Nude Performance at MFA Boston Confronts One of Art’s Oldest Tropes
Artist Xandra Ibarra's “Nude Laughing” sparks conversations about consent, viewer etiquette, art history, and the human body.
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A Buddha Is Reborn on the High Line
Tuan Andrew Nguyen’s sandstone and brass take on the destroyed Bamiyan Buddhas reminds passersby that history repeats.
Vintage Weekly Bus Passes
A collection of weekly bus passes from Milwaukee, WI. Years covered are 1930-1979. Was there a new design every single week? (via @slowernet ) [This is a vintage post originally from Feb 2015.] Tags: design · timeless posts
Remembering James Hayward, LA’s Adored Cowboy Painter
A legendary artist, Jimmy was equally known for his magnetic personality, sense of ribald humor, and inspired storytelling.
A papyrus of part of the Iliad has been discovered in a...
A papyrus of part of the Iliad has been discovered in a Roman-era tomb of mummies in Egypt . “The papyrus contains a passage from Book II of Homer’s Iliad, specifically the section known as the ‘Catalogue of Ships’…”
Refreshing Turn to Craft at AIPAD's Photography Show
In a year of AI image corruption, this year’s fair, focused largely on Latin American and Latine artists, feels especially hopeful.
A Refreshing Turn to Craft at AIPAD's Photography Show
In a year of AI image corruption, this year’s fair, focused largely on Latin American and Latine artists, feels especially hopeful.
Jan Staller Photographs the Nuts and Bolts of Manhattan's Urban Symphony
The American photographer's new book transforms the city's endless construction sites into otherworldly visions.
“We had the idea to make a Bodoni interpretation...
“We had the idea to make a Bodoni interpretation with potato stamps, so we bought 8kg of potatoes, some knives and [started carving]. When we finally had the full alphabet we stamped it on paper, made a font out of this and called it Bodedo .”
Tenfold Knottiness
While reading this article about the structure of complex knots , I ran across this diagram drawn by scientist Peter Guthrie Tait in 1885 for a paper called On Knots Part III . It’s one of two figures that together show all of the possible variations of knots with 10 crossings.
Alice Tippit’s Mischievous Erotics
The artist’s mixed messages suggest a deep skepticism about the ability of language to adequately express human experience.
The Bird That Is Your Life
The great danger is to stand motionless on the bank as the river of your life rushes by. It is not easy, learning how to stop waiting and start living; not easy not to waste your life; not easy knowing whether or not how you spend your time and mind and love is worthy of the
Instead of Losing Democratic Elections, What If We Just...
Instead of Losing Democratic Elections, What If We Just Stopped Having Them Altogether? “My goodness, imagine the efficiency. No long lines. No campaign ads. No need to pretend Wisconsin matters every four years.”
Mark Milroy Sees, Remembers, and Imagines at Once
His deliberate gaze, which mixes personal memory and art historical insight, makes his work special.
An Interactive Archive Celebrates the Wide Ranging Projects Inviting ‘Unruly Play’
"Play is how we give permission." —Vitor Freire 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 An Interactive Archive Celebrates the Wide Ranging Projects
Rising Up: Rocky and the Making of Monuments
Featuring works from antiquity to today, the exhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art explores the Rocky statue and its impact on the city’s culture, community, and public art.
How The Heck Does Shazam Work? “By throwing away...
How The Heck Does Shazam Work? “By throwing away almost everything and keeping only a handful of landmark peaks, a noisy 5-second clip from a coffee shop becomes a set of coordinates precise enough to pinpoint one song out of millions.” Fascinating!
When Your Digital Life Vanishes
"A broken phone or corrupted drive can mean the loss of work, evidence, art, or the last traces of the dead. But sometimes data-recovery experts can summon lost files from the void."
A View From the Easel
“A certain level of distraction can help me see the work more clearly.”
It’s Friday, Let’s Do an Open Thread
What’s on your mind lately? What’s going on in your life? Witnessed anything amazing? Anything you’d like to share with the rest of the class? Here in Vermont, it’s barely spring (which means it’ll probably snow at least one more time before I need to start mowing the lawn).
1D Chess . “You might initially find it more...
1D Chess . “You might initially find it more difficult than expected, but assuming optimal play, is there a forced win for white?”
Navid Baraty’s Atmospheric Photos Explore Contrasting Scales of Time
The contrasts and tensions of contemporary urban life and timeless landscapes merge in otherworldly images. 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 Navid
The Disappearance of the Public Bench
"Benches are microcosms of an expansive debate about who belongs in urban public spaces. When they are removed or made uninviting, we lose more than just a place to rest."
The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
Deaths in donation bins, the Hardy boys, MAGA slop, billionaire playgrounds, and nostalgia for the complicated.
Does reading do us any good?
Stripped of easy moralising, literature makes us relish the search for truth in an age when many believe truth to be dead - by Flora Champy Read on Aeon
Courage vs. excuses
There are more available excuses now than ever before. In just two letters, “AI” is a simple, brand-new, all-purpose excuse for laying people off, averaging things down, closing things up and generally finding an easier/quicker path. Courage, on the other hand, is the
An Ancient Philosophical Song Reconstructed and Played for the First Time in 1,000 Years
Above and below, you can watch musicians perform “Songs of Consolation,” a 1,000-year-old song set “to the poetic portions of Roman philosopher Boethius’ magnum opus The Consolation of Philosophy,” an influential medieval text written during the 6th century. According to
Wilderness, Solitude, and Creativity: Artist and Philosopher Rockwell Kent’s Century-Old Meditations on Art and Life During Seven Months on a Small Alaskan Island
"These are the times in life — when nothing happens — but in quietness the soul expands."