Nothing Is Lost is a rich sampling of essays by Ingrid Sischy, the renowned editor of Artforum and Interview, a critic of art, fashion and celebrity from the 1980s until her death in 2015. Many of the 35 pieces in this marvelous collection, edited by Sischy's wife, Sandra Brant, were published in the New Yorker, Vanity Fair, the New York Times Magazine and elsewhere. They draw from her interviews with artists, designers and actors, including Alexander McQueen, Jeff Koons, Miuccia Prada, Calvin Klein, Kristen Stewart and Nicole Kidman.
The essays say as much about the eminently discreet and down-to-earth Sischy as they do about her subjects. She was a trusted conduit between her interviewees and the inquisitive public. It's evident in the intimacy of her writing that people opened up to her and let her enter parts of their lives they kept hidden from others. In the case of Nicole Kidman, interviewed not long after her divorce from Tom Cruise, Sischy carved out a safe, nonjudgmental space for Kidman to talk about her imploded marriage, a subject of intense media speculation and gossip.
Photography was Sischy's special love, and one of her most heartfelt essays explores David Goldblatt's visual reminders of the complexities and contradictions of apartheid in South Africa, her country of birth. The world of art, fashion and celebrity moves fast, with people often looking for the next big thing before fully appreciating what is actually in front of them. Sischy's socially conscious, insightful essays are time capsules capturing and preserving significant cultural moments for future generations to savor and enjoy. --Shahina Piyarali, writer and reviewer