As I was searching for articles for this week’s Crate in my bulging folder of bookmarks, I came across a few about women in Bauhaus and this reminded me that I had wanted to do something involving Bauhaus for a good while. It is by far my favourite “school” of art and their philosophy of incorporating art into everyday life is something that I very much agree with. So, in the coming weeks the Crate will among other things explore the people and heritage of that short-lived yet enormously influential institution. Let’s get to it right away.

1. The quirk and genius of Bauhaus was in demolishing the idea of art education altogether and putting it together from scratch. So, where before had been fortifications and fences between crafts, ‘fine art’ and ‘commercial art’, suddenly there were none. Crafts got the possibility to take their proper place among other fields of art and there is no place that exemplifies it better than the weaving workshop of Bauhaus. In principle all workshops of Bauhaus were open for all applicants, but in reality women were discouraged from applying to ‘heavy craft areas like carpentry’ – and thus in 1922 Anni Albers – back then still Annelise Elsa Frieda Fleischmann – ended up in the weaving workshop instead of glass. However, after initially having considered weaving to be inherently for sissies, she slowly became fascinated by it and by systematically exploring the possibilities of the medium, opened it up for completely new uses and interpretations. As if her work wasn’t enough, her marriage to Josef Albers, one of the central figures of Bauhaus turned her one of the figureheads of the movement even long after the closure of the school.

2. There is something about islands and some of them have a particular IT-factor. Apparently the tiny island of Saint Martin has it in abundance, as despite its minuscule size of 87 square km, it is still divided between two nations – namely the French and the Dutch. This split that dates back to the Treaty of Concordia in 1648 has also provided the island with two very aptly named fortifications – namely Fort Amsterdam and Fort Louis.

3. Ever seen a remarkable colour on a picture and wondered to yourself what on Earth it might be called? There’s a way to find out – this nifty colour finder lets you search from the colour wheel or upload your own image.

4. In case you’re occasionally wondering about the roots of your perennial misery – we’ve got the answer. It’s the age – and apparently things will start looking up after you’ve passed your 47th birthday.

5. The image of postwar USA seems all rosy and sunny looking back from the distance of many decades. However, where there’s sun, there are shadows – and those shadows were reflected in film noir – the most class-conscious genre Hollywood has ever produced.

6. And to finish off for this week a cartoon from 1901 French satirical magazine Le Rire – The Simple and Quick Method of Recognizing the Nationality of Women by the Geometric Method.

And that’s it for this time. Happy reading and until next week!

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