Required Reading
This week, commentary on the Cariou v Prince ruling, architecture on the brain, churnalism, the 9/11 museum, reaction GIFs about art handling, the White House takes a stand on the GIF, and more.
This week, commentary on the Cariou v. Prince ruling, architecture on the brain, churnalism, the 9/11 museum, reaction GIFs about art handling, the White House takes a stand on the GIF, and more.
The Art Law Blog has been collecting a lot of interesting responses to the Cariou v. Prince ruling (our article about it here):
- At least one copyright lawyer/artist, Sergio Muñoz Sarmiento on Twitter, thinks this week’s Cariou v. Prince decision is bad.
- Another lawyer/artist Alfred Steiner offers his thoughts.
- The Standford Fair Use Project is happy with the ruling.
- Bob Clarida, author of the Copyright Law Deskbook, raises some interesting questions and has this summation:
So overall, I think the decision sort of de-conceptualizes the art and treats it as merely a bunch of marks on a surface — very old-timey and reductionist.
The anger around the Museum of Modern Art’s (MoMA) plan to destroy the American Folk Art Museum building is not subsiding. Last Monday, prominent architects, including Richard Meier, Thom Mayne, Steven Holl, Hugh Hardy, and Robert A.M. Stern called on MoMA to reconsider its decision to demolish the building. They were part of the signatories of an open letter that was penned by the Architectural League of New York:
“The Museum of Modern Art — the first museum with a permanent curatorial department of architecture and design — should provide more information about why it considers it necessary to tear down this significant work of contemporary architecture.”
Architectural writer James S. Russell also penned an impassioned defense of the building for Bloomberg this week … which Curbed NY transformed into free verse.
Ever wonder if the “news” you are reading is just a regurgitated press release? Or maybe just swiped from Wikipedia? If so, look no further than the Sunlight Foundation’s Churnalism plug-in for your browser, and find out who is churning out PR bullshit and who is reporting news:
The Helly Namad gallery in Manhattan has reopened just a week after it was raided by federal agents, who said it was connected to an illegal gambling ring. His bond got pricier too:
Nahmad’s bail conditions were modified late yesterday, the U.S. Attorney’s office said. The bond amount was increased to $10 million from $500,000, secured by his Trump Tower Fifth Avenue apartment, according to an order approved by the judge. If convicted, Nahmad faces a maximum of 92 years in prison, Bharara’s office said.
As part of his bail, Nahmad surrendered his US, Italian and Brazilian passports and his travel is restricted to the southern and eastern districts of New York.
Architect IM Pei is 96 years old and here is a map of all his New York projects, including a little-known streetscape project in Brooklyn’s Bed-Stuy neighborhood.
Brooklyn’s Red Hook neighborhood has proven to be an awful place to store art:
One person estimated that his own clients suffered damages in the tens of millions of dollars, with total losses perhaps running in the hundreds of millions. A conservator said, “We are treating art from that site” in response to calls from both clients and insurance companies, adding that most of the works were salvageable.
Al Jazeera looks at graffiti and street art in the Lebanese capital of Beirut:
“Beirut’s residents use graffiti to leave a fingerprint or a tattoo. To mark out their territory and to show it belongs to a certain party, ideology, or even sect,” explains Tala Saleh, a graphic designer and writer. “Each district has its own graffiti which in a way sets its territorial boundaries. Parties don’t usually trespass on each other’s territory.”
The 20 most popular architectural projects on ArchDaily. There are some real stunners here.
TV show 60 Minutes got a first look inside the 9/11 museum that will soon be unveiled. “Most museums are buildings that house artifacts,” says museum director Alice Greenwald. “We’re a museum in an artifact.”
The White House’s tumblelog has taken a position on the age old question of whether GIF is pronounced with a hard G or J. They say the former. WOOHOO!
Speaking of GIFs, there’s a tumblelog devoted to reaction GIFs related to art handling, appropriately titled art handlin’:
And your laugh for today is this “letter” that famously dramatic filmmaker Werner Herzog wrote to his cleaning lady. It begins:
‘Rosalina. Woman.
You constantly revile me with your singular lack of vision. Be aware, there is an essential truth and beauty in all things. From the death throes of a speared gazelle to the damaged smile of a freeway homeless. But that does not mean that the invisibility of something implies its lack of being …
The whole thing is funny.
Required Reading is published every Sunday morning EST, and it is comprised of a short list of art-related links to long-form articles, videos, blog posts or photo essays worth a second look.
