MIK SABIERS savours the first headline solo show of the stalwart of Brighton’s indie-punk outfit Blood Red Shoes
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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.
New releases reviewed by IAN SINCLAIR
STEVEN ANDREW is moved beyond words by a historical account of mining in Britain made from the words of the miners themselves
CAILEAN MCBRIDE welcomes a refreshing and timely study of the way officialdom creates structures that exclude LGBT+ rights and humanity
The bard mourns the loss of comrades and troubadours, and looks for consolation with Black Country Jess
CHRIS MOSS relishes the painting and the life story of a self-taught working-class artist from Warrington
MARY CONWAY is disappointed by a star-studded adaptation of Ibsen’s play that is devoid of believable humanity
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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