Best Art in Worst of Times
Our favorite art shows and films of 2025, figure models fight for their rights, Joan Semmel's body paintings, the rise of Crusadercore, and much more.
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“Use your best judgment”
Extraordinary organizations have this is as their employee handbook. Resilient ones. Human ones that can thrive in the face of automation and AI. Organizations that are built on customer service, hospitality and flexibility. Of course, this means you’ll need to treat your team
Wallace & Gromit’s Cracking Christmas
In 2002, Aardman Animations produced a series of short episodes called Wallace & Gromit’s Cracking Contraptions. In each episode, Wallace unveils a new invention, which Gromit then has to deal with. For the holiday season, Aardman has packaged a few of these short shorts into
“The embrace of the unitary executive theory by both the president and...
“The embrace of the unitary executive theory by both the president and the [Supreme Court] has given us the worst of all worlds: an ultrapowerful presidency without an actual president at the helm .”
Dear Zohran, Don’t Let Art Workers Down
Those of us in the cultural sector need you to enact a bold vision for the role of city government in fostering the arts and helping our communities thrive.
On reading Proust vs experiencing the world intermediated by screens (even when...
On reading Proust vs experiencing the world intermediated by screens (even when you’re not on one). “Your attention is, on a foundational level, all you have. This is why it feels worse than bad to waste it. It feels annihilating.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
If you want to see the future of clean energy, you have...
If you want to see the future of clean energy, you have to go to China . They have flying 2-seater taxis, lunch delivery drones, robots that can swap your empty EV battery in 3 minutes, bullet trains, driverless taxis, etc. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
Inkblot Books via the Public Domain Review. These pre-date use of the...
Inkblot Books via the Public Domain Review. These pre-date use of the inkblot in the Rorschach test. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
Trump-Appointed NEA Chair Returns for Second Term
Mary Anne Carter led the National Endowment for the Arts during Trump’s first presidency.
“Victims of Communism” Monument Altered Over Reported Nazi Ties
A memorial in Canada will no longer include the names of specific people after the government said it found possible Nazi affiliations among the commemorated individuals.
Medieval Psalms Were Not For Everyone
An exhibition prioritizes the expensive, silent object over the lived, functional experience of the believer.
“The Global Village Construction Set is a modular, DIY, low-cost, high-performance platform...
“ The Global Village Construction Set is a modular, DIY, low-cost, high-performance platform that allows for the easy fabrication of the 50 different Industrial Machines that it takes to build a small, sustainable civilization with modern comforts.” 💬 Join the discussion on
Abstract Paintings Confront Andean Weaving in Miguel Arzabe’s Dynamic Compositions
Miguel Arzabe creates dynamic compositions that meld art history with his Bolivian heritage. 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 Abstract Paintings
Light Fantastic
Using thousands of photos taken by NASA astronauts Butch Wilmor and Don Pettit earlier this year from the International Space Station, Seán Doran made this incredible timelapse called Light Fantastic. 21,837 images across 18 time-lapse sequences photographed by NASA astronauts
How a Nativity Scene Sent Europe Into a Tizzy
A controversial Brussels nativity scene begs the question: Should explicitly Christian imagery continue to be a part of Europe’s civic space, and if so, who has the authority to define it?
A report from one of the competitors in a parallel parking championship....
A report from one of the competitors in a parallel parking championship . “You’ve got to get uncomfortably close. Those bumpers are called bumpers for a reason.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
The Leaf that Wouldn’t Fall: A Tender Illustrated Parable about the Measure and Meaning of Love
Two of the most dangerous myths we live with are the idea, handed down to us by the Romantics, that in true love two people meet each other’s every need and desire, and the idea, sold to us by the merchants of materialism and woven into the fundamental mythos of the modern
Savory Rice Krispies treats? “Savory chicken fat and fried onions push Rice...
Savory Rice Krispies treats? “Savory chicken fat and fried onions push Rice Krispies Treats into gloriously salty-sweet territory.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
Anthony Theakston Sculpts a Spirited Flock of Bronze and Ceramic Birds
Elegant and primed for flight, these birds perch between abstract and realistic representations. 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 Anthony Theakston
In 2023, seismologists detected a “global hum” originating in Greenland that lasted...
In 2023, seismologists detected a “global hum” originating in Greenland that lasted for 9 days . A rockslide triggered a 200m-high tsunami that sloshed back & forth in a fjord every 90 seconds, slamming into the fjord’s walls “like a beating heart”. 💬 Join the discussion on