Issue 138: The Design Issue

The April issue of frieze asks: what can design do right now?

In a roundtable on the largely unresolved relationship between design and social responsibility, frieze's design editor Eugenia Bell talks to six designers and critics about the politics and pitfalls of designing with a sense of cultural, ecological or economic responsiblity. As designer John Emerson argues, 'Socially responsible design is not a fringe, hippie idea any more but something established institutions are grappling with.'

However, Steven Stern finds historical antecedents for the current pragmatism by tracing the recent rise of 'post-industrial dining' and urban agriculture back to the artist-led initiatives of 1970s downtown New York.

Also featured: Emily King on the legacies of two Milanese magazines, Doums and Abitare; and Nick Sowers outlines the challenge posed by the preservation of former battlefields. Plus, Susan Hiller answers the Questionnaire.

The newly expanded 30-page reviews section features 39 exhibitions from 22 cities, including 'Modern British Sculpture' at the Royal Academy of Arts, London; Bill Bollinger at Kunstmuseum Liechteinstein, Vaduz; 'All of this and Nothing' at the Hammer Museum, Los Angeles and 'Monanism', the inaugural show at the Museum of Old and New, Hobart.

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		Frieze is 20 Kate Bush, Daniel Birnbaum and Michael Bracewell are the latest to contribute to the frieze 20th anniversary blog. A range of contributing critics, artists and curators have been invited to select their favourite articles from the magazine's archive, as well as their pick of 20 years of iconic covers. Read more