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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Why do hoodie strings taste so good? Ignacy Radtke.

Posted in art, Artist Book, design, research, Self published on June 20th, 2023
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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”.

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Urofagia. Dale Gass Barry.

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

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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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Die Aufstellung. Rebekka Bauer. Verlag Marian Arnd

Posted in Artist Book, exhibition catalogue, history, photography, writing on March 28th, 2023
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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.

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

Posted in art, books, Journals, poetry, politics, writing on March 24th, 2023
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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.

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White Water. Elena Bollette

Posted in Artist Book, Cinema, photography, Self published, Uncategorized, writing on March 20th, 2023
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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

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TEXTURE MAGAZINE ISSUE #2. Christian Jones, Alex Greenwood, Sophie Parke (Eds.). Texture Magazine

Posted in architecture, Artist magazine, distribution, magazines, music, writing on March 8th, 2023
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Texture Magazine Issue #2 is about proximity, growth, and the art of feeling as much as understanding – a fractallised approach to what sound can mean now.

From a radical relistening of silence to the intellectual demise of music altogether, the words contained within are to be held, shared, caressed and torn asunder. Also featured is writing on the sociopolitics of the nightlife industry, the place-making of UK Drill, and the meaning of gatherings in northern Sweden through the eyes of Pliny the Elder. Among many others, of course.

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Merci Danke Grazie. Sophia Eisenhut, Simon Freund, Leonie Herweg, Olga Hohmann. Windparks books

Posted in Artist Book, illustration, research, writing on January 25th, 2023
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ca. 100 Hundetüten gesammelt von Simon Freund, kuratiert von Leonie Herweg, gesetzt von Paul Jürgens, mit Texten von Sophia Eisenhut und Olga Hohmann. Jedes Buch ist ein Unikat, die Anordnung der Bilder variiert.

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Yves Klein Japon. Éditions Dilecta

Posted in art, critique, painting, travel, writing on January 12th, 2023
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Yves Klein (1928–62) first traveled to Japan as a young man in 1952, motivated primarily by his interest in judo. During his 15 months abroad, Klein had numerous important creative and philosophical revelations that culminated in the launch of his artistic career upon his return to Paris.

Prepared in collaboration with the Yves Klein Archives, this volume details Klein’s relationship with Japan through nearly 150 archival documents, photographs and letters, inviting the reader on his journey from martial arts to fine art at the very beginning of his career. Along the way we learn of Klein’s important encounters with art critic Takachiyo Uemura, painter Keizo Koyama and design professor Masaki Yamaguchi. “Yves Klein Japon” provides essential insight into the origins of Klein’s oeuvre as both a groundbreaking visual artist and prolific writer whose short-lived career helped to transform postwar art.

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