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bell hooks on the Power of Being in the Margins

Fifteen years into reading and writing in order to learn how to live, I looked back on these marginalia on the search for meaning and realized that the people whose lives and work have most moved me and fed me, consoled me and inspirited me, were people who existed in the

Our Summer Art Reading List

Whenever I’m stuck in a reading rut, I find that art books of any kind are the only ones that can rescue me. This time, it’s Kory Stamper’s True Color , a transfixing story about the man who originated Merriam-Webster Dictionary’s definitions for

Watching an Art Conservator Restore a Damaged Painting

There’s something so relaxing about watching art conservator Julian Baumgartner restore this damaged painting, a self-portrait by Italian painter Emma Gaggiotti Richards . I love how he paints tiny cracks in the damaged areas to match those in the rest of the painting. There

12 Art Books to Kick Off Summer

A novel lampooning the art world, Megan O’Grady’s meditation on art and living, the man who defined color in the dictionary, Nan Goldin’s tender photo essay, and more.

Roadside Attraction

"The desert has a changeling effect, transforming lights into magic, desert into space, visitors into lovers, me into something apart from what I actually am."

Still in Sound

Sound artists compose sonic and multisensory interpretations of abstract paintings for this new exhibition at the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver, Colorado.

Perhaps businesses are collecting too much data for...

Perhaps businesses are collecting too much data for their own good . “Each morning at 10am, I get an email from Caroline in the finance team showing the cash we have in the bank compared with the same day last year. This fact offers no hiding place.”

What’s Your Favorite Recipe?

I am not what you would call a dedicated home cook. But every once in a while, I get a bee in my bonnet and make something from my small cache of recipes or from something I saw online that looked good. Some of my go-tos include: Rigatoni With White Bolognese ( PDF )

Glimpse the Fantastical Animated World of ‘Wildwood’

LAIKA Studios emphasizes both human-made elements and cutting-edge technology in the feature-length film, coming this October. 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.

How death came to Earth

Why must humans die? According to an ancient Indian folktale, death first came to Earth through an ill-fated love affair - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon

Mathematics is out there

Sergiu Klainerman spent years proving that black holes won’t fly apart; and arguing that maths is not a human invention - by Steve Nadis Read on Aeon