- Maurizio Cattelan has come out of retirement with a new piece at the Guggenheim. “America” is a fully-functional 18-karat gold toilet, installed in a restroom about two-thirds of the way up the museum’s spiral atrium. [The New Yorker]
- Jay Z narrates an op-ed on the War on Drugs, which is illustrated by Molly Crabapple. [The New York Times]
- Glad someone finally wrote this essay: What Canadians Understand About Ketchup Chips that American’s don’t. Oddly enough the theory proposed has little to do with Canadians. It’s that Americans fear the ketchup-chip combination. Get over it people. Ketchup chips are good! [The A.V. Club]
- Daniel Arsham’s first New York solo show, Circa 2345, is now on view at Galerie Perrotin. From this profile piece, we learn that the artist is color blind and is just now working with color thanks to special contact lenses. Wild. [artnet News]
- The National Museum of African American History and Culture opens September 26th and the Times has a gorgeous feature on it. Lots of moving images, huge image spreads, oh yeah, and some text too. Each section is divided by gallery and tracks a path through the museum. [The New York Times]
- The Senate is working on a new bill to extend the statute of limitations on claims of Nazi-looted art. [CBS News]
- The public forum on gentrification in Queens AFC’s Paddy Johnson is moderating is picking up steam. DNAinfo has published a story on the forum. Let’s make sure Queens doesn’t become the next gentrification battleground. [DNAinfo]
- The New York Art Book Fair at PS1 sounds really good and really weird—you can buy editions of everything from Cory Arcangel sandals to wrapped up papers from the NY Family Court’s trash. [ARTnews]
- Japanese designer Nendo has installed 50 uncomfortable-looking chairs in Chelsea’s Friedman Benda gallery. The chairs are inspired by illustrations from manga, and accompanied by floor-to-ceiling video projections. [Dezeen]
- Yesterday’s Twitter conversation between Carolina Miranda and Jorg Colberg was so funny that I keep remembering it and breaking into laughter. The two discuss their breakfast in the rare language of artspeak for #askacuratorday. Some highlights: @jmcolberg Breakfast is indeed a cyclical concept, a performative gesture that regenerates with the start of each day. @cmonstah It’s not for nothing that in certain circles, you’re referred to as the On Kawara of eggs and toast! @jmcolberg A compliment for sure, though no evidence remains of my performance except its memory. I am the Tino Seghal of huevos fritos. [Hyperallergic]
