Sea Change?
Wolfgang Tillmans’ new show at Maureen Paley focuses on the visible and invisible borders that define us
Tillmans once said, “I take pictures in order to see the world.” We salute him for showing us the finer details of life, whether that be a close-up of a hand entering red adidas shorts such as in arms and legs (2014) or the monumental crimson dance on light-sensitive paper called Greifbar 1 (2014). Again and again his work confirms that if we look more closely, a life as yet unnoticed will emerge.
For his most recent body of work, the artist focuses on the visible and invisible borders that define us. Wolfgang Tillmans is so passionate about inspiring people to vote on Brexit on June 23, his studio has designed campaign posters for people to share on social media. These, along with new and previously unseen works, such as The State We’re In, A, (2015) – a photograph documenting the open water of the Atlantic Ocean where international time lines and borders intersect – are now on show at the Maureen Paley gallery.
Huff and puff and bend the house round
Architects Barkow Leibinger create an undulating summer house for the Serpentine Gallery
Philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein once wrote, “You get tragedy where the tree instead of bending, breaks.” In Barkow Leibinger’s coiled summer house creation, which will accompany this year’s Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, there is no snapping only sheer suppleness. The structure, made using plywood and timber and reminiscent of a blind contour drawing, is a thing of joy. It’s as if the wood were dancing. At Folk, we like it when things dance – in particular wood…
The Serpentine Pavilion, created by Danish architect Bjarke Ingels as well as the four Serpentine summer houses will be open from June 10-9 October, 2016. For more information visit serpentinegalleries.org.
Folk June Playlist by Man Power
To celebrate the beginning of the festival season, we’ve asked DJ Man Power to curate a playlist for us. The June edition is a 30-track special, featuring Patti Smith, The The, Shuggie Otis and many more. We’ve already got it on repeat. We hope you will too. To catch Man Power live, look out for him at Dalston Superstore in London on Sat June 18...
Listen Here →
Foreigner
An intimate look at migration by John Radcliffe Studio
Meet Madia. He is 28 years old. He left Senegal and crossed the Sahara in a highly unsafe pick-up truck convoy. He watched his best friend Sana being shot in the head by people traffickers. Upon arrival in Italy Madia was wrongfully convicted of being the captain of a migrant boat and spent four months in prison. Thanks to the photography book Foreigner: Migration into Europe 2015-2016 by John Radcliffe Studio, Madia now has a voice.
John Radcliffe Studio, a creative partnership between Thomas Saxby and Daniel Castro Garcia, published Foreigner in response to the imagery used in the media to discuss the issue of migration. Feeling that the method was sensationalist, they wanted to approach the subject in more depth, from a calmer perspective. Foreigner was pipped to the post by Sofia Borges’ book The Swamp at the First Book Awards recently but to us at Folk, it’s a winner.
For more information, please visit MACK Books at mackbooks.co.uk.
And in other news....
Panther Milk Bar comes to London