The decade’s most popular posts on Hyperallergic (graphic Hrag Vartanian/Hyperallergic)
This past fall, Hyperallergic officially turned 10, so we’re proud to share some of the most viral and interesting posts we’ve had the pleasure to publish on these pages. From the insightful to the hilarious (sometimes both!), Hyperallergic is happy to bring you some of the best and most entertaining art writing over this past decade.
And in case you missed it, our list of the most popular posts of 2019 is also up.
- “$1.3M Banksy Artwork ‘Self-Destructs’ at Auction” by Hrag Vartanian — Banksy may be the first artist of the 21st century who learned to prop up his practice with a healthy dose of media-friendly antics, so I’m certainly not surprised he’s topping the list. All other artists (most notably internet ones interested in virality) have been catching up to him ever since.
- “Damien Hirst’s Shipwreck Fantasy Sinks in Venice” by Tiernan Morgan — Morgan’s excellent review of a really terrible exhibition got a lot of attention, particularly after the artist’s fake documentary came out, exposing a whole new wave of readers to his words. The whole thing is a joy to read.
- “Have a Creepy Little Christmas with These Unsettling Victorian Cards” by Allison Meier — Since this post first appeared in 2015, it has resurfaced annually during the holidays, kind of like a Hyperallergic tradition. People can’t get enough of these bizarre images, which suggest the Victorians were far weirder than their traditional uptight image. You know that repression had to express itself some way, right?
- “At the Denver Airport, Art Fuels Conspiracy Theorists” by Devon Van Houten Maldonado — Who doesn’t love a good conspiracy?
- “Pseudoarchaeology and the Racism Behind Ancient Aliens” by Sarah E. Bond — Bond’s essay was an eye-opener for many who thought these theories were harmless fun, rather than part of a larger ideology that devalues the labor of people of color.
- “India Is Building the World’s Tallest Statue” by Claire Voon — This quirky post stood above the crowd.
- “A Database of Fugitive Slave Ads Reveals Thousands of Untold Resistance Stories” by Allison Meier — People love good archives, and these ads offered people some insight into a community of enslaved people who were fighting to be free.
- “Designer Releases 3D-Printed Stamp to Put Harriet Tubman on the $20” by Jasmine Weber — Here it is again. It topped our 2019 list, and also appears here. People really want Tubman on the $20. Can you blame them?
- “An Illustrated Guide to Guy Debord’s ‘The Society of the Spectacle’” by Tiernan Morgan & Lauren Purje — An excellent summary of Debord’s important late 20th-century text through the words of Morgan and the images of Purje. From 2014 to 2017, the pair did a great job of explaining artist resale royalties and auction terminology, and carefully constructed explainers for Arthur Danto’s “End of Art” and Linda Nochlin’s “Why Have There Been No Great Women Artists?” That last one even earned the pair a note from Nochlin, who wrote to say she enjoyed the “marvelous illustrated guide to my 1971 essay published by Hyperallergic a few days ago.” She added, “I enjoyed the cartoons immensely.” You should check them all out.
- “Columbia University MFA Students Demand Tuition Refunds” by Benjamin Sutton — People couldn’t believe one of the most respected MFA programs was having these issues. Let’s hope things have been fixed since we reported on this in 2018.
I note that this list includes “An Illustrated Guide to Guy Debord’s ‘The Society of the Spectacle’”, which states that the “spectacle” is, among other things, “the listicle telling you “10 things you need to know about ‘x.’”