Issue # 28
Archive stories

Soisy-sur-École/Pescia Fiorentina: It’s difficult to decide where to begin when telling the story of the French–American artist Niki de Saint Phalle. Her life and work read like a fairy tale of her own making, starting with her artistic awakening while convalescing from a breakdown. Her impulsive drive to create carried her throughout her life, manifesting in…

Accra: Born in 1947 in a small village in the Akwapim area of Ghana, Paa Joe is a name familiar to those well versed in the country’s visual and material culture. Beginning his training at 15, under the tutelage of his maternal uncle in Teshie, Greater Accra, by age 25 he’d been promoted to master…

Wahington DC: We’ve been living online for more than a year and, by now, connecting through a screen feels almost impossible. But when you meet someone like Joan E. Biren (JEB) over Zoom, her presence comes through even time zones apart. Maybe this is because she’s used to working through a lens while still being able…

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…

St.Louis: Katherine Bernhardt was born in St. Louis and lived there for the first 18 years of her life. At that point, she left for the Art Institute of Chicago, then moved to NYC. She lived in NYC for 22 years. Two years ago she moved back into her childhood home in St. Louis with her…

Rome: When I asked Luigi Serafini to send me a short, informal biography he replied, ‘I entrust it to you; I’m sure you’ll write it in a moment’. Very difficult. Despite the friendship that binds us, our shared plans to conquer the world and other galaxies, and many four-handed projects—the last being Ubu Roi, a…

Albion: During the lockdown, stuck in my apartment, living through screens, observing environmental disasters and massive failures of infrastructure in-between Zoom meetings, it was easy to daydream about a better way of living. A possible alternative emerged on Instagram, where Salmon Creek Farm presents its aestheticised update of communal living to 38,000 followers. Given the…

Naples: Rug dealer, journalist, and book collector Nathalie de Saint Phalle grew up on the Île Saint-Louis in a house full of books. It’s here that we conduct our interview in high summer, in the eclectic chaos of an apartment where those many publications are piled high on every surface and an array of artwork covers…

New York City: Topaz Jones and I met on the sweatiest day of the summer, our pleasantries, conversation, and laughter coming more readily than the breeze. But before I even met him I already felt as if I knew him, having watched his short film, Don’t Go Tellin’ Your Momma. Scored by his album of the…

Fiesole: Gianni Pettena is an outsider, and proudly so. Born in Bolzano, he trained in Florence at the same faculty as those who made radical architecture and design famous, with groups from Superstudio to Archizoom. He’s always been included among the first radicals and has largely committed himself to promoting their radicalism by curating catalogues…

Wellington: Most days I wear pearl earrings by Lisa Walker, gold and gem rings by Karl Fritsch, and a silver necklace with a teardrop in artificial diamonds by their son Max. When our house was burgled in London, none of my jewellery was stolen. My collection is exclusive to Walker-Fritsch family; I don’t think the burglar…

Guadalajara: The work of Guadalajara-based artist Jose Dávila delves into opposing forces of gravity and resistance, and continuously examines both found and self-made configurations in the most basic forms of geometry. In his studio in Barrio Artesanos Dávila surrounds himself with raw materials like stones, blocks, slabs, and pieces of glass, all methodically arranged and selected…

Ljubljana: The artist Roman Uranjek lives in a building by the architect Maks Fabiani, adorned with a wavy, sea-like façade, one of Ljubljana’s loveliest. Uranjek is an obsessive artist, one who’s made at least one cross every single day since January 1, 2002, but who’s also a member of various collectives and informal social networks. What…

A piece of land overlooking the sea, southwest towards Corsica, and a small shelter—that’s what I bought nearly 50 years ago. Without knowing it, I was embarking on an adventure where thoughts, dreams, projects, notes, drawings, materials, students, and friends would converge on this micro-island of mine. The place was totally wild when I found it,…

New York City: One leafy night, I was strolling down Mulberry Street in Soho when I ran into Paul Moakley, the nicest person in the photo world. The people of New York were enjoying the splendours of outdoor dining, and Paul had just left a downtown bistro accompanied by a friend named Melissa. They were reuniting,…

The alienation and loneliness of this year strangely remind me of the period I spent in New York after separating from a woman I loved and who I believe loved me and who ended up marrying another man, one she truly considered a real one. That was a time when I thought I would go…