizna: The Black SWANA Issue features contributions by Fahad Al-Amoudi, Salma Ali, Shams Alkamil, Ladin Awad, Lameese Badr, Romaissaa Benzizoune, Dina El Dessouky, Atheel Elmalik, k. eltinaé, Samah Fadil, Shawn Frazier, Myronn Hardy, Fatma Hassan, Asmaa Jama, Marlin M. Jenkins, Abigail Mengesha, Suzannah Mirghani, Nihal Mubarak, Umniya Najaer, Sihle Ntuli, Abu Bakr Sadiq, Sagirah Shaheed, Charif Shanahan, Najma Sharif, Faatimah Solomon, Vanessa Taylor, Qutouf Yahia, Thawrah Yousif. Interview with Charif Shanahan. Visual art by Kamala Ibrahim Ishag.

Order here

White Water. Elena Bollette

Posted in photography, Self published, Uncategorized, writing on March 20th, 2023
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,

A journey into Miami’s ghetto. A gang, writing classes, a bicycle, rap songs, turquoise houses, dollars, a strip club and North Beach ocean. A love story forbidden by the silent rules of the streets of Liberty City. A solar depiction of a place where fates are sealed. She is Ella. His name is June. Burnt by the sun, they are watching the white shapes of water, “White Water”.

“White Water” takes the reader on a journey through Liberty City, a poor neighborhood in Miami. It draws the story of two characters divided by everything: Ella & June. A hybrid project, this story is related by both a book and a movie. Analog photographs, raps, poems & interviews will immerse you into the hood alongside the fiction. The short movie acts as a symbolic and poetic depiction of the story. Both are connected, independent & intrinsic.

“White Water” offers a reading as an artistic experience. It is an adventure, an exploration, and a questioning of the self and the others. Halfway between a novel and an art book, “White Water” offers an adventure, an exploration and a questioning of oneself and of others.

Limited edition of 150 copies

Un voyage dans le ghetto de Miami. Un gang, des cours d’écriture, un vélo, du rap, des maisons turquoise, des dollars, un strip club et l’océan de North Beach. Une intrigue amoureuse interdite par les lois silencieuses des rues de Liberty City. Le portrait solaire d’un lieu où les destinées sont déjà écrites. Elle s’appelle Ella, il s’appelle June. Brûlés par le soleil, ils regardent les formes blanches de l’eau, “White Water”.

“White Water” offre au lecteur un voyage dans un quartier pauvre de Miami appelé Liberty City et tisse un portrait de ce lieu à travers le regard de deux personnages que tout sépare : Ella & June. Projet hybride, il se décline sous la forme d’un livre et d’un court-métrage. Le livre est un roman de fiction accompagné de photographies, de raps, de poèmes et d’interviews. Le court-métrage agit comme un portrait poétique et symbolique de la fiction. Ils sont connectés, intrinsèques et à la fois indépendants. 

À mi-chemin entre le roman et le livre d’art,“White Water” se veut une aventure, une exploration et un questionnement sur soi et sur les autres.

Édition limitée de 150 exemplaire

Order here