The End is Night

The Purple Shape
by Jeanne Graff

"Think the sound before you play, if you get confused by what’s in your head, sing it first." 

– This text appears in Spike #63. You can buy it in our online shop –

Jeanne Graff

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Robert Irwin, Light and Space (Kraftwerk Berlin) , 2021. Commissioned by LAS (Light Art Space). (c) Photo: Timo Ohler. VG Bild-Kunst, 2021

Robert Irwin, Light and Space (Kraftwerk Berlin), 2021. Commissioned by LAS (Light Art Space). (c) Photo: Timo Ohler. VG Bild-Kunst, 2021

Stop Making Sense

Illuminating, in more ways than one. Robert Irwin’s Light and Space (Kraftwerk Berlin) installation is on view from 5 Dec 2021 — 30 Jan 2022.

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Jeremy Deller, Rejected Tube Map Cover Illustration, 2007 Offset print, 59 x 84 cm, Edition of 3 + 2 ap; Photo: Patrick Jameson

Installation view, Jeremy Deller, “Warning Graphic Content”, The Modern Institute, Aird’s Lane, Glasgow, 2021; all photos: Patrick Jameson

Installation view, Jeremy Deller, “Warning Graphic Content”, The Modern Institute, Aird’s Lane, Glasgow, 2021

Jeremy Deller: Warning Graphic Content

Discourse
No Time to Die , dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga (2021)

No Time to Die, dir. Cary Joji Fukunaga (2021)

Daddy, or The Death of Fantasy

Once upon a time, the silver screen held projections of our deepest desires. But now, even our handsomest sex symbols have lost their deadly edge, drained of their power by pocket-sized screens and eroticism on demand. 

People
Rafaël Rozendaal, Times Square  Midnight Moment (2015). Photo: Michael Wells

Rafaël Rozendaal, Times Square Midnight Moment (2015). Photo: Michael Wells

Exhibiting the Internet

Rafaël Rozendaal has been making digital art for two decades, and he’s unfazed by the rise of Web3. In this conversation with Spike, he explores how websites are like poetry, dishes some lessons in exhibiting digital work, and argues in favour of keeping the punk spirit alive in NFTs. 

Things we like
Love in the Time of Web3 , minted on the Zora protocol.

Love in the Time of Web3 (2021)

Nifty Tips for the Crypto-Curious

Ready to wade into tokenised waters, but feeilng overwhelmed by the big Open Sea? Let Spike be your guide: here are our favourite marketplaces, platforms, and protocols for cryptoart.

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#69
Frank Bowling in his studio at 535 Broadway Studio, c. 1971

Frank Bowling in his studio at 535 Broadway Studio, c. 1971

Frank Bowling

Getting his due in Germany at long last, painter Frank Bowling was recently awarded the 2022 Wolfgang Hahn Prize. In his honour, we’re sharing Barry Schwabsky's words on Bowling from the latest print issue of Spike.  

Discourse
The Harrowing of Hell by a follower of Hieronymus Bosch, 16th century

The Harrowing of Hell by a follower of Hieronymus Bosch, 16th century

The Downward Spiral: Persona (Part II)

Have we blown past the point of Peak Identity? Continuing on the heels of last month’s column, Dean Kissick considers how memes and masks have superseded the performance of the self.

People
Tobias Spichtig, "Good OK Great Fantastic Perfect Grand Thank You". Installation view from Swiss Institute, New York. Courtesy of the artist.

Tobias Spichtig, "Good OK Great Fantastic Perfect Grand Thank You". Installation view from Swiss Institute, New York. Courtesy of the artist.

Good OK Great Fantastic Perfect Grand

On the occasion of his first US solo show, Tobias Spichtig speaks with Jordan Richman about karaoke, mysticism, and fashionable ghosts.

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Still from Tabita Rezaire, Deep Down Tidal  (2017). HD video, 18 mins.

Still from Tabita Rezaire, Deep Down Tidal (2017). HD video, 18 mins.

Lost at Sea

In the picturesque town of Bergen, a group show dedicated to the ocean at the Kunsthall promised to pay tribute to the water’s siren call – and the oil tanker’s – in a port city filled with both.

Discourse
Mark Zuckerberg in his Meta home (2021)

Mark Zuckerberg in his Meta home (2021)

Is the Metaverse Cancelled?

Facebook got a facelift — but there's nowhere in the metaverse left to run from the problems of their own design. Adina Glickstein takes stock of the social media titan's rebrand.

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Annalise van Even in  Echoic Choir  (2021). Photo: Paris Tsitsos

Annalise van Even in Echoic Choir (2021). Photo: Paris Tsitsos

Dancing With Death

This year's Wiener Festwochen gets all up in your business. Read Klaus Speidel's review, originally published in Spike #69 – STORYTELLING. 

"Our identity could become an idol that we sculpt anew each morning from the digital clay"

The Downward Spiral: The Figure Cannot Hold