19th century thinkers or “hobbits taking a selfie?”
- The New York burlesque community really likes Marina Abramovic. The Coney Island Sideshow is doing a tribute to her. It sounds like pain will be involved. [artnet News]
- Chicago: home to deep dish pizza, a semi-fingerless mayor, and now, the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. The 17-acre campus will feature Star Wars memorabilia and classic film posters. [The Telegraph]
- A bronze monument in Kazakhstan of two 19th century intellectuals holding a book was removed after locals likened it to “two hobbits taking a selfie.” [BBC News]
- Whatta weird, kinda cute baby otter. [Via @cuteemergency]
- Ummm…in case you haven’t jumped on the selfies-are-amazing-anti-capitalist-devices bandwagon, here’s one about “selfie poetics.” [Mousse]
- The Hairpin’s new column: Ask a Costume Historian. First up, how to wear a jumpsuit to a wedding. [The Hairpin]
- Forget Jeff Koons. Show us the Queen of England’s art collection! With 7,564 paintings, The Art Newspaper reports, she has the world’s largest private art collection, about as large as the Tate’s and National Gallery’s public collections combined. They are now doing the world’s largest condition survey on the work. [The Art Newspaper]
- Don’t forget Jeff Koons! His “Split-Rocker,” a 37-foot high combine of two toy rockers covered in flowers goes on view today at Rockefeller Center. [Gagosian]
- Dealer Gavin Brown will be showing his own artwork tonight, at his own gallery. Earlier this week, we’d wondered what on earth he’d be showing. Gallerist dug up the deets; he’s bringing a two-channel video projection into the gallery. [Gallerist]
- Rat-eating weasels are back! Centuries after the fur trade wiped them out in Manhattan, writes zoologist Roland Kays, one was spotted in the Bronx. Kays now hopes they will re-adapt to the New York environment. They pose little threat to humans and they probably don’t eat cats. Welcome. [Natural Science Research, via ANIMAL New York]
- If you’re a huge art museum, it seems to be getting easier to get a billionaire to give you money for your renovation/expansion. This being said, David Rubenstein gifted $5.4 million to the Smithsonian for the renovation of the Renwick Gallery. [Artnet News]
- Your new social network: Posthang. Created by the people at OkFocus, this network allows you to aggregate content by chat and then turn those chats into blogs. [Youtube]
- Professional art appraiser Ning Qiu has pled guilty to smuggling ivory from poached elephants and rhinos. His sentence is light, since he gave information about the operation. [Reuters, D.O.J., via Glasstire]
