Aesthetica Magazine

#AestheticaArchives | @maciekjasik explores humanity’s yearning for empty spaces – a form of escape from the urbanised, homogenised, lands of our own creation. These images, which overlay hyper-real colour palettes onto spliced rock formations from Oregon, Arizona and Utah, draw attention to the irony of this desire, and the ways in which we have altered landscapes beyond our own recognition. Discover the project at the link in bio.

#AsSeenInPrint | "'The Gay Space Agency' really began with Dr. Sally Ride, the first female American astronaut. I have always looked up to her. " In our latest print issue, Aesthetica Art Prize alumnus @mackenzie.calle speaks to us about her groundbreaking, @worldpressphoto award-winning project. It combines documentary with storytelling to scrutinise LGBTQ+ representation at NASA. Read the full interview in the July edition of Aesthetica. Shop at the link in bio.

#ShowsToSee | @caleb.charland_ !!re!!_039;s 'Beet Field Battery' (2013) developed out of a fascination with “the potato battery,” a school science experiment whereby students would generate an electrical current using only a galvanised nail, copper wire and the humble root vegetable. The arresting piece is part of a new show @aestiftung that aims to foster vital interdisciplinary conversations about what it takes to build a sustainable future for all species. Read more at the link in bio.

"Artists have a vital role in advancing action against climate change. We can envision a future and share our perspectives in provocative ways that can profoundly influence policy and cultural norms." @kevincooley_ has spent more than two decades exploring humanity’s relationship with the five classical elements – earth, air, fire, water and aether. We spoke to the artist about how he produced his newest series, 'Pacific Ocean Blue', and what inspires his photography. Read the interview at the link in bio.

#AestheticaArchives | Twilight is the period before sunrise and after sunset. It’s a time of day that is at once calming and ominous, being neither totally dark nor completely lit. @henrifilm crafts images that are testament to the quiet hours between sleeping and waking. His works offer “an exploration of solitude and melancholy,” with figures roaming the shadowy Portuguese landscapes and wandering amongst fields of delicate flowers. See more at the link in bio.

#ReadingList | "We step into @lydiagoldblatt_ !!re!!_039;s daily routine as we flip through the pages of 'Fugue'. There are glimpses of the photographer as artist, mother, daughter, griever, protector and more. It also feels as if she is confiding in us, inviting us to witness everything – from her honest emotions and mundane experiences to those core memories." Read the book review at the link in bio.

#AsSeenInPrint | “Few people know that Britain was once a rainforest nation,” says Oxford-based photographer @joannavestey . At the end of the last Ice Age, 10,000 years ago, temperate woodland covered as much as a fifth of the UK. Vestey’s latest series unfolds amongst the fragments of these majestic places. It is made using an analogue 5x4 camera, which relies on extremely long exposures. Discover the series in the current issue of Aesthetica. Shop at the link in bio.

#AestheticaArchives | "I’ve always been fascinated by the artifice of cinema, where you are often looking at a composite. In old films this is particularly apparent; the backdrops are clearly paintings; cityscapes are actually models made on the miniature scale. When I started making images, I took inspiration from these techniques." @suzanne_moxhay creates photomontages reminiscent of empty sets. Read the interview at the link in bio.

“To collect photographs is to collect the world,” wrote Susan Sontag in her seminal book 'On Photography' (1977). @miko_okada_photo visits and revisits, takes and retakes, in order to develop repeated exposures of the same location. These fragments are later strung up in grids; they flicker, fold and dance in the wind, responding to ever-changing seascapes, fields and woodlands. The result is a dreamlike collage of nature’s details. “I developed this process – whereby I revisit a location and capture it again – to hone my perception, to be more aware and get more out of the places I was photographing. This required physical effort and so it made me notice things more, like the subtle incongruencies caused by the sunlight and wind. I’ve created an illusionary effect by erasing the string from which the pictures were hung.” Read more at the link in bio.

#NewArtists Salt extraction sites. Marble quarries. Dry lake beds. Burning gas wells. These are the backdrops for @miller.kovacs , a photographer and avid traveller interested in the relationship between body and landscape. Kovacs visits “scars of the Earth” all around the world, navigating sites that have been excavated, depleted, polluted and often hidden from public view. These places are subject to a strange phenomenon: remaining beautiful and awe-inspiring, despite the damage they wreak. Read more at the link in bio.

#AsSeenInPrint | For @neal_grundy , a contemporary image-maker who specialises in still life and freeze motion techniques, every movement matters. Each of his 'Fabric Forms' pictures is unique because it captures a split second that can never be recreated. It would be impossible to re-orchestrate such a delicate balance of folds in mid-flight. Here, turquoise, purple and orange sheets flutter against matching studio backdrops. See more in the June / July print issue of Aesthetica. Shop the issue at the link in bio.

5 New Landmark Installations This summer, iconic artists like @kastenstudios , @jennyholzerstudio and Steve McQueen expertly demonstrate how art can be made more powerful by encouraging people to step inside their sculptures, launching new large-scale works at venues across the world. Read the full list at the link in bio.