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Oliver Wainwright
by Michael Anthony Farley on February 17, 2017
- “Thus, we see the tragedy of the alt-right—it has no legible end; even when it tries to articulate a vision for the future, it relies on recycled 80s tropes and ultimately looks more or less like a barbaric version of status quo: corporate rule coupled with an alienated, atomized public.” —M. Ambedkar on the above image. This report on the aesthetics of the Alt-Right is based on months of what must’ve likely been some seriously depressing research. It’s a long read, but a good one. [Post Office Arts Journal]
- Trump’s bizarre, irrational press conference dominated the news cycle yesterday. Last night, Seth Meyers’ take on the trainwreck is likely the best thing that’s come of it. Please, Saturday Night Live, have Alec Baldwin square off against Leslie Jones as April Ryan. [YouTube]
- Lisbon’s new Museum of Art, Architecture and Technology (MAAT) is a tile-covered bump designed by Amanda Levete on a riverside promenade. You can walk onto the roof, and it’s crazy beautiful. [Dezeen]
- Ben Grosser is a digital artist who designs plugins that change the way users interact with Facebook. Read this interview with him, because his work is much more interesting than I’m making it sound. [We Make Money Not Art]
- Oliver Wainwright on the bevy of middling public art funded by private developers: “You know it when you see it. It’s the stuff that’s plonked on ring-road roundabouts and shopping centre forecourts, decorating the echoing courtyards of university campuses and the desolate plazas of luxury apartment schemes. It erupts in bold, brash, eye-catching forms, shrieking at full volume but rarely with anything to say.” Wainwright then seems to suggest that community arts are the only viable public art endeavors. Good lord, I hope not. [The Guardian]
- Wow. I haven’t seen Harry Potter-spinoff Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, but apparently most of the movie was CGI. Maybe that’s why so many people described it as unwatchable? What is the logic of making a cheesy-looking CGI Woolworth Building in a CGI New York, when the Woolworth Building and NYC actually exist and are places where a movie could be filmed? [Gizmodo]
- What is going on with Anselm Kiefer exhibit touring China? The artist has disavowed the show, saying it was planned without his consent or input. Esteemed curator Beate Reifenscheid claims the galleries which represent Kiefer are the ones with an objection—she claims they view the traveling museum show as a threat to their control over how Kiefer is perceived by the Asian art market. What a strange art beef. [artnet News]
- Here’s at least one reason Chelsea isn’t a completely soulless place of misery: a golden retriever named after high heels likes giving hugs to humans while out for walks. Meet the rising social media star of the neighborhood, Louboutina. [AM New York]
- An inspiring interview with Alison Gingeras, lead curator of Divided States of America at New York’s LGBT Center. [Paste]
- Good and bad news on the housing crisis front: there’s now slightly more affordable rental housing in the works at LES megaproject Essex Crossing. But the number of for-sale affordable units has been slashed due to the expiration of the 421-a tax program. Mostly though, doesn’t this entire development seem like it’s way less dense than it should be? While battles rage about infrastructure stresses and upzonings in the outer boroughs, why is a giant swath of vacant land in Manhattan, with great transit, getting what’s essentially a suburban town center? [Curbed]
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