MIK SABIERS revels in a band that ploughs an idiosyncratic furrow of expletive laden, guitar-driven alt rock
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The democratic strategies of Scandinavian design
SIAN LEWIS draws attention to a tradition of design whose mass production was conceived for the greater good rather than the greatest profit
Arne Jacobsen, Model no. 3107 chairs for Fritz Hansen, 1955.
[© Fritz Hansen]
ANDY HEDGECOCK, MARIA DUARTE and ANGUS REID review Synthetic Sincerity, Our Hero, Balthazar, Heartstopper Forever, and A Year In London
The bard invites readers to a gig, raps for Clacton, and lays out the Burnham-Hurzeler conundrum
RON JACOBS recommends an important book that enhances the oppositional theories put forth by Fanon and, in doing so, remakes psychology itself
JAN WOOLF relishes an extensive history of our long relationship to trees in Britain that underlines the current emergency
DIANE WATT argues that while evidence of sex is not there, a 16th‑century lesbian poet could be Scotland’s answer to Gentleman Jack
KEITH RICHMOND relishes a superbly conceived modern version of Aeschylus’ drama of murderous family succession
Scandinavian Design
Charlotte & Peter Fiell, Taschen, £25
THE latest update of Charlotte and Peter Fiell’s 2002 Taschen book on Scandinavian design comes as part of the German art publisher’s 40th anniversary celebrations and is a weighty little brick of a book, 512 pages but with a footprint barely larger than a piece of A5 paper, perfect for the tiniest of minimalist coffee tables. The quality is as excellent as we have come to expect from the carbon-neutral publisher.
It’s always a tricky argument when defending good aesthetics against the purely functional, but why is it not possible to have both — and not just for the enjoyment of the wealthy?
In Sweden, 19th century socialist Ellen Key argued for “Skonhet at Alla” (beauty for all) and the Swedish Society of Craft & Industrial Design, set up in 1845 to oversee the quality of mass-produced goods, employed the slogan “Vackrare Vardagsvara” (more beautiful everyday objects).
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Gin Lane by William Hogarth is a critique of 18th-century London’s growing funeral trade, posits DAN O’BRIEN
The creative imagination is a weapon against barbarism, writes KENNY COYLE, who is a keynote speaker at the Manifesto Press conference, Art in the Age of Degenerative Capitalism, tomorrow at the Marx Memorial Library & Workers School in London