Friday Links: Deana Haggag for President of USA

Holy crap. This drag queen using fast food to contour is the best piece of video art I’ve seen in all of 2017. [Facebook]

Pretty much all of Baltimore is sad to see Deana Haggag step down as the director of The Contemporary, a once-struggling museum she rebooted into one of the most important institutions in the city. She’ll be moving to Chicago for her new position as President/CEO of United States Artists, or as she noted, ironically, “President of USA”. Deana is the best. Chicago is lucky to have her. [BmoreArt]

In other Baltimore news, Peter Eide’s solo show at Rope wins an award for weirdest exhibition title of the week: “Sex with Dolphins in the Future“. [Facebook]

The IKEA Foundation’s flat-pack refugee shelters have won 2016 Beazley Design of the Year. Other category winners include a coffee cup for astronauts! What a strange world we inhabit, where there’s a demand for both. [Dezeen]

“The satire skewers the idea that a multicultural citizenship or power structure could in any way mitigate the violence of capitalism.” Manuel Arturo Abreu’s essay on art collective Mongrel’s “Heritage Gold” as a part of the online exhibition Net Art Anthology. [Rhizome]

So I’ve been going to school in Mexico City, and noticed Japanese students make up the largest percentage of my classmates. Apparently Japan and Mexico have a lot of cultural exchange programs and a fascination with each other’s subcultures (for example, there are entire shopping centers here dedicated to Otaku culture and Japanese street fashion). Several Mexican friends have told me Japanese is easier to learn than English, and vice-versa. The most idiosyncratic thing by far about this lovefest has to be the phenomenon of Japanese “Cholos” (based on Mexican-American gang culture) which is explored in the new documentary Chicano. It’s a small world after all. [DAZED]

Dear Republicans who think the NEA is useless, please consider this veteran’s story about how government-funded music therapy “saved my life.” [Arts.gov] (Listen to this story before the link goes dead…)

“The show’s best piece may be “Untitled (bricked chair with drain),” which features garden furniture covered and extended with small white bricks that conjure both patio and hospital. Overall, it calls to mind mangled limbs, a geriatric toilet and something used for torture or sex.” -Roberta Smith on Ann Greene Kelly’s solo show at Chapter NY. It sounds so good. [The New York Times]