Opinion
New York Times Dramatizes Absurd Legal Transcript
A new video series at the New York Times seeks to remedy the suspension of disbelief often required when dealing with the absurd in "court trials, depositions, or government hearings."
Opinion
Opinion
"Dia de los Muertos" Meets Fast Food America
In the world of fast food art, there are Spanish-speaking Chihuahuas, bespectacled southern gentlemen, and hamburger-dealing clowns. Now, there’s a new and unlikely emblem of American gastronomy: a skeleton.
Opinion
Required Reading
This week, net neutrality is threatened, authenticating a Rothko, 3D printing homes, how hip-hop failed Black America, Shakespeare's dictionary, probing "Stealing Banksy," and more.
Opinion
Weekend Words: Action
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court took the country another step further to the right with its affirmation of Michigan's state constitutional amendment banning race-based affirmative action at its public universities, a move eerily foretold by one of our more progressive ex-presidents.
Opinion
Your Graffiti "Looks Like Shit," a Historic Letter to Alicia McCarthy
The artists of the so-called Mission School, that indie-inspired band of DIY artists centered around the San Francisco Art Institute (SFAI) in the 1990s, are getting their moment in the New York sun with Grey Art Gallery's Energy That Is All Around exhibition.
Opinion
Required Reading
This week, photography's bias towards dark skin, the world's tallest building rises, the earliest emoticon, Zorthian Ranch, Noah's lack of black people, a novella based on Edward Hopper, the paintings of Bob Ross by the stats, and more.
Opinion
Weekend Words: Water
On Thursday, the Guardian reported that officials in Portland, Oregon, plan to flush millions of gallons of drinking water "for the second time in less than three years because someone urinated into a city reservoir."
Opinion
No Mag Is an Island
In the latest issue of Cluster Mag, a "magazine of international popular culture," writer Jesse Myerson places the asset-stripping drama surrounding Detroit's bankruptcy against a broader historical context, one that dates to the 13th-century failure of Constantinople.
Opinion
A Compendium of Comic Maps
The best fiction often succeeds because its creator has constructed a convincing world. By that I don't mean a place that seems realistic, but rather a world that's believable because it's been thought through — pages of notes, characters described down to their beauty marks, the relationships betwe
Opinion
Hip-Hop Meets Art History
Cecilia Azcarate's art history tumblelog B4XVI pairs pictures of rappers with historical sculptures, paintings, and statues from the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s collection.
Opinion
Sculpture of Homeless Jesus Sparks Controversy
When it comes to religious art, depictions of Jesus tend to feature him as saintly, reverential, floating above mere mortals or healing them with his touch (or he's a baby). But a sculpture by artist Timothy P. Schmalz shows Jesus as a homeless man wrapped in a blanket, asleep on a bench.
Opinion
Franco's Playhouse
LOS ANGELES — For all of James Franco’s talk about being James Franco, it’s pretty lame that he’s now trying to glean a bit of Cindy Sherman’s fame by recreating her photographs in drag.