In one black-and-white snapshot, Palestinian photographer Ahlam Shibli captures a seemingly prosaic handshake between an officer and a younger graduate during an Israeli military ceremony that concludes training camp. Fleetingly documentary rather than officially contrived, the photograph bears an oblique viewpoint that situates us behind the soldier, whose downward gaze falls deferentially—and perhaps insecurely—below the piercing confidence of his superior’s. It is one of eighty-five photographs that comprise “Trackers,” 2005, a series portraying the everyday life of young soldiers entering

“The New Architecture,” a movement based on a sociopolitical awareness of the built environment, dawned in the early 1920s. Central to its cause was the improvement of housing through the provision of natural light and fresh air and the creation of outdoor space. German architect Otto Haesler ranks among the most significant proponents of the movement, but while no other architect in the ’20s was as committed to the modernist claims of efficiency and rationalism as he, Haesler remains virtually unknown despite his vital contributions to the modernist canon.

Haesler’s practice in the small Saxon

“Figaro” is a jewelers’ term for a weave of chain in which every fourth link is heavier than the others. It is also the title of a tall, thin sculpture (all works 2006) by young London artist Anthea Hamilton, consisting of four elements. A small heart-shaped locket dangles on a figaro-patterned chain; this necklace hangs from a long curved twig. The twig is held in place by a small wad of clay attaching it to a chair leg. At the bottom, the fourth part, a metal clamp, functions like a mighty foot to visually connect the whole construction to the floor. Bottom-heavy and gradually tapering from