Grau Magazin / 3

This issue spans over 256 pages, documenting our journey, starting in Rome, where Nico Vascellari tells us about the relationship between nature, humans, and machines, as well as the backstory of our cover 1/8: his VIT performance, in which he forcefully put himself to sleep and was then carried by a helicopter over the mountains. Shortly after, we speak with Alicja Kwade at the Villa Massimo in Rome about her art.

 

Our Italian journey did not end there. In Milan, we meet with Formafantasma, and the Italian designer tells us about holistic design and the histories and stories embedded into objects. Via Zoom, we catch up with Miles Greenberg about his new exhibition in Paris, titled Gods of Solaris. Meanwhile, we are on our way to London to speak with Hania Rani about her new piece, Non-Fiction – Piano Concerto in Four Movements.

 

Back in Berlin, we speak with Ewan Waddell and Liubov Dyvak, who have just returned from a screening in Ukraine of their new movie, The Longer You Bleed, which explores society’s desensitization to the regular circulation of war imagery online. With C/O Berlin’s program directors, Boaz Levin and Sophia Greiff, we discuss how they exhibit photography in the age of social media and Instagram, explore new exhibition formats, and address cuts to cultural funding by the Berlin Senate and their consequences. This is directly followed by an interview with Berlin’s Kultursenator, Sarah Wedl-Wilson, in which we discuss her vision for Berlin and the implications for the city’s independent arts scene.

 

In addition, we interviewed six artists who are or were Berlin-based: Viola Del Monte, Giulio Sammarro, Justin Fiedler, Su Yu Hsin, Danielle Brathwaite-Shirley, and Hanne Lippard. We traveled to Munich to speak with Sorry Press, investigating their origins and story, followed by a brief visit to OBS’ studio in Augsburg, catching a glimpse into their world.

 

Last but not least, we conclude our journey by speaking with editors-in-chief about the question: What does it mean to make a magazine today? Conversations with Götz Offergeld (Numéro Berlin), Elke Buhr (MONOPOL), Sascha Ehlert (Das Wetter), Anton Rahlwes, Nina Sieverding (The Thing), and Sascha Chaimowicz (ZEITmagazin) provide insight. Finally, Christoph Amend reveals how and why he is trying to retell the beauty of Die ZEIT.

 

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Grau Magazin is an independent magazine. It was founded in 2023, is Berlin based and is run by the two of us, Leif Arne Asmus and Julius Sebastian Führ. We are both designers. Due to our background, we have a radical approach in presenting our perspectives as an ambitious generation seeking to assert itself in the fields of art, design, music, and literature. We collaborate with both established figures and emerging artists, authors, and cultural pioneers. This creates a vibrant dynamic that is simultaneously fresh, thought provoking and unconventional.

 

Direct engagement with people is key to fostering a genuine exchange of knowledge, stories, and experiences. The magazine explores our attempt to navigate the inner and outer complexities of our world.

 

Since its founding, the biannual magazine has been available throughout Germany.