Investigative Aesthetics: An argument for active art

Published by Verso in August, Investigative Aesthetics is a book about the theory and practices of investigation, art and politics. The book’s authors, Matthew Fuller and Eyal Weizman, argue for forms of investigating and presenting information aimed not just at reading but working the conjunction. This idea of a ‘conjunction’ is something that comes out…

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Review: So Happy It Hurts by Anneliese Mackintosh

Anneliese Mackintosh’s novel, So Happy It Hurts, does what many before it have done, chronicling the struggles of a thirty-something woman with alcohol dependency and relationship problems. At first glance, Otilla McGregor is Manchester’s answer to The Girl on the Train’s Rachel Watson. But the novel is, in fact, incredibly real and heartfelt. McGregor is…

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Review: Once in a House on Fire by Andrea Ashworth

Andrea Ashworth’s 1998 memoir Once in a House on Fire, set in 1970s Manchester, is a moving testament to resilience, intimacy, and community in the face of horrific personal circumstances. Some critics, such as Margaret Foster, have suggested it should be compulsory reading in all inner-city schools. “Sad but inspirational” was my mother’s judgement –…

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