- Wait, so William Gibson wasn’t the first to invent the term “cyberspace”? Nope. According to the recent What’s Happening? exhibition at Statens Museum for Kunst in Denmark, the honour goes to artist Susanne Ussing and architect Carsten Hoff, who collaborated in the late 1960s under the assumed name Atelier Cyberspace. Their work, included in a show focusing on late experimental art from 1965-1975, is fascinating, because their definition of the term is far less dystopian than Gibson’s take, and reveals a curious historical revisioning of the term’s etymology: stemming from early cybernetics, it was more infused with optimism, and concerned with the spatial and sensual. Like Buckminster Fuller meets Whole Foods Catalogue, but still connected to that pressing 1990s AOL chatroom question: “wanna cyber?” [Kunstkritikk]
- Richard Rhodes, long-time editor of Canadian Art, is stepping down. Rhodes had been with the publication for over twenty years, and the winter issue will be his last. A search of his successor commences immediately. The announcement signals major masthead shifts within one of Canada’s leading arts magazines: David Balzer, author of the well-received Curationism, returns to the magazine in a new leadership role as Deputy Editor, overseeing all web and digital initiatives. Meanwhile, his Associate Editor replacement, Nicolas Brown, is now Manager of Programming and Education. [The Globe and Mail]
- Matthew Collings calls Carsten Höller’s conversion of Anish Kapoor’s Olympic Tower into a gigantic slide an example of spectacular conceptual art trolling: “Besides being stunned by literalism, it’s possible to be struck by Höller’s sadism, his contemporary for the audience with his relational-aesthetic interactive activities, as if he’s a populist for the sake of seeing how far he can debase the populace.” [The Art Newspaper]
- Let’s all agree: air shows are horrible. In light of the totally unnecessary tragedy of last weekend’s Shoreham air crash — as well as the horrific fact regarding how common (and unavoidable) air show accidents are — it’s baffling why these spectacles glamorizing the military-industrial complex continue today. [Vice]
- This month’s slapstick-worthy art fumble: a 12-year old Taiwanese boy trips in a Taipei museum, and punches a hole in a 350-year-old Paolo Porpora still life, valued at $1.5 million. (Don’t worry — it was insured, and he won’t be charged.) [The Guardian]
- I don’t even know where to begin: A scantily-clad young woman who looks just like a porno-anime character thanks to the help of plastic surgery has designed a pair of platform shoes that will help her hack into secure computer systems. Each shoe has a drawer that can be removed without having to remove the shoe itself. Inside is a wireless router, a USB keystroke recorder, a basic lock pick set, and a retractable ethernet cable. Impressive. [Imgur]
- AF, bro-down, cock block: the word list of Buzzfeed’s Style Guide is a strangely accurately compiling of commonly used internet culture terminology. [Buzzfeed]
- Banksy’s Dismaland attracts tons of press in its first weekend open. The mock themeland includes rude staffers who treat visitors to a gruff pat down, funeral theme park games, and art by about 60 artists. True to form, there’s no shortage of dumb art on view—Banksy’s sculpture of a woman being attacked by seagulls seems designed to appeal to 12 year olds—but who knows. Work by Jenny Holzer, David Shrigley and Damien Hirst is on view. Maybe it will be good? [The New York Times]
Tuesday Links: Wanna Cyber?
by Paddy Johnson and Rea McNamara on August 25, 2015 Massive Links
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