The Small Stuff: How to Lead a More Gratifying Life by Ian Bogost. “How modern conveniences not only fail to deliver on their promises but also rob us of small, satisfying tasks and moments that keep us grounded and human.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
Nothing says "person of the year" like replacing Depression-era workers with the billionaires making our skills obsolete.
How does lake ice do this? Incredible! (Mirror Lake, New Hampshire) 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
“Eating the right foods in the proper quantities, 16th-century Britons believed, balanced mind and soul. So in Shakespeare’s plays, roasts, ales, and pies are not props, but clues to characters’ souls, moods, and motivations .” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
The nonagenarian artist insists that women’s bodies are interesting for more than their eroticism.
I guess this is as good an explanation of contemporary culture as anything. Hungover from a world that told us we could be anything, we decided to be DJs. We don’t create our own music. We curate playlists, recirculating songs that will make people think we’re cool. And we do
The 83-year-old artist has dubbed her painterly detonations of color, which physically undulate from their surfaces, as “structural abstract expressionism.”
From her collaborations with Man Ray to her work as a WWII photographer, the artist retained a mix of defiance, poignance, and brazen, oddball humor.
The artist says he drew inspiration from the subway art of Keith Haring.
The Flow State podcast recently celebrated their 300th episode with a 2h41m mix of instrumental music sourced from a group of “musicians, curators, label heads, music fans”. They even let me pick a song. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
What do you want to express that you feel you can’t in everyday life? 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 Rotoscoped Memories Animate a Dynamic Music
"Since April, on the past five fourth Wednesdays of the month I have driven to St. John the Wondermaker Orthodox Church, in Atlanta’s Grant Park neighborhood, to wash and trim and file the feet of a handful of the city’s 2,200 unhoused men."
His prevailing influence over social theory and racial philosophy proves as relevant as ever in a group exhibition that explores his ideas, research, and legacy.
On view in Manhattan through January 20, 2026, Wright’s new large-scale paintings engage with the speed, scale, and inundation of images today.
I first posted about Nick Veasey’s work back in 2005 and thought it was worth another look. Veasey uses x-ray photography to get inside views of familiar objects, sometimes on a large scale. And here’s a peek behind-the-scenes at his process, which includes, critically, a
From tens of thousands of individual pieces, Rebecca Manson fashions striking moths and butterflies. 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 Dramatic
Oilwell is a (fake) wellness app “to help you embrace climate chaos” that includes features like “Drowning Mindfully”, “Lo-Fi Beats to Frack To”, and “12 Hour Wildfire Relaxation”. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
A system of modular bricks spurred an international, participatory, educational project. 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 LEGO Bricks Transform into
I just updated the 2025 Kottke Gift Guide with some new suggestions, including inflatable tube men (for your front yard; your neighbors will love!), some of the year’s best cookbooks, ramen kits from Japan, and some low- of no-spend gifts.
Civicus monitors the health of civic societies and their freedoms around the world. In their annual assessment on civic freedoms for 2025 , they downgraded the United States from “narrowed” to “obstructed”. The CIVICUS Monitor has downgraded the United States of America’s
Post-Japan Depression . “People feel it after coming home from a trip that feels magical, safe, clean, punctual, aesthetic, peaceful… and suddenly — boom — back to reality.” (Not sure if this person is kidding but yep! 💯🎯) 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
Also, a $117 Picasso, Coreen Simpson's monograph, and Jeff Wall's disorienting photography.
There’s a face on Mars. Ever since Viking took this photo fifty years ago, some people have been sure–certain–that it clearly shows a face on the planet’s surface. Of course, once we had a high resolution image from a later mission, all resemblance to a face went away. Human
We live in a culture built on ignoring limits—of land, of bodies, of attention—and these stories kept returning me to that truth.