Hrag Vartanian
- The courts have settled it. We should all use an Oxford comma:
A Maine court ruling in a case about overtime pay and dairy delivery didn’t come down to trucks, milk, or money. Instead, it hinged on one missing comma.
- Michelle Grabner’s review of Jeffrey Gibson at the Haggerty Museum of Art is quite excellent:
The outrageousness of this work was stunning then, and more recently I found myself craving its critical brazenness when viewing Jeffrey Gibson’s exhibition of hard-edge paintings and beaded works that also challenge assumptions of cultural ownership.
- Woman kisses stranger next to her for kisscam after her partner rejects her:
- Capitalism has become a punchline, but only because it controls ever aspect of our lives and culture. The latest research:
The Irish Potato Famine Was Caused by Capitalism, Not a Fungus
“Regardless of the wealth of the British Empire, it repeatedly refused to use its resources to either effect structural changes or alleviate food shortages when they occurred,” Kinealy says, explaining how the Irish Great Hunger was not an isolated incident. “Famines occurred periodically in both Ireland and India in the 19th century. In both countries, the rulers in London blamed the indigenous poor for their own poverty—creating the myth that they were lazy, socially backward and uncivilized.”
Sound familiar? Of course it does. Blaming poor people for being too lazy or unmotivated to succeed is an extremely popular pasttime in the U.S., despite the fact that, just as the Irish who starved were hard at work producing profit for their rich British landlords, most American food stamp recipients are employed full-time.
- Speaking of capital, the US Currency Education Program’s interactive website is quite impressive, check out the security features of the $100 bill.
- It has come to this:
- The only way to stomach Spicer:
- Spanish artist Abel Azcona had “Make America Great Again” tattooed around his anus:
Required Reading is published every Sunday morning ET, and is comprised of a short list of art-related links to long-form articles, videos, blog posts, or photo essays worth a second look.
