Art
Bread and TikToks for the Masses
The recent government threats to TikTok raise questions about the future of the internet, which we once saw as free and democratic. Is that still the case?
AX Mina
Art
Livestreams and Spirit in a Time of Pestilence
The emergence of spiritual circles online in the face of COVID-19 strikes me as the opposite of viral — a place to be still in the face of viral turbulence on the streets and in the air, and viral turbulence on social media and the broader internet.
Interview
On the Origins of “They Tried to Bury Us, They Didn’t Know We Were Seeds”
After the Families Belong Together protests this past weekend, we talk to Greek media scholar Alexandra Boutopoulou on the widely used phrase, "They tried to bury us, they didn't know we were seeds," and its poetic origins.
Art
Discussing the Realities and Risks of Transgender Visibility
On the occasion of the publication of Trap Door, the New Museum convened a panel to discuss the realities of transgender artists and cultural workers and their lives in the so-called mainstream.
Art
Celebrating Intersectionality in the Futuristic Netflix Series 'Sense8'
As anti-immigrant, anti-LGBTQ, and isolationist policies sweep a growing number of nations, Sense8 takes us into a microcosm of a world these policies react against.
Art
In ‘Transparent,’ the Dangers of Apathy in Weimar Germany’s Queer Culture
They’re on top of the world: partying, popular, queer kids with everything going for them. This is not 1960s San Francisco or 1980s New York or today’s internet communities: it’s 1933 in Weimar Berlin.
Art
Seeing Fractured Explosions in Fragmented Mirrors
SAN FRANCISCO — The past year has seen many powerful, violent images.
Art
An Iranian-American Artist Revisits Images from the 1979 Revolution
SAN FRANCISCO — Follow a major social movement today, and unless you can afford to travel onsite, you’re likely to experience it through photos, hashtags, and video uploads. But a movement's record has always had global resonance, distributed through a mix of broadcast and pre-internet forms of citi
Art
Architecture for Humanity at the New Aspen Art Museum
ASPEN, Colorado — Despite its reputation as a resort town for the 1%, the heart of Aspen looks much like a classic Western American town. The new Aspen Art Museum, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Shigeru Ban, stands out in this context in both height and design.
Art
Behind the Scenes with a Beloved Children's Book Illustrator
SAN FRANCISCO — Anyone who's read Arnold Lobel's iconic Frog and Toad series may wonder: why pick a frog and a toad? And what's the difference between a frog and a toad anyway?
Opinion
Surreal Puppets Retell the Jabberwocky
SAN FRANCISCO — At San Francisco's annual Dickens Fair, I learned about the work of Darren Way, whose Dangerous Puppets creations feature fanciful characters and bizarre imagery bordering on the fantastical and grotesque.
Art
Remembering the West Coast Mail Art Scene
SAN FRANCISCO — While we tumble, tweet, and post our remixes of media online in a daily creative dialogue, it helps to remember that the history of creative correspondence extends to well before the internet.