Kaleidoscope, Issue 35 – Anne Imhof

At the core of a platform that includes an exhibition space and an independent publishing house, Kaleidoscope is an international quarterly of contemporary art and culture founded in 2009 in Milan. Distributed worldwide on a seasonal basis, it has gained widespread recognition as a trusted and timely guide to the present (but also to the past and possible futures), unique in its interdisciplinary and unconventional approach.

In this issue:

KALEIDOSCOPE‘s new issue #35 (fall/winter 2019/20), coming with a set of four covers:

Three of them—featuring Anne Imhof (photographed by Nadine Fraczkowski), Yung Lean (photographed by Joshua Gordon) and Hideo Kojima—introduce the theme survey GOTHIC REDUX. As capital is at war against nature, and the euphoria towards the possibilities of the digital has failed against disinformation and alienation, a new Gothic spirit penetrates much of today’s art and culture, fostered by apocalyptic readings of automation, artificial intelligence and climate change. This multi-disciplinary report—encompassing contemporary art, music, architecture, gaming and obscure subcultures—explores how artists and creators are embracing melancholy, the sublime power of chaos, and the unknown, to address the gloomy side of our present condition. Featuring an introduction by Caroline Busta and LIL INTERNET, an interview with artists Anne Imhof and Eliza Douglas (by Bill Kouligas), essays on rapper/producer Yung Lean (by Katja Horvat) and gaming mastermind Hideo Kojima (by Lana Polansky), as well Franklin Melendez’s take on New Gotham seen through the eyes of contemporary artists (with an enclosed poster by Darja Bajagić).

The fourth cover, featuring an artwork by design studio Sucuk und Bratwurst, is dedicated to Holy Bubble: A Sneaker Report. What is the common thread between a KAWS painting smashing action records at Sotheby’s in Hong Kong, a sneaker resale website raising billion-dollar funding from venture capital, and Kanye West appearing on the front cover of Forbes magazine? While sneaker mania may be news to some, and luxury fashion has only recently started to appropriate and reinterpret this obsession-inducing grail, today’s frantic marketplace is commodifying a phenomenon that’s been developing for decades. Semantic categories of niche and mainstream, luxury and mass, source and replica cave in on each other. Isabel Flower unpacks the genealogy of this pandemic trend, with contributions by five designers and a visual artist.