John Potvin

Jag avundas målarna. Deras verk är oändliga. Verken bär sitt eget liv inom sig, oberoende av deras skapare. En dans lever ganska kort. Lika kort som dansören själv. Jean Börlin I efterkrigstidens 1920-tal blomstrade nya idéer och en kreativ experimentlusta väcktes till liv. Ett nytt avantgarde tog form. I dess epicentrum fanns en nyskapande danstrupp med en radikal och utmanande repertoar som inte drog sig för att provocera sin publik, de kallade sig Svenska Baletten (Ballets Suédois). Dess ledare var det excentriska paret Rolf de Maré och Jean Börlin, men medskaparna var många. Svenska Baletten var inget danskompani i vanlig mening, deras skapelser var mer än bara koreografi, de var allkonstverk. Förutom de unga dansarna i kompaniet, samarbetade man med konstnärer som Nils Dardel, Francis Picabia och Fernand Léger och kompositörer som Erik Satie, Hugo Alvén och Darius Milhaud, för att nämna några. Med multimediala verk som Bröllopet på Eiffeltornet (Les Mariés de la Tour Eiffel), Iberia, Människan och hennes åtrå (L Homme et son désir) och Världens skapelse (Le Création du monde), där musiken, scendekoren, koreografin, dräkterna, framförandet och ibland till och med publiken var en del av skapelsen, intog de scener runt om i Europa och USA mellan 1920 och 1925. I tio kapitel författade av konstvetare, danshistoriker, musikvetare, teaterforskare och koreografer berättas historien om Svenska Baletten: Genom striderna med Stockholmsoperan, skandalerna och det illvilliga skvallret i pressen. Genom konstsamlingarna och målningarna som inspirerade och inspirerades. Genom den historiska synen på den manliga kroppen. Genom de kvinnliga dansarnas äventyr. Genom kärlek, vänskap, konflikter och tragedier. Genom ekonomiska bekymmer och konkurrensen med Ryska Baletten. Genom Paris, Stockholm och Köpenhamn. Genom experimentella musikaliska kompositioner och dess betydelse för kompositörer som John Cage. Genom extravaganta och innovativa haute couture-kostymer. Genom arvet som de lämnat efter sig till nya generationer dansare och genom ett återuppförande av deras dadaistiska verk Relâche. Svenska Baletten var före sin tid på många plan. Svenska Baletten var queer långt innan queer blev ett begrepp inom genusforskningen. Svenska Baletten skapade performancekonst långt innan Fluxusrörelsen introducerade det för konstvärlden på 1960-talet. Den här boken lyfter fram deras betydelse för modernismen såväl som för efterkommande generationers konstnärer, kompositörer, koreografer, dansare, modeskapare och forskare. Det blev som Börlin önskade, Svenska Baletten lever vidare, den är oändlig.

Exploring 35 years of creative output, this richly illustrated book offers an unprecedented look into Giorgio Armani’s unique aesthetic, corporate and cultural strategies. More than any other designer, Armani best represents the global success of the ’Made in Italy’ label. His impact is palpable not simply in women’s fashion and red carpet glamour, but is also inseparable from the evolution of the menswear industry. Written in a lively and accessible style, the book includes thoughtful and provocative chapters exploring: the evolution of the man’s suit; boutique culture in a global reality; the influence of Orientalism; the designer’s ambivalent relationship with the fashion press; the business of vertical branding; the use of the evening dress to construct the house’s history; power dressing for the modern woman; the relationship between textiles, film and the contours of masculinity; the continued dialogue with early twentieth-century aesthetics; as well as the spaces and bodies of the theatre of fashion. The first holistic and critical investigation of one of the most influential fashion houses in the world, Giorgio Armani: Empire of the Senses is a must read for anyone interested in the history and theories of fashion.

Material and Visual Cultures Beyond Male Bonding, 1870-1914 presents the first cross-disciplinary analysis of the visual and material representations and spaces of male same-sex culture in turn-of-the-century Britain which positions intimacy as its central object. Through both historical and theoretical lenses, this groundbreaking study considers photographs, interior design, decorative art, architecture and illustrations from the popular press to reveal the interwoven narratives of intimacy, aesthetics and identity. The author sustains close readings to expose the challenges the representations of 'men together' posed not only for the men of the time, but also for the contemporary viewer and scholar.

Material and Visual Cultures Beyond Male Bonding, 1870-1914 presents the first cross-disciplinary analysis of the visual and material representations and spaces of male same-sex culture in turn-of-the-century Britain which positions intimacy as its central object. Through both historical and theoretical lenses, this groundbreaking study considers photographs, interior design, decorative art, architecture and illustrations from the popular press to reveal the interwoven narratives of intimacy, aesthetics and identity. The author sustains close readings to expose the challenges the representations of 'men together' posed not only for the men of the time, but also for the contemporary viewer and scholar.

Deco dandy contests the supposedly exclusive feminine aspect of the style moderne (art deco) by exploring how alternative, parallel and overlapping experiences of decorative modernism, nationalism, gender and sexuality in the years surrounding World War I converge in the protean figure of the 'deco dandy'. The book suggests a broader view of art deco by claiming a greater place for the male body, masculinity and the dandy in this history than has been given to date. Important and productive moments in the history of the cultural life of Paris presented in the book provide insights into the changing role performed by consumerism, masculinity, design history and national identity.

Deco dandy contests the supposedly exclusive feminine aspect of the style moderne (art deco) by exploring how alternative, parallel and overlapping experiences of decorative modernism, nationalism, gender and sexuality in the years surrounding World War I converge in the protean figure of the 'deco dandy'. The book suggests a broader view of art deco by claiming a greater place for the male body, masculinity and the dandy in this history than has been given to date. Important and productive moments in the history of the cultural life of Paris presented in the book provide insights into the changing role performed by consumerism, masculinity, design history and national identity.

The bachelor has long held an ambivalent, uncomfortable and even at times unfriendly position in society. This book carefully considers the complicated relationships between the modern queer bachelor and interior design, material culture and aesthetics in Britain between 1885 and 1957. The seven deadly sins of the modern bachelor (queerness, idolatry, askesis, decadence, the decorative, glamour and artifice) comprise a contested site and reveal in their respective ways the distinctly queer twinning of shame and resistance. It pays close attention to the interiors of Lord Ronald Gower, Alfred Taylor, Oscar Wilde, Charles Shannon and Charles Ricketts, Edward Perry Warren and John Marshall, Sir Cedric Morris and Arthur Lett-Haines, Noël Coward and Cecil Beaton. Richly illustrated and written in a lively and accessible manner, Bachelors of a different sort is at once theoretically ambitious and rich in its use of archival and various historical sources.

Exploring 35 years of creative output, this richly illustrated book offers an unprecedented look into Giorgio Armani’s unique aesthetic, corporate and cultural strategies. More than any other designer, Armani best represents the global success of the ’Made in Italy’ label. His impact is palpable not simply in women’s fashion and red carpet glamour, but is also inseparable from the evolution of the menswear industry. Written in a lively and accessible style, the book includes thoughtful and provocative chapters exploring: the evolution of the man’s suit; boutique culture in a global reality; the influence of Orientalism; the designer’s ambivalent relationship with the fashion press; the business of vertical branding; the use of the evening dress to construct the house’s history; power dressing for the modern woman; the relationship between textiles, film and the contours of masculinity; the continued dialogue with early twentieth-century aesthetics; as well as the spaces and bodies of the theatre of fashion. The first holistic and critical investigation of one of the most influential fashion houses in the world, Giorgio Armani: Empire of the Senses is a must read for anyone interested in the history and theories of fashion.