The Top 5 Longreads of the Week
In this edition: the jaws of history; war and piece(s); the last day of camp; stay a while; picture me rollin’.
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LACMA Got a Makeover
Photos from the revamped LA museum, impressions from MoMA PS1's “Greater New York,” Artnet and Artsy lay off dozens of workers, and a Lebanese artist’s balm for collective wounds.
The invention of the soul
Humans weren’t given souls by God or genes. We made them ourselves with language – turning sentience into something sacred - by Nicholas Humphrey Read on Aeon
The second circle
What do your supporters tell their friends? That’s the unseen force behind every successful brand, movement or idea. Most people don’t care about you. They’re not listening to you, not wondering what you’re up to, and certainly not taking the time to seek you out. All you have
A Newly Discovered Recording Lets You Hear Delta Blues Legend Robert Johnson in Stunning Clarity
Great swathes of rock music since the nineteen-sixties would never have existed, we’re sometimes told, were it not for the recordings of Robert Johnson. Certainly the likes of Keith Richards, Eric Clapton, Robert Plant, and Bob Dylan have never hesitated to acknowledge his
Hollywood’s World Map of California
This is a map published in 1927 by Paramount Studios showing the areas of California & Nevada that doubled as shooting locations for far-flung locales, including Siberia, Wales, the Nile, New England, the Red Sea, and the Alps. Tags: Hollywood · maps · movies
MoMA PS1’s “Greater New York” Is Gritty, Stunning, and Gutting
The survey, which happens every five years, rejects the out-of-towner’s glossy surfaces in favor of the view from inside.
Art Movements: Dozens Laid Off at Artnet and Artsy
Also, the Denver Art Museum's new associate curator of Native Arts, the Toronto Biennial of Art, and Marilyn Minter chats with Monica Lewinsky.
Rawya El Chab Tends to the Wounds of Lebanon's Civil War
The latest segment of her performance series “Crossing the Water” chronicles life under military occupation after the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon.
The Unnameable Artists of the Canton Trade System
In a book on Qing-era trade portraitists whose names are lost to history, Winnie Wong shows us how our restless pursuits of authenticity guide us into pitfalls of our own making.
In Surprising Twist, ADAA Art Fair Will Now Benefit the Whitney Museum
The organization abruptly terminated its longstanding partnership with the Henry Street Settlement social services organization last year.
LACMA’s New Building Invites You to Chart Your Own Path
Some visitors may feel unmoored by the museum’s open plan and free-floating associations, but others will welcome the unconventional approach.
Required Reading
This week: Tania Bruguera’s museum manifesto in stained glass, Molly Crabapple on AI’s art heist, Rachel Corrie’s mother speaks out, remembering Ashaji, right-wing knitters, and more.
Marvel at Manabu Kosaka’s Hyperrealistic Paper Sculptures of Retro Objects
Kosaka painstakingly replicates vintage radios, game consoles, cameras, and more using just one material. 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 Marvel at
Researchers have found that some aspects of sperm...
Researchers have found that some aspects of sperm whales’ communication are “remarkably similar” to human languages .
What Was the Very First Plant in the World?...
What Was the Very First Plant in the World? “Scientists believe the first true plants evolved from green algae around 470 million years ago.”
The Hardest Part Of History To Tell Is How It Felt
"Historians and nonfiction authors often glide over lived experience. They prefer actions, citations, details, dates. But I had just gone through something primal—something beyond my control and beyond the boundaries of modern life."
The Brennan Self-Balancing Monorail
This is so cool: in the early 1900s, a mechanical engineer named Louis Brennan invented a self-balancing train that ran on a single track . This video demonstrates how the train worked using a clever system of gyroscopes. This is the Brennan Monorail, a train from the early
The Marsden Hartley Legacy Project Launches Online
The first comprehensive catalogue of artworks by acclaimed modernist painter Marsden Hartley is now freely available on the internet.
What It’s Like to Go Through Perimenopause and Menopause in Prison
"Limited information and a lack of informed health care providers make this life transition even more difficult for incarcerated people."
15 Artists Explore the Potentiality of Fabric and Fiber in ‘Textile Art Redefined’
Curated by Helen Adams, the group exhibition at Saatchi Gallery celebrates a wide range of contemporary practices. 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
I mentioned this book in a previous post but it deserves...
I mentioned this book in a previous post but it deserves its own thing: Timothy Ryback’s 53 Days: How Hitler Dismantled a Democracy will hit shelves in September. A must-read for me.
Fortress Yellowstone
"The ultra-rich are fortifying themselves inside one of America’s last intact ecosystems—with money plundered from ecological sacrifice zones around the world."
The People’s Clock: a Timepiece Made of People
As part of his Real Time series, artist Maarten Baas has created The People’s Clock , a timepiece that lives in Amsterdam’s Schiphol airport. To create the clock’s “workings”, Baas recorded more than 1000 volunteers moving as the clock’s hands over a 12-hour period. If you
The Great American GLP-1 Experiment . In the last few...
The Great American GLP-1 Experiment . In the last few years, people have come up with all sorts of off-label uses for GLP-1s, including treating concussions, menopause, long Covid, IBS, drug addiction, anxiety, hair loss, and arthritis.