‘They’re Gonna Make Me Cry’: I Competed at a Speed Puzzling Championship
"You might think of puzzling as leisurely, but it’s now a sport. I entered a national competition and discovered a passionate community."
Headlines
- All
- Africa
- Asia
- Business
- Culture
- Environment
- Europe
- Gaming
- Markets
- Middle East
- Movies & TV
- Music
- Politics
- Science
- South America
- Tech
- World News
Michaelina Wautier’s Overdue Triumph
The Guggenheim Fellowship names 223 winners, CUNY’s Social Practice program plans to shutter, and do we really need to go to the art fairs this spring?
The Longreads Questionnaire, Featuring Ibram X. Kendi
The Stamped and How to Be an Antiracist author on the superpower he'd like to have, the outlets he likes to read, and his latest work, Chain of Ideas .
What do you own?
What does it mean for us to own something? If we own a piece of land and the rain washes the topsoil downstream, do we go and get the topsoil back? Do we own our reputation? We have influence over it, but some of it was gifted to us without our knowledge, and other parts […]
Leo Tolstoy Calls Shakespeare an ‘Insignificant, Inartistic Writer.’ Then George Orwell Fires Back
After his radical conversion to Christian anarchism, Leo Tolstoy adopted a deeply contrarian attitude. The vehemence of his attacks on the class and traditions that produced him were so vigorous that certain critics, now mostly obsolete, might call his struggle Oedipal. Tolstoy
Enchantment and the Courage of Joy: René Magritte on the Antidote to the Banality of Pessimism
"Life is wasted when we make it more terrifying, precisely because it is so easy to do so."
Mexican Artist Alleges Plagiarism of Femicide Project
Elina Chauvet says her "Red Shoes" installation was staged in Bucharest without her knowledge or name.
If Every Congressman Facing Credible Rape Allegations...
If Every Congressman Facing Credible Rape Allegations Resigned, We’d Have No One Left to Govern the Country . “It’s naïve to imagine the government can continue to function without the tireless dedication of our best and brightest rapists.”
These Are the Winners of the 2026 Guggenheim Fellowship
Kenneth Tam, Alina Tenser, Sheida Soleimani, Leeza Meksin, and American Artist are among the 223 individuals receiving the annual award.
Authoritarian Megalomaniacs Love Gaudy Buildings
You know who else wanted to construct gaudy buildings in his own image? Here’s Timothy Ryback on Adolf Hitler’s obsession “with adding an expensive new wing to the Reich chancellery”. The new annex, connected to the chancellery by a marble corridor hung with crystal
Is This Blue: Chilean Philosophers Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela on Love and How We Know the World
Once, in an extreme of despair, I posed to my therapist a version of the haunting thought experiment Mary’s Room: How, I asked her, can a person who has never been modeled healthy, secure, steadfast love even recognize it when it comes along — to what extent is this knowing
This looks interesting: Quiche is a highly customizable...
This looks interesting: Quiche is a highly customizable but simple browser for iOS .
“ The internet known within China is a very...
“ The internet known within China is a very different internet to the one known by the world at large . It is censored, regulated and structured quite differently. It is controlled and managed, rather than organic and sprawling.”
Art Problems: Do I Need to Go to Art Fairs?
Are the fairs worth the back pain and steep ticket prices? Paddy Johnson has the answer.
I Found It: The Best Free Restaurant Bread in America
"Thirteen thousand miles. Infinite contenders. One beautiful loaf."
Nikyle Begay Resurrects Century-Old Diné Weavings
As an artist and shepherd, Begay facilitates their own creative process, from breeding and shearing to weaving long-undervalued twill patterns.
Now Online: a Treasure Trove of 1000s of Secret Concert Recordings
For decades, a guy named Aadam Jacobs has been recording live music shows . His collection of over 10,000 shows since 1984 feature the likes of Nirvana , R.E.M. , The Pixies, Björk , Depeche Mode , Liz Phair , Sonic Youth , The Cure , Phish , Fugazi , and so many more. With the
LR Vandy’s Rope Sculptures Disentangle Histories of Colonialism and Transportation
For London-based artist LR Vandy, the layered legacies of labor, shipping, and trade undergird a distinctive sculptural practice. 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
On the network effect of the weekend : “The...
On the network effect of the weekend : “The essential characteristic of the weekend is not just the having of a day off, but rather that other people have the day off.”
Beloved CUNY Social Practice Art Program to Shut Down
The artist-led project will shutter in February as co-directors Chloë Bass and Gregory Sholette depart their academic posts.
Politics After Literacy
“Postliteracy won’t replace reason with madness, but it might give us madness of a new and different type.”
A Collection of Transit Tickets
A brand designer’s “compendium of transit tickets” from around the world. Many of these are from the 90s and 00s. Design inspiration for daaaaays. (via meanwhile ) Tags: design
Of Stars, Seagulls, and Love: Loren Eiseley on the First and Final Truth of Life
Somewhere along the way of life, we learn that love means very different things to different people, and yet all personal love is but a fractal of a larger universal love. Some call it God. I call it wonder. Dante called it “the Love that moves the Sun and the other stars.”
How to Conquer Self-Doubt and Overcome Creative Block: Artist SoLewitt’s Magnificent Letter of Advice
"You belong in the most secret part of you. Don't worry about cool, make your own uncool."
Duchamp in New York
MoMA opens its latest blockbuster, Jasper Johns keeps looking, Aruna D’Souza responds to Josh Kline, and much more.
40 Years Later, Houston's FotoFest Keeps Its Edge
The photography festival’s anniversary retrospective embodies the spirit of freedom and internationalism present since its founding.
The Death of the Basic American Car . “Today,...
The Death of the Basic American Car . “Today, there are so many wealthy people who can afford luxury cars that it simply isn’t that profitable for companies to produce cars for the bottom 40 percent of Americans by income.”
Michaelina Wautier Finally Known by Her Name
For centuries, her masterpieces were misattributed to male painters. A new exhibition at London's Royal Academy corrects the record.
An AI bot created by Andon Labs is running its own...
An AI bot created by Andon Labs is running its own retail store in San Francisco . The bot has hired a pair of human employees and “has a corporate card, a phone number, email, internet access and eyes through security cameras”.
A Delightful Short Film Highlights the Remarkable Self-Taught Art of George Voronovsky
Ukrainian artist Jonko "George" Voronovsky (1903-1982) transformed his one-room residence into a vibrant environment of "memoryscapes." Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7
“Gerontocracy has always thrived in undemocratic...
“Gerontocracy has always thrived in undemocratic places — Communist people’s republics, Gulf monarchies — where only death could pry power from the ruling elders. American gerontocracy is exceptional for being freely elected .”
An interactive explainer on the physics of GPS ....
An interactive explainer on the physics of GPS . “The answer is in some ways simpler than you’d expect, and in other ways more complex. GPS is fundamentally a translation tool: it converts time into distance.”