“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
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
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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 »
Hi, my name is Vinny, and I am Margaret Hilda Thatcher’s pearl necklace. I hear you! Sounds like a bleedin’ self-help support group. Well, maybe it should be, my old cocker. It all started back in August ’53, the year of our Regina’s coronation. There I am, in Asprey, minding my own business, dreaming about
After the publication of this book, Berger described that he “has never written a book with a greater sense of urgency.” This comment resonates with me to this day, as I have never read a book with a comparable level of urgency. Before starting the book itself, I was particularly drawn to its striking cover
This Summer, I Will Re-read… Read More »
My Mum gave me Georges Perec’s Life: A User’s Manual for Christmas 2011. Since then, the big wedge of paper has undergone material transformation, something Perec pays particular attention to within the book’s numerous and nebulous narratives. Tiny bits of torn paper bookmark pages that I have to return to; the thinly glued spine is
This Summer I Am Going to Re-read… Read More »
