Stories by name

Fiskars: I first encountered Erna Aaltonen’s ceramics—her relentless testing of a material’s limits, her experimentations with colour—at her home studio in the Finnish village of Fiskars. I was researching the work of her late partner, Howard Smith (1928–2021), an African American artist and designer who spent most of his life in Finland. Smith arrived in…

Brussels: Faced with a difficult economic situation at the start of the 1920s, many young German intellectuals such as Theodor Adorno, Walter Benjamin, and Siegfried Kracauer decided to leave the country and spend some time in Naples. One of them, less well-known but equally brilliant, derived from this experience a new idea of the role technology…

Punta Indio: Edgardo Giménez is an undisputed icon of the Argentine art scene. Self-taught, he has worked in such varied fields as advertising, painting, sculpture, and architecture, without ever settling on just one. Since the ‘60s, his career has been defined by the ability to conjure up worlds out of his own fantasies and challenge established…

Mexico City: It was only natural that my path would cross with Enrique Olvera’s at some point; we share a passion and admiration for the traditions of our country which are thousands of years in the making. We’ve dedicated our respective careers to imagining new ways of redefining this heritage with a constant spirit of innovation…

New York City: Enigma is a funny thing. And a word we perhaps overuse. But Eric N. Mack is very much that. He moves through New York with a grace that is rare to see, leaving faint traces of dreams and possibility in his wake. His work is similarly inscrutable and attractive all at once….

Joan Nestle is a fem, working-class, queer Jewish lesbian, and a lifelong activist. She is also a prolific and award-winning author, editor, and educator. I first met Joan in the ’70s after she co-founded the Lesbian Herstory Archives, one of the world’s most expansive collections of lesbian culture. She has been a lasting inspiration to…

A Parisian view If you were asked to think of someone that influenced your vision in the way you work and look at things around you, for me one of these persons would be Elein Fleiss. I still remember clearly the first time we met in Paris some time ago, when I visited her apartment…

Ghent: The work of Maarten Van Severen (1956, Antwerp, Belgium) has always been significant for us. In fact, he’s always been present among the pictures we have in our studio. He produced a series of brilliant designs in a short but very intense career, up until his death in 2005. The reason for bringing his…

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A day in the strife Los Angeles: The doyen of Southern California punk photography, Edward Colver vividly and thoroughly covered its heyday in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with countless now-classic records featuring his indelible images. Iconic pictures such as Chuck Burke flipping over the crowd on the back of Wasted Youth’s ‘Reagan’s In’ LP,…

Useful accumulation New York City: When I arrived to interview Brian and Elizabeth at their place in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, a string of activities was in progress. Nuala, who’s 16, was doing her Latin homework on the conversation pit/island of a couch. Ona, who’s two and a half, was opening every board game and puzzle onto…

Queen of Ndebele art Weltevreden: She may be a celebrated international artist whose work has been exhibited alongside the likes of Warhol, Hockney, and Rauschenberg, but Esther Mahlangu remains relatively obscure in her own country. It’s hard to find South Africans who know her well. Indeed, it’s hard to actually find her at all, living as…

The story begins when I was a kid. My mother and I are queuing at a food outlet in Maputo, my hometown. At this time Mozambique had a Marxist-Leninist regime, and all food was rationed. In some stores there was nothing but empty shelves. When people got hold of five litres of oil, they would swap…

The essence of beauty Milan: I was in a really tight spot when Marco’s iChat bubble came up on my screen, asking me if I wanted to interview Enzo Mari. I didn’t know what to say. Why me? I just didn’t get it. I’ve never been interested in design, or architecture, or chairs and whatnot….

At home Erol Alkan first got people talking back in the late 90’s when his signature mash-ups put him on the forefront of the bastard-pop wave of music. Since then he’s become one of the most respected and exciting dance music DJs in the world. From 1997 to 2007 he was host to the now…

pets Age: Enzo 4, Romeo 3 Breed: Whippet Gender: Both male Special marks: Enzo has brindle markings and Romeo has fawn markings Feeding: Two measured meals of high protein kibble twice a day with special meals prepared for their birthdays. Enzo and Romeo were both purchased from a whippet breeder in Southern California that specializes…

I live in the east village. The building is fun, because there is a mix of young and creative people and old peculiar folks who have lived here since the hippie and crack years. They could all be characters out of a book by Salinger. There is a lady who sits in the lobby holding…