In the 6th century B.C.E., Aesop wrote more than 700 fables conveying moral messages through animal characters. Fifty-one of these featured a sly fox, usually characterized as both intelligent and deceptive, often conning other animals. Foxes have long symbolized adaptability,
In the very small business, the freelancer knows each customer. By name, by volume, by preferences. And in the huge business, expensive software, data analysts and relentless margin seeking pushes organizations to increase their yield. But most businesses (and non-profits and
Image from New York Public Library, via Wikimedia Commons If you visit Osaka, you’ll be urged to see two old buildings in particular: Osaka Castle and Shitennō-ji (above), Japan’s first Buddhist temple. In beholding both, you’ll behold the work of construction firm Kongō Gumi
On the genius design of Super Mario Bros’ World 1-1 , which teaches players how the game works without needing a tutorial. “In order to pass this first little guardian, the player must learn that the A button makes Mario jump.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
Sacred Sites . “From Machu Picchu to the Louvre — the book journeys through sacred sites in art and ancient history.” I’ve always loved places and architecture that feel awe-inspiring or numinous. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
I love these isometric cutaway drawings by Japanese illustrator & architect Enya Honami . From Spoon & Tamago : Honami is a skilled draughtswoman by trade, having obtained an MFA in architecture and working at a well-known Japanese architecture firm. But the grueling hours and
The first woman to make her living from painting captured herself and other women in the ways they wished to be perceived.
Some say the decision to cut the In the Galleries series represents a blow to the paper’s regional arts coverage.
New university programs are incorporating generative tools into studio art courses while attempting to address the murky ethics of the technology.
Hyperallergic speaks with Walter Cooper, who wrote the book on queer history in Santa Fe, and Christian Waguespack, who curated the show on it.
Staff say the dress code policy, which prohibits “political statements,” is anti-Palestinian and goes against the values of the artist whose legacy the museum honors.
"This summer, one of my lectures was protested by far-right students. Their rhetoric brought to mind some of the darkest moments of 20th-century history—and overlapped with mainstream Israeli views to a shocking degree."
As one of the top trials riders in the world, Danny MacAskill can certainly do a wheelie. In this fun video, he does wheelies all over the place, joined by a bunch of friends. The behind-the-scenes video is just as fun. And I watched the “how to do a wheelie” companion video
New York’s celebrated, medium-driven fair returns to downtown Manhattan’s Pier 36, featuring 75 galleries with top modern and contemporary paper-based art.
In terms of genes, humans are actually more closely related to mushrooms than plants! That’s because key characteristics—how we store energy, how our cells are built, and our ability to produce Vitamin D when exposed to the sunlight—are found in fungi but not trees or grass.
Are your idle moments spent inventing imaginary conversations between strange bedfellows? The sort of conversation that might transpire in a pickup truck belonging to Samuel Beckett, say, were the Irish playwright to chauffeur the child André Rene Roussimoff—aka pro wrestler
The life-changing magic of being in the groove . “Scientists have long known the mental and creative benefits of the flow state, in which total absorption in an activity banishes anxiety.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
I ran across an interesting term/concept in Miranda July’s All Fours : third things. A character in the book attributes it to “the Quakers” and describes it like so: It’s a topic of conversation that doesn’t belong to either party. The soul, usually so shy, can speak more