In the 19th century British imperial power had reached its height. Through strong trade and industrial development Great Britain had come to rule many parts of the world. As time went on the Victorians began to investigate the inhabitants of their colonies through images, literature, and exhibitions. Many of these images and artefacts stand as trophies of conquest and expressions of power as organised possessions.
Continue reading “The Empress of India & The Imperial Trophy”
From 1979-1992 the Conservative government stood strong winning three consecutive elections under Thatcher and a fourth under John Major. The Labour party struggled to combat their majority and only toward the latter part of the eighties, under Neil Kinnock, did it begin to increase in popularity.[1] Continue reading “From Loony Left to Neo-Thatcherism”
The Prose of the Trans-Siberien and of Little Jeanne of France is an artefact that is neither straightforwardly a book, nor an artwork. Published in Paris in 1913, it takes the form of a package that, once fully extended, is around two metres long and forty centimetres wide. Continue reading “La Prose du Trans-sibérien et de la Petite Jehanne de France”
‘Some day we shall no longer need pictures, we shall just be happy’
Sigmar Polke’s output changed constantly throughout his career but the topic of research remained the same. His statement above from 1966 suggests art as investigation, an investigation that is required under present conditions. As such, Polke’s work can be understood as a criticism of things as they are, and specifically, modern notions of reason and instrumental rationality.
Alfred Döblin’s Berlin Alexanderplatz, published in Germany in 1929, is a key example of the Modernist endeavor to encapsulate a new metropolitan experience. Continue reading “Alfred Döblin’s Berlin Alexanderplatz and the Representation of Metropolitan Experience”
