The explosion will not happen today. It is too soon … or too late.[1] Frantz Fanon (1925–1961) was a Martinique-born psychiatrist, writer, and revolutionary. Like other middle-class Martinicans, he received a French education. He fled the island at age 18 and enlisted in the Free French Forces, continuing his service to the end of the […]
This Summer, I Am Re-reading… Read More »
For me, the summer seems infinite at the start, and inevitably screeches to an end after our annual family camping trip in the first week of August. For the past 15 years, this week tolls the last gasp of the season, making us scramble for a bit more sun, to cram in one more book,
This Summer I Am Going to Read… Read More »
My studio is a very important part of my process of working. I work mainly with stone. In the picture you can see the basic tools for stone, like sawing and grinding machines and other jeweler’s tools. The possibility of working with materials such as stone gives me incredible pleasure. The feeling the material produces
Sara Gackowska, Słupsk, Poland Read More »
“The criminalization of debt, then, was the criminalization of the very basis of human society.” I learned to be a cultural consumer as a teenager by following pop music. Each year, one of my favorite singers or bands would produce a new album. I would pore over the cover and dissect each track. I remember
This Winter I Am Re-reading… Read More »
Social activism and activist art are generally not known for having a “gentle touch”—unless one has a social media presence equal to the Dalai Lama’s, a quiet voice is rarely heard. At the same time, overt, heavy-handed messages addressing the failures of society are rarely experienced as “enjoyable.” Nick Cave’s Soundsuits operate on numerous levels.
Born June 10, 1918, Denver, Colorado Died August 2, 2015, Sausalito, California June Schwarcz, Vessel 593, 1971, electroformed copper foil with plique-à-jour enamel, height 127 x 236 mm, photo M. Lee Fatherree June Schwarcz, one of the masters of contemporary craft, has passed away at the age of 97. June’s enamel work and sculptural copper
In Memory of June Schwarcz Read More »
“The real is produced from miniaturized units, from matrices, memory banks and command models—and with these it can be reproduced an indefinite number of times.” —Jean Baudrillard I assume most AJF readers are familiar with the film trilogy The Matrix, in which protagonist Neo (played by Keanu Reeves) leaves “reality” behind and leaps into the
This Summer I Am Re-reading… Read More »
This is my studio/shed, in my back yard in Fitzroy North, Melbourne, Australia. It is a very small space, but really all I need. I have just managed to fit in all my equipment with enough room to move around the space freely, just!! Hehe … I am a jeweler/stone cutter so I use my
Katie Jayne Britchford, Fitzroy North, Melbourne, Australia Read More »
When Lucy led her three older siblings into the magical world of Narnia, through an old wardrobe in an empty room, she was the same age I was, when I first read this wonderful children’s book by C. S. Lewis. I was already an independent child, and I felt validated that the heroine was a
Through the Years, I Have Re-read… Read More »
Adeela Suleman, Stainless Steel Helmet with Kettle, 2008, stainless steel bowl, kettle, metal, fabric, padding, 432 x 355 x 305 mm, photo courtesy of the artist and Aicon Gallery Found objects can be both vague and mundane yet offer immeasurable meanings thanks to their utilitarian aspect and their position within a nebula of historical and
Adeela Suleman, Stainless Steel Helmet with Kettle Read More »
Like many of Anni Albers’s woven pieces, the 1941 hardware necklace series she made with former student Alex Reed was informed by her travels throughout South America. Reflecting on the incorporation of natural materials in ancient jewelry discovered in a tomb near Oaxaca, Mexico, Albers explained, “The art of Monte Alban had given us the
Anni Albers’s and Alex Reed’s Drain and Paperclip Necklace Read More »
While trying to make the best i-photograph possible to illustrate this essay with Susan Sontag’s On Photography, my “summer read,” I was confronted with some questions: Did I “construct” or “disclose,” as Susan Sontag puts forward in her book? Was I trying to establish a relation between “the self and the world,” was the photograph
This Summer I’m Going to Re-read… Read More »
