This week’s @TheTLS , featuring @RichardEvans36 on German militarism; Laura Thompson on Raine Spencer; A. N. Wilson on Turgenev; @colincraiggrant on Eureka Day; Claire Lowdon on Kamila Shamsie; @rauchway on interest rates – and more.
Georgina Godwin, Charles Hecker and Simon Brooke unpack the weekend’s hottest topics. We hear from Monocle’s Ed Stocker to find out the latest developments in Italy and our editorial director, Tyler Brûlé, joins us live from Stockholm.
Hilma af Klint dreamt of a spiral-shaped building to house her most important works. According to her notebooks, she wanted it to be built on an island in Sweden but the idea never materialized, and the temple remained an imaginary creation – until now.
More than a century later, af Klint’s vision has been translated into an immersive VR experience. It takes you on a cosmic journey from the Milky Way, through spirals in nature and into a few of the artist’s most important paintings, some of them even coming alive.
Hilma af Klint sometimes referred to her temple as a church for a new era and at other times called it a museum. The exact meaning remains open to interpretation. At the same time, her paintings were clearly intended to lead the viewer to levels of awareness beyond that of everyday life. Was it really a physical building she had in mind? Or was it a spiritual site – something existing in another dimension?
Perhaps her temple, simultaneously spiritual and physical, could not be realised because she did not have access to the right medium. She had no knowledge about the technological possibilities that were to come, and the idea remained on paper. Today things are different. Hilma af Klint’s temple, inspired by the teachings of Christian Rosenkreutz, has arrived with the help of VR. You are invited to enter another world.
Hilma af Klint The Temple was conceived by Daniel Birnbaum and Kurt Almqvist and directed by Marika Stolpe. The experience was produced by Acute Art and published by Stolpe Publishing. Creative Director – Rodrigo Marques. Music – Andrew Sheriff.
Watch video below for more on Hilma af Klint:
Emma Nelson, Terry Stiastny, Tessa Szyszkowitz and Monocle’s Hong Kong bureau chief, James Chambers, unpack the weekend’s hottest topics.
Georgina Godwin and cultural historian Gavin Plumley review the day’s papers, Andrew Tuck’s weekend column and Andrew Mueller takes a look at some of the week’s weirder stories.
Gates to Southwark Park reopen minutes after announcement that 14-hour line was at capacity
The announcements were clear: the queue to see the Queen lying in state had reached capacity and was being paused for six hours.
The message went out over the public address system at train stations across the capital, on official government Twitter accounts and across the media shortly before 10am on Friday.
There was just one problem: the queue carried on. And on. In fact, just after 5pm on Friday the government announced that the wait time was over 24 hours, and warned that “overnight temperatures will be cold”.
Scenes from the end of an Elizabethan age
Artwork by Eiko Ojala
Reflections on the end of a royal era, and the ascent of King Charles III
Regardless of whether one identifies as royalist or republican, it’s virtually impossible to dispute the global significance of Queen Elizabeth II, who died last week aged 96
Discover the world’s best new films, series and immersive storytelling at the 66th BFI London Film Festival, taking place 5-16 October in cinemas around the UK and until 23 October on BFI Player.
Monocle’s editorial director Tyler Brûlé, Juliet Linley and Marcus Schögel on the weekend’s biggest talking points. Plus, check-ins with our friends and correspondents in Berlin and London.
Boomers Daily 