Over his storied career, Steven Spielberg has made only four studio films about aliens: Close Encounters of the Third Kind, ET, War of the Worlds, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull — the outsized influence of the first two gives the impression that he’s
Seven Voting Laws Every Blue State Should Enact Right Now . “1. Enact a statutory right to vote for every eligible citizen. This may surprise you, but there is no general federal constitutional right to vote.”
A day in the life of Peter Hujar, a bungled museum heist, and Meredith Monk's six-decade career were the subjects of some of our favorite art films this year.
The husband-and-wife duo continue their exploration into the possibilities of paper and light. 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 Hari & Deepti
The Hit Hollywood Didn’t Want . “Sinners is a threat to a business model built only on regurgitation, on endless return trips to Jurassic World, on more Toy Stories and feature-length toy commercials.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
Using an extreme form of chiaroscuro, Wright portrays the dramatic moment of intellectual or moral revelation in his paintings of scientific subjects.
This foundation offers annual grants to support sculptors and ceramic artists with funding, studio advancement, and opportunities for material exploration.
Meaning is slippery in the new Philadelphia institution dedicated to the modernist master Alexander Calder.
If we were all Japanese pond frogs, we’d have nothing to fear from murder hornets. “ When I watched the recorded videos in slow motion, the frogs were clearly stung multiple times yet showed no apparent injury or mortality .” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
Marina Abramović is Zohran’s muse, the Whitney Biennial announces its exhibitors, the High Line replaces a giant pigeon with a huge Buddha, and more.
If you think age is an obstacle to your art career, Paddy Johnson wants you to think again.
Hmm, I really don’t know about this one : an animated adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm as a sort of Ice Age-ish comedy adventure? One commenter on YouTube says, “This movie is 100% gonna end with a random dance party scene with the pigs and humans dancing to something
Full funding is available for MFA students; MS students have scholarship and assistantship opportunities. The priority deadline for funding is January 15, 2026.
The Philadelphia-based artist taps into ancient Greek art and pop culture alike. 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 Historic Pottery Styles Meet Pop
“The Trump administration’s vision for the United States is one of a white Christian nation. And the path to accomplish it is through the exclusion and removal of all who do not fit that vision — in other words, through ethnic cleansing .”
The show's displays of juvenilia from established artists say little about adolescents today and make its message inscrutable.
Tiffany Calvert creates historically inspired still life paintings with an AI twist through a collaboration with engineers at Washington University in St. Louis.
A roundup of the words/phrases of the year for 2025 , including “rage bait”, “vibe coding”, “Mar-a-Lago face”, “chaos”, “performative male”, and “Kavanaugh stop”. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
Born Poor (PBS/Frontline) is a documentary filmed across 14 years about three kids in the US as they grow into young adults while “dealing with an economy where they face more obstacles than opportunities”. Free to watch online (probably US-only, so fire up your VPN if you live
"Months before 9/11 a passenger seized control of a Boeing 747 and nearly crashed it into the Sahara. Everyone survived but no one quite recovered. How do you measure the cost of a disaster that didn’t happen?"
"I'm spiritual in that I'm interested in that beauty and that order that is everywhere, that connects everyone," Kallop says. 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.
"However persuasive they might be as facsimiles, shokuhin sampuru are subjective interpretations, seeking not only to replicate dishes but to intensify the feelings associated with the real thing."
Also: The rise of anti-monarchical art, a First Amendment rally in New York City, a Brutalist icon in Dallas, and more.
"Everyone inside America’s most flailing destination city has a theory for what’s wrong. Now I have my own."
We don’t use the same language or ideas with an in-law that we do with our bar buddies. When the internet was young, people often chose to filter themselves online. We didn’t know who was on the other end of the pipe, and we knew it would be there forever. And typing feels more
The youngest moviegoers today do not, of course, remember a time before visual effects could be created digitally. What may give us more pause is that, at this point in cinema history, most of their parents don’t remember it either. Consider the fact that Steven Spielberg’s
These audience hits were the most-viewed picks on our site in 2025.
?si=RT8MgKeGcVzX6p9X How many people have ever walked the earth? Good question, even if you’ve never quite pondered it before. According to the Population Reference Bureau, a non-profit research organization, if you travel back to 8000 B.C.E., the world population stood at