W.G. Sebald, one of the greatest German authors of all time, died 10 years and four days ago. He was 57 years old. Damn.

Everyone knows the most popular serial drama/comedy/thriller ever broadcasted. Let’s think back to times when TV shows were meant to be serious and smart entertainment. Thanks to David Lynch.

Russian photographer Valery Katsuba began exploring the aesthetics of acrobatics and gymnastics in a series entitled Phiscultura. Inspired by photographs taken in the gymnasiums of St. Petersburg in 1901 that he discovered in the state archives, he recreated the style of the era to demonstrate the similarities between now and then.

“I naively imagined that fitness centers and gymnasiums were a phenomena of our own time,” Katsuba said. “It was the same back then. People thought you should have a good body. I wanted to know about them… so beautiful and inspired about the future. I was trying to understand the things that do not change with time.”

His latest exhibition continues this theme, but his focus has moved from the gymnasium to the circus. Russia has a famous tradition of acrobatics, though it received a bad image due to the general shadow of negativity cast against all institutions of the former Soviet state. Katsuba’s new photographs are a reminder of the artistry and beauty within those programs of strict physical practice.

The new series, Air Flight. Body Shock, focuses on the art of tissu or silks, in which the acrobat climbs two strands of hanging fabric and twists into complicated knots, poses and falls. In most circus performances, tissu is presented as either too feminine and pretty, or too raw and athletic. Katsuba manages to find a balance between these elements in his presentation of the sport/art.

Particularly stunning is the 1977 video he unearthed from the Russian television archives showing a choreographed performance on the corde lisse.

A public exhibition of Air Flight. Body Shock is open now until December 24 at New York’s Sputnik Gallery, which focuses on contemporary Russian photography.

Aeroflot throws its iconic Berlin signage out with the trash

One of the last hammer and sickle emblems in Berlin has disappeared from its prominent place in the centre of the city.

The hammer and sickle – the symbol of communism and the Soviet Union – was removed from most public buildings across the former East Berlin after the fall of the Wall. Yet it remained on display in one very visible location – above the Berlin ticket office of the Russian airline Aeroflot on the busy central boulevard Unter den Linden.

Aeroflot’s logo still contains the hammer and sickle, a remainder from its time as the state airline of the USSR. The carrier continues to run regular services between Berlin and Moscow, and it kept a ticket office open in the heart of the city in a building that is part of the Russian Embassy complex.

It was here that the logo was proudly displayed at street level, just one block from the iconic Brandenburg Gate, which draws hundreds of thousands of tourists each year.

Several weeks ago Aeroflot closed its Unter den Linden office. The signage – illuminated blue plastic and metal lettering – was dismantled. Today all that remains are the ghosted outlines of the removed signage, and a note on the door informing visitors that the office has ceased operations. Aeroflot’s German office said the old sign and lettering had been thrown away as rubbish.

The hammer and sickle hasn’t made a full retreat, however. It can still be seen in the stonework of the façade of the main building of the Russian Embassy, next door to the old Aeroflot office.

That example of the symbol isn’t as prominent as the former Aeroflot sign. Its removal marks another erasure of the visual memory of Berlin’s divided era.   - Joel Alas

The video is kind of terrible, but the music could be straight out of the black-clad country discos of my youth: somewhere between what would have been perceived as underground back then, say, Dead Can Dance and Anne Clark (who, weirdly enough, seems to be largely unknown outside of Germany, in spite of being British), Zola Jesus‘ new album has the full promotional machinery of a major pop star behind her today.

But he liked the idea that John’s Phone can’t do anything apart from accepting and making calls. No text messages, no games, no Internet. Which means you can’t do anything wrong either, even down to the oversized buttons being almost impossible to miss. It does have one special feature, though – which is a nice little analogue address book and a pen hidden in the back.

And if all that is not fancy enough for you, then you can always opt for the gold bar version.

Elizabeth “Connie” Converse disappeared in 1974, leaving behind a haunting body of recorded music that would remain virtually unheard for the next 35 years…

Rui Vilela interviews the Lebanese journalist and filmmaker Raed El Rafei, who talks about his experiences in relation to the former cinema ‘City Palace’, also commonly known as ‘Egg-building’. In the interview El Rafei comes to memories of the period after the Civil War and looks at film as a platform for modernity.

Last Spring in Beirut: City Palace.
Tomorrow, 19th of August at 7 pm

Gallery Loris
Gartenstrasse 114
10115 Berlin