News of the dramatic remapping of the Arctic ice in the upcoming 10th edition of the National Geographic Atlas of the World is only one of the many alarm bells clanging out the message that we live on a changing planet. With that urgency has come an upsurge in environmentally minded art, and a new book brings 95 of these creators together in a compendium of ecologically responsive work.
June 2014
Report Finds NYC’s Art World 200% Whiter Than Its Population [UPDATED]
With the Whitney Biennial, the withdrawal of the Yams Collective, and questions of race fresh in our minds, the Museum of Arts and Design opens its new biennial, NYC Makers, tomorrow. Included is a project that offers another stark reminder of the imbalanced demographics of the art world: Census Report, produced by the collective BFAMFAPhD.
Lowest Common Denominator: A Kara Walker Selfie Generator
If you enjoy obvious jokes about the way people interact with ubiquitous technological features, you’ll love sugarselfie.us, a new website that fights bad taste with worse.
College Bookstore Allegedly Fires Workers After Union Vote [UPDATED]
Following its employees’ vote to unionize at last Tuesday’s elections, independent bookseller Book Culture fired five of its thirty staffers, Gothamist reported.
Moscow Architectural Icon’s Future Will Be Decided by an App
The fate of the Shukhov Tower, an early architectural tribute to Communist Russia, could be decided by ordinary Moscovites with smartphones. Designed by Constructivist architect Vladimir Shukhov, the radio tower was erected on Lenin’s order in Moscow in 1922 as a monument to the October 1917 Revolution.
Creating Art Inside a Disused Power Plant
SALEM, Mass. — In the late 1600s, beset by an inarticulate religious hysteria and the rigors of the New World, the people of Salem set about burning the witches in their midst. Hundreds of years later and under the sway of a far different kind of fervor, they turned their attention to burning coal. Both of these events wove themselves directly into the fabric of this small New England town’s history.
Art Deco Behemoths Communicate from NYC to the World
Far from being obsolete, New York City’s early 20th century communication infrastructure has been transformed into internet data centers. Two of its most gargantuan structures are the Western Union and AT&T Long Lines buildings in Lower Manhattan, constructed between 1928 and 1932 under the design of architect Ralph Walker.
Airplane Art Through the Ages
This World Cup, the Brazilian national soccer team has been taking its characteristic flair to new heights. It has been flying to its games in a Boeing 737 painted by identical twin street artists Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo, better known as Os Gêmeos.
Required Reading
This week, Koons reviews, Facebook’s emotional manipulation, artwashing, Native American map of North America, Prince’s meme-inspired song, and more.
Weekend Words: Cell
The Supreme Court has ruled 9-0 that your cell shouldn’t land you in a cell.
Jon Imber: Tangled Up in Hues
ROCKPORT, Maine — It’s a late, sunny Wednesday afternoon in mid-June at the Center for Maine Contemporary Art (CMCA) and, aside from a docent at the front desk, I have the whole Jon Imber: Force of Nature show to myself.
Postscript to the Whitney Biennial: An Asian-American Perspective
Now that the Whitney Biennial is finally over, did anyone notice that Patty Chang, Nikki S. Lee, and Laurel Nakadate weren’t included, just to mention three mid-career, Asian-American women artists who were conspicuously absent?