A Very 2026 Art Reading List
Also, the Smithsonian complies with Trump, the Asian Art Museum's baby rave, and an interview El Salvador's Venice Biennale artist.
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The shape of time
In the 19th century, the linear idea of time became dominant – with profound implications for how we experience the world - by Emily Thomas Read on Aeon
The squeeze
Once a company hits a plateau in its market share, the pressure begins to mount. Investors want more of a return, shareholders want the stock price to go up. Managers pay attention to the metrics they’re held to, and the squeeze begins. At first, the squeeze focuses on
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
In this edition: ICE fighter, tectonic researcher, prairie preserver, regal grandmother, wild timekeeper.
MTV Rewind Lets You Revisit 40,000 Music Videos & Commercials from the Golden Age of MTV
MTV still exists. At least, it still exists in the United States, or in certain of that country’s markets, for the time being. A flurry of premature obituaries recently blew through the internet after the announcement that the network had shut down in other parts of the world,
15 Art Books We're Excited to Read in 2026
Books about Marcel Duchamp, Frida Kahlo, Alma Thomas, and more, plus critical studies of lipstick and complaining, are on our radar.
Art Movements: Pineapples, Coconuts, and More Art Awards
Organizations including United States Artists and Creative Capital announced millions of dollars in grants this week. Plus: a baby rave!
Required Reading
The Schomburg Qur’an, Auudi Dorsey’s paintings of Black community at the beach, an unsolved Pollock theft, remembering Claudette Colvin, dollhouse furniture, and more.
Meet the Artist in El Salvador’s First-Ever Venice Biennale Pavilion
J. Oscar Molina hopes his exhibition, “Cartographies of the Displaced,” will cultivate “patience and compassion for newcomers.”
By All Measures. “Our scales are too imbalanced; we are unable to...
By All Measures . “Our scales are too imbalanced; we are unable to think the unthinkable. It goes without saying that it can be paralyzing, demoralizing, to be an individual acting as part of the collective, globe-sized world.”
In ‘Funeral for a Tree,’ Steve Parker Etches Bird Song into Playable Oak Records
When an oak tree died in his yard, Steve Parker created a sound sculpture as tribute. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article In ‘Funeral for a Tree,’
Smithsonian Complies With Trump’s Documents Request
The institution handed over wall texts and other materials as part of the White House's targeted inquiry into the museum system.
Visualizations of the growing undersea network of submarine cables, 2013-2025....
Visualizations of the growing undersea network of submarine cables, 2013-2025 .
Where the Prairie Still Remains
"Are pioneer cemeteries key to the Iowa prairie’s revival, or its final resting place?"
Michelangelo Made His First Masterpiece When He Was 12 Years Old
The painting was attributed to another Renaissance artist's workshop for centuries. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article Michelangelo Made His First
The Florentine Codex
The Florentine Codex is a 16th-century illustrated encyclopedia of indigenous Mexico, “the most reliable source of information about Mexica culture, the Aztec Empire, and the conquest of Mexico.” Courtesy of the Getty, the entire document is online and searchable . The Digital
Many of us have “lost the future” during the radical uncertainty brought...
Many of us have “lost the future” during the radical uncertainty brought about by polycrisis . “I hadn’t fully grasped how the idea of a better future sustained me — now I, like many others, find it difficult to be productive.”
From XKCD, some common sailing rigs, including the ketch, schooner, offset rig,...
From XKCD, some common sailing rigs , including the ketch, schooner, offset rig, and oops all spinnakers.
A Short Documentary Celebrates the Community that Rallied Around ‘Rick on the Roof’
Evicted from his home in 2006, Rick Canty moved to the roof. Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article A Short Documentary Celebrates the Community that
Bread Infographic
London bakery The Dusty Knuckle cleverly used a loaf of bread as a graph to illustrate the costs of running their business: From their post: This comes off the back of a big decision to increase our bakers’ pay ahead of the new London Living Wage coming in April 2026. That
“This should be the year you stop trying so hard to turn...
“This should be the year you stop trying so hard to turn yourself into a better person, and focus instead on actually leading a more absorbing life .”
How Plate Tectonics Revolutionized Our Understanding of Earth
"And how scientist Tanya Atwater was at the center of it all."