A View From the Easel
“A certain level of distraction can help me see the work more clearly.”
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It’s Friday, Let’s Do an Open Thread
What’s on your mind lately? What’s going on in your life? Witnessed anything amazing? Anything you’d like to share with the rest of the class? Here in Vermont, it’s barely spring (which means it’ll probably snow at least one more time before I need to start mowing the lawn).
1D Chess . “You might initially find it more...
1D Chess . “You might initially find it more difficult than expected, but assuming optimal play, is there a forced win for white?”
Navid Baraty’s Atmospheric Photos Explore Contrasting Scales of Time
The contrasts and tensions of contemporary urban life and timeless landscapes merge in otherworldly images. 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 Navid
The Disappearance of the Public Bench
"Benches are microcosms of an expansive debate about who belongs in urban public spaces. When they are removed or made uninviting, we lose more than just a place to rest."
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Deaths in donation bins, the Hardy boys, MAGA slop, billionaire playgrounds, and nostalgia for the complicated.
Does reading do us any good?
Stripped of easy moralising, literature makes us relish the search for truth in an age when many believe truth to be dead - by Flora Champy Read on Aeon
Courage vs. excuses
There are more available excuses now than ever before. In just two letters, “AI” is a simple, brand-new, all-purpose excuse for laying people off, averaging things down, closing things up and generally finding an easier/quicker path. Courage, on the other hand, is the
An Ancient Philosophical Song Reconstructed and Played for the First Time in 1,000 Years
Above and below, you can watch musicians perform “Songs of Consolation,” a 1,000-year-old song set “to the poetic portions of Roman philosopher Boethius’ magnum opus The Consolation of Philosophy,” an influential medieval text written during the 6th century. According to
Wilderness, Solitude, and Creativity: Artist and Philosopher Rockwell Kent’s Century-Old Meditations on Art and Life During Seven Months on a Small Alaskan Island
"These are the times in life — when nothing happens — but in quietness the soul expands."
The Invention of Empathy: Rilke, Rodin, and the Art of “Inseeing”
How a doctor, a philosopher, a poet, and a sculptor co-created the modern concept of empathy.
Oliver Sacks on Gratitude, the Measure of Living, and the Dignity of Dying
"I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and adventure."
Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed on the Michael...
Leaving Neverland director Dan Reed on the Michael biopic out in theaters right now : “How can you tell an authentic story about Michael Jackson without ever mentioning the fact that he was seriously accused of being a child molester?”
Twin Peaks × LCD Soundsystem: a video mashup of Dance...
Twin Peaks × LCD Soundsystem: a video mashup of Dance Yrself Clean and the Twin Peaks theme music . Perfect. A damn fine cup of coffee, even.
Art Movements: Meet the Smithsonian American Art Museum’s New Director
Plus: Turner Prize shortlist announced, Print Center New York's 2026 New Voices cohort, and a surprising acquisition backstory.
ProPublica explores what a future without vaccines would...
ProPublica explores what a future without vaccines would look like in the US . Hundreds of thousands of deaths, tens of thousands of children paralyzed, and many other children stricken with serious but easily preventable health issues.
Hyperallergic’s Guide to the 2026 Venice Biennale
Here’s what to see and do at this year’s edition, including national pavilions, collateral exhibitions, and notable events.
The earliest-known recordings of whale songs (from 1949)...
The earliest-known recordings of whale songs (from 1949) were recently discovered in the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution’s archive . The scientists who recorded the audio didn’t even know what they were listening to.
Image of Family Torn by ICE Wins World Press Photo of the Year
“I hope it stirs people out of any sense of complacency,” said photojournalist Carol Guzy.
Ides Kihlen, Abstract Painter and Argentine Art Legend, Dies at 108
The beloved artist, who got her first solo show at age 85, was known for rhythmic compositions that balanced painterly form and textual matter.
Required Reading
This week, a museum as a site of motherhood, the amazing and terrible ways writers make their livings, Nara Smith as a performance artist? And more.
Eye Contact With a Humpback Whale
I’ve never seen anything like these photos before. In October 2024, Rachel Moore had a close encounter with a humpback whale in French Polynesia and took these photos of the whale’s eye. Moore wrote of the experience: This moment of eye contact was beyond my wildest dreams.
Parallax(e): Perspectives on the Canada–US Border
Works by five Indigenous artists respond to the legacy of the Northwest Boundary Survey (1857–62) in this exhibition at The Reach. On view through May 30.
Contrast Reigns in Austn Fischer’s Conspicuous Black-and-White Photos
Austn Fischer's work harnesses an exuberant sense of play, utilizing fashion and style to explore identity. 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
What Happens When a Globalized World Collapses: Archaeologist Eric Cline Explains How Bronze Age Civilizations Adapted, Survived or Vanished
We live, as we’re often told, in the era of globalization. In fact, we’ve been told it so often over the past few decades that it now hardly seems like an observation worth making. But however thoroughly our era is defined by connections between far-flung nations, societies,
Venice Biennale Awards Jury Won’t Consider Russia and Israel
The women-led jury said it will omit nations whose leaders are charged with crimes against humanity by the International Criminal Court.
Worried About Teens Today? So Were Adults in the 1920s....
Worried About Teens Today? So Were Adults in the 1920s. “A century ago, new technology and mobility reshaped what it meant to be young, linking rural life more closely to the city.”