Hear from the curators behind the ongoing Arctic Art Forum about their takes on major issues affecting the region.
Author Archives: Mike Watson
Mike Watson is an art theorist, critic, and curator based in Italy who is principally focused on the relation between art and politics. He holds a PhD in Philosophy from Goldsmiths College and has curated for Nomas Foundation and at both the 55th and 56th Venice Biennale. In May 2016 he published a book entitled ‘Towards a Conceptual Militancy’ for ZerO books.
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Elisabeth Murdoch’s Appointment to the Arts Council England Infuriates Art Lovers
Earlier this month Elisabeth Murdoch was appointed as a national council member of Arts Council England, an action that has met with widespread protests across social media.
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In a Fight for the Soul of Milan, Artist-Occupiers Face Off Against Developers and City Council
For the past five years, the group Macao has run a thriving, radical arts center out of a former slaughterhouse in Milan. Now the city council wants to evict them.
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Theaster Gates Contemplates What Creates and Destroys Communities
MILAN — Following the major economic crises in Europe and the US, political art has become increasingly visible in those parts of the world. At the same time, it’s become increasingly difficult to ignore questions about the art’s actual effectiveness.
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In Rome, a Worrying Trend as Alternative Spaces Go Silent
ROME — Following the election of Rome’s first female mayor — Virginia Raggi of the populist Five Star Movement, who won a massive 67.2% in the second ballot — the city awaits solutions to the neglect which has led to overgrown parks, rubbish on the streets, large-scale homelessness of the city’s immigrant population, and poor cultural programming.
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Shooting Down the Purely Aesthetic Aspirations of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s Piers
SULZANO, Italy — I decided to make the journey from my home in Rome to Sulzano in northern Italy to judge the merits and pitfalls of Christo and Jeanne-Claude’s “Floating Piers” — an almost two-mile long floating walkway situated on Lake Iseo — for myself.