Sleek #19 Summer 2008 Still|Motion

Stillness has become one of our most valuable and rare commodities – at least it sure seems so at sleek right before we go to press. Even for those who are less frantic and chaotic than we, it seems like it’s never been so difficult to organise a bit of real calm into our lives. Even our designated downtimes, like plane travel, vacations, even sleep, can’t entirely escape the competitive, inter-connected, ever onward drive. Or again, maybe it’s just us. Anyway, one thing’s for sure, movement has become one of our most powerful and relentless of gods – whether in the form of fast cars, twittering, political sound-bites, ever more art fairs and ever shorter 100 meter world records.

Reason enough for sleek to take on this theme. And what could be more to the point given how sport dominates so much of today’s perpetual motion cult, than showing you the artists whom we feel have created the world’s most fascinating and important works on the theme of sport and art – even if they haven’t necessarily run 100 meters through museums or, as Daniel Richter has, taken up kick-boxing in their studios. Or jumped all the hurdles of bringing this and far, far more into one publication. For example, we also give you six restless Berliners who are keeping lots moving in our ever-dynamic hometown. And then there’s the fetching fashion forward images accompanying Bernhard Willhelm’s interview about his new, dance-inspired collection, a bizarrely static hosiery epic, travelling bus stops, senseless video stills… there’s plenty on hand to move even the most dedicated vegetable.

Anyway, with this issue of sleek, now more than ever, and maybe because we are all so exhausted from our own private marathon, we also wish to give you something exceedingly rare – something to contemplate, to slow down with or perhaps even as means to reach that ever illusive state of physical if not mental stillness. But only just for a moment …