Among modern-day liberals and conservatives alike, George Orwell enjoys practically sainted status. And indeed, throughout his body of work, including but certainly not limited to his oft-assigned novels Animal Farm and Nineteen Eighty-Four, one can find numerous implicitly or
Merging organic forms with timeless craft, Susanna Bauer emphasizes incredible details in her intimate leaf sculptures. Working with a range of foraged species, from ginkgo to magnolia to oak, the artist ( previously ) meticulously stitches around the edges or fills in tiny
"This ad breaks things. By implication, it threatens to break people, or at least their livelihoods."
The festival took down the artwork submission after a petition said its title, “From the River to the Sea,” was antisemitic.
School might be out for summer, but for those of us needing extra credit in the world of aesthetics, objects, and their meaning, the team at Crash Course is offering bite-sized lessons in art history. A new video series hosted by curator and educator Sarah Urist Green dives
"The recent surge in MDMA research has demonstrated applications that range far beyond psychiatry, from treating Parkinson’s disease and cancer to promoting trust and emotional bonding."
Eager for interpersonal exchange and viewer participation, the Detroit-based artist invites us into their candid visualizations of ancestral and personal history.
Cattelan's new installation of gold panels punctured by bullets resembles works that artist Anthony James has been making since 2011.
Way’s drawings are not messages to be decoded but instead are renderings of our yearning to comprehend.
Several works on display in this year’s iteration of the fair, both ancient and modern, stand out for their homoeroticism and queer aesthetics.
Children have been joyously climbing the 5,000-pound sculpture, which has been reclining on the grounds of Greenwich’s Bruce Museum since Earth Day.
This is a good piece about third places (“settings a person frequents beyond their home & work”), their benefits, how to find/make your own, and the challenges people face in finding them. Do you have a third place? 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
For every jaw-dropping image taken by an amateur iPhone photographer who witnessed the aurora borealis, there's a meme by someone who hasn’t.
Peer-reviewed articles explore artworks from Iran, Iraq, France, Germany, and Brazil.
“Just 27% of civilian workers in the U.S. get paid family leave. Workers who can least afford to take unpaid time off are also the least likely to have access to paid leave.” Happy Mother’s Day! 🥴 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
Osita Nwanevu on the recent US campus protests : The student left is the most reliably correct constituency in America. Over the past 60 years, it has passed every great moral test American foreign policy has forced upon the public, including the Vietnam war, the question of
Celebrate the art and design community at Industry City on May 18 and 19 with open studios, artist talks, gallery shows, and more.
Lauren Groff has opened a bookstore called The Lynx . “As book bans surged across Florida, they decided that their town needed an independent bookstore where titles that had been purged from libraries and classrooms would be on prominent display.” 💬 Join the discussion on
Currently listening to Atavista , a “new” album from Childish Gambino (which he says is the “finished version” of an album he released in 2020 called 3.15.20). 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
"We make our lives by what we love."
Incredible fact: none of the Big Three US automakers makes a sedan anymore . “That decision is bad news for road users, the environment, and budget-conscious consumers — and it may ultimately come around to bite Detroit.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
A new exhibition in Massachusetts illuminates the success of Guillaume Lethière
Oh man, I screwed up big-time you guys and owe you an apology. The great Erik Larson ( The Devil in the White City , The Splendid and the Vile , In the Garden of Beasts ) came out with a new book two weeks ago and I somehow missed it! I almost shrieked when I saw it on the
Geologist finds setting for Leonardo’s Mona Lisa . “Art historians said Leonardo always used his imagination, but you can give this picture to any geologist in the world and they’ll say what I’m saying about Lecco.” 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
A new LoTR movie is coming: Andy Serkis is starring and directing in Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum . Peter Jackson is producing and Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens are writing the script. 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
In the mid-20th century, during reconstruction following World War II, an architectural style emerged in the U.K. and Europe that favored bare, industrial building materials, a monochrome palette, and angular geometry. Both iconic and divisive, the hulking, concrete facades can
In order to help improve my students’ mental health, I offered a course on the science of happiness. It worked – but why? - by Bruce Hood Read at Aeon
Despite the intense scrutiny paid to the life and work of Ludwig van Beethoven for a couple of centuries now, the revered composer still has certain mysteries about him. Some of them he surely never intended to clarify, like the identity of “Immortal Beloved”; others he