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

Posted in critique, decolonization, geography, politics, writing on July 24th, 2023
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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.

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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.

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Cults and Culture Talk / Alex Head @ Motto Berlin. Thursday, 13 July 2023.

Posted in architecture, Book launch, critique, design, Motto Berlin event, politics, Theory, writing on July 7th, 2023
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Dear friends,

We are happy to invite you to Cults and Culture on Thursday, July 13th from 7:00 PM, a talk by Alex Head in which the author will discuss his book Ricochet – Cultural Epigenetics and the Philosophy of Change (Ljå Forlag, Oslo, 2021).

Reflecting on discoveries and debates that have occurred in the two years since its publication, artist Alex Head will read from current works in progress to highlight specific aspects within his ambitious book 
Ricochet to discuss the architecture of power.


It is now well documented that cults have been used to disseminate disinformation. For example the extremist cults of MAGA, The Oath Keepers and Proud Boys who’s recruitment pipeline has been funded by Big Oil and crypto libertarians in an attempt to overthrow the United States and 
crash their and the world’s economy.


But what about the arts more widely, is there a form of culture that is transparent about its ideology, particularly in today’s hyper-accelerate media vortex? Are all cultural institutions not also in some way cultish? The cult of patriarchy being just one obvious example that transcends both religious and cultural institutions.


Focussing on specific evidence of how cults have been used to spread disinformation and other historical data the artist will discuss the central motif to his work Ricochet, – the Sacred Date Palm Tree – as a expression of the anti-rhizome. Are we, the unwitting public being continuously gaslit by Sacred Date Palm tree’s in the form of neoclassical architecture? And if so, what can we do to review and 
refocus personal and political objectives as users navigate the web architecture of the app?

Join us at Motto Berlin on Thursday, 13th of July for an insightful talk where we will explore the profound themes of Ricochet and run across topics like January 6th, Classical Architecture, White Supremacy, BND Building Berlin, Mental Health, Libertarianism, Bitcoin, Gold Standard, Going Offline, Art, Publishing, Design, Cultural Epigenetics, Memory, Witnessing and Social Media.

Alex Head

Ljå Forlag

New r Age. Eldar Tagi, Lena Pozdnyakova, Shiroishi Alto. Motto Editions.

Posted in cassette, Motto Berlin event, Motto Berlin store, Motto Books, music, Shiroishi Alto on June 16th, 2023
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Side A: 
Quantum Echoes Pt. 1……..10.44 
Quantum Echoes Pt. 2……..8.42 

Side B: 
The Spirit Channel Pt. 1……..11.24 
The Spirit Channel Pt. 2……..8.54 

Patrick Shiroishi Alto Saxophone, Voice 
Lena Pozdnyakova – Amplified Objects 
Eldar Tagi – Serge and Ciat-Lonbarde synthesizers, Daxophone, Shtar 

Production, Mastering – Eldar Tagi 
Recorded in Los Angeles, CA July 11, 2021 

Cover Design: Lena Pozdnyakova 
Image Source: Painting by Liza Kin (“Eine Linie” series) 

Motto Editions

‘New r Age’ is the follow-up collaborative album from composers and improvisers Eldar Tagi and Patrick Shiroishi. This time around, they’re joined by interdisciplinary artist and researcher Lena Pozdnyakova, bringing a fresh twist to their creative partnership. The recording took place on a sunny afternoon on July 11th, 2021, in a cozy apartment in Los Angeles’ Rampart Village—a place Tagi and Pozdnyakova used to call home for several years before moving to Berlin.

In this recording, the trio used a broad range of sounds. Shiroishi contributed his expert alto saxophone skills, sometimes blending his voice with the music. Tagi experimented with a variety of instruments such as the daxophone and Shtar, as well as Ciat-Lonbarde and Serge synthesizers. Pozdnyakova, on the other hand, added her unique touch by incorporating noises from amplified everyday objects.

The result is a blend of sounds that shift and change in intensity, keeping listeners on their toes. While the raw energy of the improvised performances is still front and center, additional layers of electronic tones and careful post-processing give the recording an extra amount of density and dimension. So, sit back and enjoy this unique sonic experience that “New r Age” offers.

About the artists:

Patrick Shiroishi is a Japanese-American multi-instrumentalist and composer based in Los Angeles.

Lena Pozdnyakova is a Kazakhstan-born interdisciplinary artist and researcher currently based in Berlin, Germany.

Eldar Tagi is a Kazakhstan-born multi-instrumentalist and composer currently based in Berlin, Germany.

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A Kassen – Dimensions Variable. Rene Campolmi, Adam Carr, Jonatan Habib Engqvist. Mousse Publishing.

Posted in art, Artist Book, photography, sculpture on May 15th, 2023
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A Kassen is a Danish art collective whose work encompasses photography, installation, and sculpture. Recalling the process-over-product mantra of 1960s action painters and Pop artists, their practice hinges on central questions of authorship and explores the relationship between form and content. Beginning with an everyday object—a material such as bronze, or something more ephemeral, like a puddle or a reflection—A Kassen task themselves with acts of construction and deconstruction, reinterpretation and recontextualization, all the while challenging preconceived notions of what the phenomenon in question is. Through these manipulations, they create works meant to be seen explicitly through the context of art and aesthetics, where the spectator’s role becomes central—indeed, an integral part of the work. Bystanders become interpreters, creating layers of meaning and understanding while rewriting the narratives at hand.

Dimensions Variable includes essays by Irene Campolmi, Adam Carr, and Jonatan Habib Engqvist, and an illustrated chronology of A Kassen’s works.

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DIK FAGAZINE #13 – Ukraine Isuue. Karol Radziszewski, Anton Shebato (Eds.).  DIK Fagazine; Queer Archives Institut

Posted in art, magazines, writing on April 19th, 2023
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DIK is back with an issue dedicated to queer history of Ukraine!

Issue edited by @karolradziszewski and @shebetko 
Design: @neuemartin 

Featured in issue:
@anatoly_belov_ 
@nikita.kadan 
@melovin_official 
@ZhannaSimeiz
@mysterium_fascinans 
@koptev_misha 
kay_altos88
@granatsplitter 
@thisisban 
Photo editor: @krzysiekrzysztofiak 

Published by @queerarchivesinstitute with kind support of @betweenbridgesfoundation

Cover photo: Anton Shebetko, ”Sofia”, We Were Here, 2018

@dikfagazine

#dikfagazine #ukraine #queer 

#queerukraine

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Healing The Museum. Grace Ndiritu. Motto Books

Posted in art, critique, curating, exhibitions, Monograph, Motto Books, politics, research, writing on March 31st, 2023
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“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.

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How to Get Rid of Pimples. Cookie Mueller. Top Stories

Posted in art, Artist Book, books on February 18th, 2023
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Top Stories, #19-20: How to Get Rid of Pimples

How to Get Rid of Pimples is Cookie Mueller’s first and only fiction publication, where she spins short, strange tales of friends healed by her miraculous acne cure. Although the stories revolve around her description of others, Cookie herself outshines her characters, with an unmistakable voice that is astute, grotesque, and undeniably hers – as if Flannery O’Connor became a New York downtown diva. With photos by Peter Hujar, Nan Goldin, and David Armstrong, How to Get Rid of Pimples conjures a vision of the remarkable world of Cookie Mueller.

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Mousse #82. Chiara Moioli, Antonio Scoccimarro (Eds.). Mousse Magazine

Posted in art, Journals, magazines on February 10th, 2023
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Winter 2023

In this issue:

REHEARSAL
Cally Spooner

ANITA STECKEL
(A) Reconsidering Anita Steckel in the Age of Heteropessimism
Wendy Vogel
(B) Anita Being Anita
Dodie Bellamy, Rachel Middleman, Betty Tompkins

MANHATTAN MARXIST: I’VE GOT PRINCIPLES, AND IF YOU DON’T LIKE THEM, I’VE GOT OTHERS
Estelle Hoy

PRIMITIVE MAN
Amy Gerstler

TIDBITS (PART I)
Jordan/Martin Hell by Alex Bennett
Scott Covert by Sabrina Tarasoff
Erin Calla Watson by Jennifer Piejko
Stéphane Mandelbaum by Krzysztof Kościuczuk

The Margins of Events: Bruno Serralongue
Elisa R. Linn, Lennart Wolff

SEYNI AWA CAMARA: Tale of Tales
Eva Barois De Caevel

MELIKE KARA: Being without Ego
Sohrab Mohebbi

Books
Jenna Sutela

TIDBITS (PART II)
Abbas Zahedi by Alessandro Rabottini
George Tourkovasilis by Nicolas Linnert
B. Ingrid Olson by Brit Barton
Dala Nasser by Amy Jones

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VICE – ∀SꓤƎɅ. Cornelius de Bill Baboul

Posted in art, Artist Book, Artist's book, illustration, painting on February 7th, 2023
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The images in this book are preparative studies for large paintings. The 220 x 220 cm enameled aluminum frames are fixed on motorised axes, which allow the paintings to turn at 90 or 180 degrees. When it flips, the figure reveals its duplicity; elusive lines on a twisted path, bouncing back and forth from an illusion to another… “A duck with a fish in its beak” becomes “a rabbit with a carrot in between the ears”. “Nothing special” becomes “Something special”. “A saw in a log” becomes “a crocodile love”, etc.

First edition, 2023

About the author:
Under various pseudonyms Cornelius de Bill Baboul has received the Berlin Art Prize (DE), was nominated for the Aperture PhotoBook Award (US), has entered private and public collections such as MACBA (Barcelona), has been published by Nieves (CH) and exhibited at Paris-Photo (FR), MoMA PS1 (US), Swiss Institute (US), Huis Marseille (NL), Bank Gallery (JP). His work appears in the international press like the British Journal of Photography (UK), Purple (FR), CURA. (IT), Aperture (US), Elephant (UK), Zeit Magazin (DE), The New York Times (US), The Paris Review (US), Luncheon (UK), It’s Nice That (UK).

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Patti Smith – Galerie Veith Turske. Galerie Veith Turske

Posted in art, editions, exhibition catalogue, exhibitions, music on February 1st, 2023
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Catalogue from Patti Smith’s exhibition and poetry reading on the occasion of Arthur Rimbaud’s 123rd birthday (October 20, 1854) at the Galerie Veith Turske on October 20, 1977. The book contains images of Smith’s paintings and drawings as well as photographs and poetry, in English and German.

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