On the eve of Tacita Dean's solo shows at London’s Royal Academy of Arts, National Gallery and National Portrait Gallery, Ben Eastham explores her new work and the ‘magic of film’; Ying Zhou looks at depictions of modern China in the work of Cui Jie; and an interview between Arthur Jafa and artist Jace Clayton opens up ‘black sites’ and the politics of filmmaking. Elsewhere in the magazine Negar Azimi reflects that Eileen Myles's new memoir of her dog has much to say about being human; and in an exclusive commission for frieze, artist Simon Starling photographs Giorgio Griffa’s studio in Turin.