Friday Links: Solo Shows for Young Artists, Robots Too

Here’s a pretty handy list of shows from emerging artists up in New York this month, including my personal picks Borna Sammak at American Medium (opening later this month) and Ana Bidart at Josée Bienvenu. I (Michael) would add Alan Gutierrez at Regina Rex to the list. It opens tomorrow and looks like it’s going to be great. I’ll be there. [Artsy]

San Francisco’s controversial, for-profit Academy of Art University is facing new legal trouble. A city attorney has filed a lawsuit that claims the University’s massive real estate empire has violated San Francisco’s planning codes by converting hundreds of units of housing (some affordable) to space for this institution. This comes on the heels of years of accusations that the school is essentially a rip-off designed to funnel student loans into a business venture with high dropout rates and horrible job prospects for graduates. [SF Gate]

Facebook is doing crazy well. Their net income tripled to 1.5 billion, and they announced that users spend on average 50 minutes a day on the site. For reference, that’s almost as much time as people spend eating (1.07 hours). [The New York Times]

Super 8 motels have decided to rebrand with more contemporary decor. To free up wall space for new black and white prints, they’ve enlisted Amy Sedaris to name and give away decades worth of horrible hotel art. [The Wall Street Journal]

More rooftop farms are in New York’s future. The Grange, which sits on top of a building on Northern BLVD was the first to launch to much fan fair. Now, the Arts Gowanus Building, which is getting a makeover, has announced they will launch a new roof top garden. The garden will be designed by none other than The Grange. Not to be a downer, but anyone who has ever eaten the veggies from the Grange knows that they taste better when grown in an actual garden. But, greenspace is hard to come by in New York, so the garden is still a positive. [Curbed]

Hyperallergic launches a podcast, inaugurated by Hrag Vartanian. In the first episode, Vartanian visits Morocco for the sixth Marrakech Biennial, curated by Reem Fadda. [Hyperallergic]

It’s been discovered that OxyContin, a cousin to heroin, is dangerously addictive when it doesn’t work—which is a lot of the time. According to an investigation by the times, Purdue, the company’s manufacturers have known about this for decades. Who owns Purdue? Why, none other than the Sackler family, the wealthy art philanthropers who have their name emblazoned on a wing of the Met and several galleries in the Tate Museum. [The L.A. Times via Carolina Miranda]

Thingiverse is a database/network where users can share files to 3D print everything from drones to household tools. One user is a bot, programmed by Matthew Plummer-Fernandez and Julien Deswaef. The AI, named Shiv Integer, creates 3D collages based on other user files and shares them with the world as artworks. Shiv Integer is even getting its own “solo show” in London for its 3D printed sculptures. This is more-or-less the exact premise that drives the plot of William Gibson’s 1987 sci-fi novel Count Zero. [3Ders]