Traversing the Mahjong Multiverse
"As mahjong grows in popularity, can the diverging fanbases come together?"
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Gabrielle Goliath’s "Elegy" Comes to Venice
A review of the show that was censored by the South African government, Seattle Art Museum workers push for a union, and 12 art books to read this summer.
“Aren’t the Organs a Silver Lining?”
Complicating a "mixed blessing" of the opioid crisis: a rise in organ donations.
Maritime China
Far from turning its back on the sea, the fate of Qing China was tied as much to tides and storms as to cavalry and walls - by Ron Po Read on Aeon
Every Book of the Bible Explained in One Video
Whether we’re religious or not, we can all agree that the Bible isn’t just a book. In fact, it’s at least 66 of them, 39 Old Testament and 27 in the New, and that’s just in the Protestant tradition. Even if you’ve never read a single page of the Bible, you may well have a […]
The night clerk
At 2:30 in the morning, the night clerk at the hotel is a great help if you’ve locked yourself out of your room. But if you want to complain about the hours of the gym, the hotel’s environmental footprint or even their late check-in policy, you’re almost certainly wasting their
What Happens When a Musician Plays Stevie Ray Vaughan’s “Pride and Joy” on a $25 Kids’ Guitar at Walmart
There’s a maxim that says, “It’s not the guitar, it’s the player.” And the video above bears it out. In this clip, musician Clay Shelburn and his pal Zac Stokes visit a Walmart at 3 a.m. and pick up a Disney Cars 2 toy guitar. Next, they proceed to play Stevie Ray Vaughan’s
Obsidian and the Birds: An Odyssey of Wonder from the Aztecs to the Quantum World
A recent visit to Teotihuacán — the ancient Mesoamerican city in present-day Mexico, built by earlier cultures around 600 BCE and later rediscovered by the Aztecs — left me wonder-smitten by the see-saw of our search for truth and our search for meaning, by a peculiar
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
“Little Prince” Author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry on Friendship
"Old friends cannot be created out of hand. Nothing can match the treasure of common memories, of trials endured together, of quarrels and reconciliations and generous emotions."
A Contemporary Art Haven Just a PATH Ride Away
More than a third of Mana Contemporary’s artists opened their spaces to the public for its spring open studios event, the largest participation number in years.
Martin Wong’s Brick Monument to Popeye
He repurposed bygone cartoon characters and gave them new life with a queer, magpie sensibility, which still pops two decades after his death.
“I have travelled all over the world in the last 30...
“I have travelled all over the world in the last 30 years, and have never seen anything like the density of assholes I just encountered in Japan , [i.e.] tourists being an unbearable menace specifically while on and around their phones.”
Seattle Art Museum Workers Move to Unionize
Over 100 employees are urging the museum to voluntarily recognize the union, citing unsustainable wages and subpar benefits.
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
Who’s That Nude Lady on a Washing Machine Outside the New Museum?
Sarah Lucas’s new public sculpture “VENUS VICTORIA,” on view for the next two years, subverts the mostly male history of public monuments.
Who’s That Nude Figure on a Washing Machine Outside the New Museum?
Sarah Lucas’s new public sculpture “VENUS VICTORIA,” on view for the next two years, subverts the mostly male history of public monuments.
Thousands Decry Right-Wing “Smear Campaign” Against Misan Harriman
“Truth itself is on the line,” the Southbank Centre board chair told Hyperallergic, rejecting accusations of antisemitism leveled by conservative outlets.
Marbles Squared is a puzzle game 30 years in the...
Marbles Squared is a puzzle game 30 years in the making that you can play on the web, Game Boy, ZX Spectrum Next, and Palm Pilot.
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.
Zendaya Taps into the Creative Process in a Quirky Ad Directed by Spike Jonze
The actor engages in a bit of trial and error in a "dream lab" where anything is possible. 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 Zendaya Taps into the
Ben Prunty has composed the soundtrack to a new game,...
Ben Prunty has composed the soundtrack to a new game, Subnautica 2. Prunty did the FTL: Faster Than Light soundtrack back in the day, which I love.
Gabrielle Goliath Sounds a Call to Action in Venice
With “Elegy,” the South African artist proposes that grief is a necessary tool for building solidarity.
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.”
Mike Monteiro on how to deal with your suddenly grown-up...
Mike Monteiro on how to deal with your suddenly grown-up kids . “When your kid leaves it is the happiest day of your life and also the saddest day of your life. And a lot of other feelings in between.” In the midst of this right now; it’s been a lot .
Chance, Choice, and the Avocado: The Strange Evolutionary and Creative History of Earth’s Most Nutritious Fruit
How a confused romancer that survived the Ice Age became a tropical sensation and took over the world.
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 )
ArtPhilly Presents “What Now: 2026”
The five-week city-wide festival will feature over 30 newly-commissioned works created by Philadelphia artists to spark important conversations about the future of the United States.
I have always liked Steve Kerr, but I did not expect to...
I have always liked Steve Kerr, but I did not expect to read this whole 15,000-word profile of him at ESPN . Really interesting throughout.
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.
Handy app: “Point your camera at anything (a dress,...
Handy app: “Point your camera at anything (a dress, a paint swatch, a flower, your kid’s drawing) and What Color Is This? names the color instantly.” I like the increasingly specific color labels (e.g. blue to light blue to Tiffany blue).