Required Reading
This week, a giant sand maze in Miami, how to free yourself from big tech, Eric Adams’s bad luck streak, the fringe benefits of near-sightedness, and more.
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An Exemplary Tiffany Stained-Glass Window Is Coming to The Met
Comprising thousands of pieces of Favrile glass, the 20-foot installation shares a common language with the era's Impressionist paintings.
How the Impressionists Captured Life on Paper
While painting on canvas often slows life right down, paper works were frequently the stuff of sketchbooks, not necessarily labored over in some studio.
The Emotional Architecture of Swoon’s Intimate Block Prints
Portraits by Caledonia Curry (aka Swoon) reveal the connectedness of bodies, psychological landscapes, landforms, and built environments.
At Miami’s “Smaller” Fairs, Textiles and Softness Take the Stage
While the world is burning outside the ephemeral veneer of this week, artists at NADA, Untitled, and Ink Miami explore intimacy, femininity, and Latinidad.
Glass Art That Reflects the Human Condition
Josiah McElheny’s latest sculptures reject traditionally idealized forms in favor of the imperfect.
50 Years Ago, She Broke Illustration’s Glass Ceiling
An exhibition of Barbara Nessim’s drawings contextualizes the artist’s graphic portraiture of women against the backdrop of shifting gender roles and equity in the US.
‘How Do You Reduce a National Dish to a Powder?’: The Weird, Secretive World of Crisp Flavors
"Why can you buy lasagne flavour snacks in Thailand but not in Italy? Which country can cope with the hottest chili? And why do Germans like paprika so much?"
Citing Silencing of Arab Voices, Artists Cut Ties With Art Canada Institute
The nonprofit, based out of the University of Toronto, asked a group of Arab and Muslim artists for a last-minute “sensitivity review” of their exhibition.
Wonder Beyond Why: The Majesty and Mystery of the Birds-of-Paradise
“To go all the way from a clone of archaebacteria, in just 3.7 billion years, to the B-Minor Mass and the Late Quartets, deserves a better technical term for the record than randomness,” the poetic scientist Lewis Thomas wrote in his forgotten masterpiece of perspective. This
The Many Garlics of My Childhood
"Combing through decades of meal memories, and New York’s diamond district, to find a long-lost garlic dish from childhood."
A Major Retrospective Celebrates Iris van Herpen’s Mesmerizing Designs at the Intersection of Art, Fashion, and Science
Water, skeletons, and the origins of life usher in a major retrospective of the exquisite, otherworldly garments of Iris van Herpen ( previously ). On view now at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs , Sculpting the Senses is a celebration of the Dutch designer’s groundbreaking
Apply for 2024 Visual Arts Residencies at Banff Centre
Explore new directions in your work with artists from around the world while being inspired by studio spaces and facilities in the Canadian Rocky Mountains.
Diary Comics, Nov. 9
(Previously: Oct. 28 & 29 , Oct. 30 & 31 , Nov. 1 & 2 , Nov. 3 & 4 , Nov. 5 & 6 , Nov. 7 & 8 ) Tags: comics 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
Cityscapes, Landscapes, and Figure Paintings by Mitchell Johnson on View in Menlo Park
Selected Work, 1988–2023 at Flea Street features early landscapes of France, Italy, New Mexico, and more recent cityscapes of Paris, San Francisco, and New York.
How Children's Book Author Leo Lionni Urged His Readers to Be Change Makers
The multidisciplinary artist wanted us to imagine how we can shape society and uplift our communities
Love Hultén Merges Audio-Visual Experiences with Mid-Century Aesthetics in His Elaborate Synthesizers
Whether ocean-themed, compact with a slide-out keyboard, or installed vertically on the wall, Love Hultén ’s elaborate custom synthesizers ( previously ) are one-of-a-kind. Combining a love for woodworking and sound art, the Gothenburg, Sweden-based artist and designer merges
The Cloisters, but make it gingerbread. (On view at the Museum of...
The Cloisters, but make it gingerbread . (On view at the Museum of the City of New York until January 15.) 💬 Join the discussion on kottke.org →
Out Today
My daughter is home sick, so there will be fewer posts from me today. But I will be back tomorrow, I hope! PS: Please feel free to ask me any questions, either here in the comments or in an email . Tuesday will be my last day, and I enjoy posting these mini Q&As. Turns out I
How to be an atheist in medieval Europe
Digging into the pre-history of atheism, the historian Alec Ryrie finds its roots in medieval incredulity and resentments - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon
A Trippy New Book Surveys 100 Years of Art Since the Birth of the Surrealist Movement
Next year marks the 100th anniversary of surrealism, an enduring movement the poet André Breton sparked in 1924. Countless artists across disciplines have been inspired by the uncanny, unconscious, and fantastic, a few of which are celebrated in a forthcoming book written by
The rights of the dead
From the Irish Giant to the Ancient One, is it ever ethical for scientists and museums to study bodies without permission? - by Anita Guerrini Read at Aeon
RIP Norman Lear: Watch Full Episodes of His Daring 70s Sitcoms, Including All in the Family, Maude, The Jeffersons, and More
On the evening of January 12, 1971, CBS viewers across the United States sat down to a brand new sitcom preceded by a highly unusual disclaimer. The program they were about to see, it declared, “seeks to throw a humorous spotlight on our frailties, prejudices, and concerns. By
Abundance and ideas
A colleague got an angry note. It concluded with, “you should know better.” The transgression? The sender was offended that my friend had written a post about a concept she’s been developing for nearly a decade. Of course, no idea is unique, and the posted idea sort of rhymed
A Busy Person’s Introduction to Large Language Models (LLMs)
You’re busy. You don’t have much time to figure out the deal with Large Language Models (aka LLMs). But you have some curiosity. Enter Andrej Karpathy and his presentation, “A Busy Person’s Introduction to Large Language Models.” It’s a one-hour tutorial that explains “the core
How to Build a Better Motivational Speaker
"The upstart motivator Jesse Itzler wants to reform his profession—while also rising to the top."
Shopping malls aren’t dead — just different
From pickleball to doctors’ offices, the malls of tomorrow will look a little bit different.
ChatGPT was 2023’s fastest-growing brand
Surprising no one, ChatGPT was Morning Consult’s fastest-growing brand of 2023.
