Let’s toast Valentine’s week with an evening of penile discourse. Also: significant political art from Russia; shows inspired by fury; and a discussion on Latinos in the media.
The loopy GIFs of Florian de Looij (via Boingboing)
This is the most horrible story ever. Thousands of cats crammed into a truck were rescued from being eaten in Vietnam, then they were crushed to death in a dumper truck and the thousands of survivors were buried alive. Warning: the Daily Mail link is the worst. Going vegan now forever. [Thought Catalog]
86 seals have also been murdered (between 2009 and 2014) and washed up on the coast of Scotland. Seals are suspected of cannibalism. [Discovery]
If you’re still wondering whether museums will ever embrace GIF art; yes. A roughly 3,300 square foot internet museum is being crowdfunded in Berlin. [artnet News]
El Museo del Barrio curator Rocio Aranda-Alvarado spoke with three activists in the Bronx and said two of them hadn’t heard of the Gramsci Monument. That’s surprising considering how many people in Chelsea had. [A Blade of Grass]
Yay for art news for finding an art hook in a story about a meth lab bust. An estimated $33,000 worth of prints by Alfred Morris Momaday were discovered there. [artnet News]
Big new appointments at the Walton family’s enormous Crystal Bridges museums. Margaret C. Conrads is now the director of curatorial affairs, and Robin Groesbeck is the director of exhibitions and interactive presentations. [Artforum]
What is life like inside Mosul, an Iraqi city captured by ISIS? A Syrian source reports and Molly Crabapple creates the illustrations. [Vanity Fair via Hyperallergic]
The socially-conscious art conference Open Engagement returns, this year in Pittsburgh. We recommend strongly to get down there (see last year’s recap). [Open Engagement]
The sound of a bag of weed opening during the opening of Terminator: thejogging, now in audio form. [thejogging (but sound)]
On why ramen is dead: “The country’s noodle scene is currently awash in deeply porky broths and stifling homogeneity…which is the antithesis of ramen.” Sadly, no mention of instant ramen. [Grub Street]
Brooklyn’s waterfront has been invaded by Chinese developers. (Okay, that’s an exaggeration.) The Oosten, set to open in Williamsburg next year, will become the first solely Chinese-owned building to be erected in the United States. [WNYC]
Astronauts: stop littering. There are 96 bags of urine on the moon. [The Takeaway]
Expansion Notice: The Museum of Fine Arts Houston (MFAH) has raised $330 for its $450 million capital campaign. Houstonians should be happy about some of the planned renovations which plan on making the campus more pedestrian-friendly. This from a city where people look at you funny if you’re walking instead of driving. [Glasstire]
Everyone is planning for motherfucking Valentine’s Day already. If you like boobies, and you live in Chicago, you can pay to go on a “Naked at the Art Institute Scavenger Hunt” tour. $41 will give you and a date all the boobs, balls, and buttholes on view in the museum. [Fleshbot]
El Museo del Barrio curator Rocío Aranda-Alvarado responds to our reporting last year on the Gramsci Monument. She advocates for a less cynical outlook on art in general, and views the monument as a community-based experience which goes “beyond the self”– “turning regular capital into social capital.” (At the time, skepticism about funding, colonialism, and the artist’s intentions surrounded the monument.) This, and other responses will continue on A Blade of Grass. [A Blade of Grass]
Here’s the supplement to the modern love story in the Times we linked to yesterday: It’s the set of questions you ask your partner to fall in love. [The New York Times]
Art critic Rodrigo Cañete has noticed that MoMA plans to sell a Monet to benefit its acquisitions fund. This is justified by a spokesperson who notes that Impressionism doesn’t fit the museum’s modern painting collection. [Taboofart]
Tom Moody has some thoughts on our blogroll and our recent statements on Ryder Ripps. Generally speaking, I think he gives critics a little too much power, but it’s good to hear the perspective regardless.[Tom Moody]
Moody also argues that Ripps’ “Art Whore” is “no more offensive” than Andrew Norman Wilson’s “Virtual Assistance Project,” a year-long mutual collaboration with a presumably low-paid overseas assistant, for art. This is unfair to Wilson, who worked extensively with his assistant Akhil and returned the favor by building a mini-plane and making a video, which Akhil requested. While this does not forward the assistant’s career, Wilson doesn’t align his own creative work with his assistant’s. He also doesn’t view him as a whore. [Tom Moody]
Margarine consumption happens to correlate almost perfectly with the divorce rate in Maine, and other random trends that correlate. This site is amazing. [Spurious Correlations]
Fiercely Independent. New York art news, reviews and culture commentary. Paddy Johnson, Editorial Director Michael Anthony Farley, Senior Editor Whitney Kimball, IMG MGMT Editor
Contact us at: paddyATartfcity.com
Paddy Johnson, Editorial Director
