ATELIER BERNARDÍ ROIG IN MALLORCA

Entering Bernardí Roig’s workshop one is greeted by a series of disturbing, stark-white sculptures, created by the artist to induce a sense of catharsis similar to that experienced by ancient spectators of Greek tragedies.

DONALD JUDD FOUNDATION. New York.

                                               

Judd Foundation. Photo Paul Katz/ © Paul Katz/Courtesy; Judd Foundation Archive

A few years ago I discovered New York’s Judd Foundation, the residence and studio of minimalism’s most important exponent, Donald Judd, since 1968. My desire to visit it was frustrated due to it being closed for refurbishment. Its doors finally reopened three years later, in June 2013, and I was allowed a visit a few days before the official reopening.

JOURNEY TO KENYA. Living with baboons.

Photo: Alejandra de Argos

It’s one thing to hear stories of what it’s like living with baboons, and it’s quite another to actually visit a baboon community and experience a part of their life. Baboons are Old World primates not too dissimilar from humans - seeing them in the flesh one is immediately reminded of the importance of Darwin’s work.

Essential Trips. VITRA CAMPUS.

Architecture and design lovers should not miss a visit to Weil am Rhein, a town in the German region of Freiburg as well as a suburb of the Swiss city of Basel. Here we find the Vitra Campus, Vitra being the Swiss furniture producer founded in 1950 by Willi Fehlbaum. In 1981 a major fire destroyed parts of the original Campus factory and Nicholas Grimshaw, a British architect, was commissioned to design a new production building, which started a series of contributions by architects adding more and more buildings and constructions on the Campus premises, today a world-class destination for all architecture enthusiasts.

THE HISTORY OF GREEK PHILOSOPHY

Greek civilization laid the foundations of our contemporary Western culture - it is in Ancient Greece, specifically in Miletus, where the origins of philosophy are to be found.

The book begins with the Seven Sages of Greece and with Thales of Miletus, the first man to attempt to explain natural phenomena through science rather than myth.

RUDOLF STINGEL AT THE PALAZZO GRASSI, VENICE

One of this year’s Venice Biennale’s most remarkable exhibitions was undoubtedly Italian artist Rudolf Stingel, held in the Palazzo Grassi.

INCREDIBLE GAZING BALLS !

That’s one way of describing Jeff Koons’ latest work, currently on show at the brilliant David Zwirner gallery in Chelsea, New York City.

MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING.

The big question: What meaning does life have for human beings?

According to Viktor Frankl (1905-1997), author of the book “Man’s Search for Meaning”, there is not one single meaning to life, rather there are as many meanings as there are people on Earth. It’s not about the search for an abstract, universal purpose of life; it’s more about looking for a purpose in each of the stages of one’s progression through life. These individual stages will be determined by an overall mission, a greater goal.

PROPELLER, WHAT A DISCOVERY!

Why do I like Shakespeare?

No-one has better understood the complexities of the human condition and all its contradictions, and no-one has been able to capture them so deeply and universally into their work as Shakespeare has. This brilliant quote of his perfectly expresses his meaning of life: