Required Reading
This week: remembering Betye Saar on her 100th birthday, saving a women’s sculpture garden, Emily Wilson breaks the internet, climate scientists on OnlyFans, and more.
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The Beauty of Doing Nothing Together . “What...
The Beauty of Doing Nothing Together . “What you’re doing hardly matters. What matters is inviting someone into the ordinary parts of your life instead of waiting for an occasion that feels worthy of an invitation.”
Trump’s Border Expansion Threatens 6,000-Year-Old Cave Paintings
The federal government announced on Monday that the Texan portion of the US-Mexico border wall will be exempt from environment preservation laws.
Lifelike Birds Emerge from Foliage in Painted Paper Reliefs by The Paper Ark
The duo aims to raise awareness of biodiversity and conservation by evoking a sense of wonder similar to what we feel in nature. 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
What Is It Like to Be a Cucumber?
“The biologist Michael Levin has spent his life trying to prove that minds show up in places we’d never think to look.”
Zac Henderson Venerates Devil’s Tower in Bold Black-and-White Photos
Henderson also captures the changing light and the otherworldly textures and ochres of the iconic rock. 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 Zac
The Hell Mouth
Volcanologist Laszlo Kestay took this photo of a lava skylight in 1996 while conducting field work at Kīlauea on Hawaiʻi. The hardened lava flows strongly resemble doomed souls being sucked into hell or the damned escaping the underworld. Tags: geology · hawaii · hell ·
Israel Incensed as UNESCO Adds Lebanese and West Bank Sites to World Heritage List
The Mount Amel Castles and the archaeological ruins of Sebastia are among six new heritage sites considered to be in danger.
This, Too, Shall Pass
"Our guts have never been more optimized—but have the scat chats gone too far?"
The legacy of the Luddite movement changes when you zoom...
The legacy of the Luddite movement changes when you zoom out a bit . “The development of cooperatives around the world is another story that should not end too abruptly. We could still be weaving it today.”
Janice Yang’s Symbol-Rich Paintings Conjure Dreams and the Desire for Home
Years of labor and adaptation as a first-generation immigrant shaped the artist's approach to painting. 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 Janice
The trailer for Wicker (starring Olivia Colman,...
The trailer for Wicker (starring Olivia Colman, Alexander Skarsgård, Peter Dinklage, Elizabeth Debicki). “An outcast in a fishing village commissions a husband for herself made out of wicker.” Looks unhinged (complimentary).
The coffee shop where 162 regulars have their own mug...
The coffee shop where 162 regulars have their own mug (1977) . “The cups may not be such a small thing after all. They are a town register and a history and a confirmation that life goes on in a small American town.”
“Protected by Ghost Town”
"A private company has cleared dozens of homeless encampments in Venice—with persistence, cash payments, and a team that includes former gang members. Clients love them. The people they move do not."
Mud below, sun above
Meet Bể, part of Vietnam’s vital but overlooked network of recyclers – a workforce predominantly made up of elderly women - by Aeon Video Watch on Aeon
How to Get Canceled in the Art World
Study respondents reacted more negatively toward artists committing sexual assault than murder. Plus, an unexpected pairing with Picasso’s “Guernica.”
How art invented humanity
When early humans first painted cave walls, they began to find out who they really were: our minds emerged from our images - by J F Martel Read on Aeon
Organizations that need you
“How few people can we get away with?” That’s a question many bosses think hard about. Automate. Streamline. Improve productivity and take humans out of as many tasks as possible. It’s a time-tested way to create profits and to increase a certain kind of reliability. Claude
A Guide to Every Major Film Adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey Before Christopher Nolan’s Movie
If you plan on shooting your own adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey, bear in mind how much rests on your choice of leading man. In order to play Odysseus, an actor must summon a real gravitas, but also a still-smoldering vitality: here is a man who led the Greek army to defeat Troy,
The Visionary Mystical Art of Carl Jung: See Illustrated Pages from The Red Book
Carl Jung’s Liber Novus, better known as The Red Book, has come to light in a complete English translation, published by Norton in a 2009 facsimile edition and a smaller “reader’s edition” in 2012. The years since have seen several exhibitions of the book, which “could pass for
Games People Play: The Revolutionary 1964 Model of Human Relationships That Changed How We (Mis)Understand Ourselves and Each Other
"Because there is so little opportunity for intimacy in daily life, and because some forms of intimacy (especially if intense) are psychologically impossible for most people, the bulk of the time in serious social life is taken up with playing games."
August 2026 Opportunities: Open Calls, Residencies, and Grants for Artists
Deadlines! Are! Approaching! 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 August 2026 Opportunities: Open Calls, Residencies, and Grants for Artists appeared
It’s Cool to Be Weird
I really like what Razaak Eniola has to say here about human difference. Before Prince was Prince, Prince was weird . And that goes the same for probably any of your favorite artists. Before Erykah Badu was Erykah Badu, Erykah Badu was weird. Before Marc Rebillet was Marc
In the Age of AI, the Analog Restaurant Feels Radical
"Some restaurants are leaning into handmade touches, as AI-generated food photos and flyers become commonplace."
Madrid Museum Puts Picasso in Dialogue With "African Guernica"
Dumile Feni’s monumental drawing is part of the Museo Reina Sofía's new program "History Doesn’t Repeat Itself, but It Does Rhyme."
Walmart is busy building out their fast EV charger...
Walmart is busy building out their fast EV charger network in the US …currently 73 locations in 17 states. Their eventual goal is install chargers at “thousands of its locations by 2030”.
Sexual Assault Allegations Get Artists Canceled More Than Murder, Study Finds
Though they considered murder morally worse, survey participants deemed artists accused of sexual abuse more deserving of censure.
The Shakers Weren’t Minimalists
An exhibition posits that the sect happened upon the ideals of modern design, overlooking the contradictions and vitality of its culture.
Remembering Betelhem Makonnen, Betye Saar, and Keith A. Morrison
This week, we honor an explorer of diasporic consciousness, a revolutionary assemblage artist, and the first Black dean of art in the US.
