DORNBRACT’S NEW MAGALOGUE

Dornbract, the German manufacturer of luxury kitchen and bath fixtures, has just mailed out a set of magalogues — a combined magazine and catalogue — on the topic of water. Andreas Dornbract has commissioned writers and artists and photographers to think about water in a spiritual and emotional way. I like the look of it — a sort of Art Forum meets Elle Decoration. But the whole idea seems a bit sinister. When you’ve got Marc Quinn’s surrealist photographs interspersed with beauty shots of Dornbracht products, and Tom Ford musing about art on the same page as the factual details of Dornbracht sinks and faucets, what really are you reading? A magazine? A catalogue? Propaganda? Anything worthwhile? Makes me rethink the whole idea of magazines in general…