From Tindercaust
- “What Eisenman did in the Memorial, for all its strange and eerie power, was shrug his shoulders about such dated subjects as ‘meaning’ and ‘politics’ and let people decide what it is for themselves.” -Amy Frearson on Peter Eisenman’s Holocaust memorial in hipster mecca Berlin. The sunken plaza is in the news again, as there’s yet another website shaming visitors’ selfies at the memorial, Yolocaust. When are artists going to realize this idea is more clichéd than the act of taking a selfie at the memorial? We have Grindr Remembers, we have the absurdly-similar Marc Adelman project “Stelen (Columns)”, and the straight people version, Tindercaust. This is a perfect example of post-internet culture’s obsession with endless-cycle shaming over politics of representation. Pick your damn battles, people! If you want to make some connection between abhorrent human rights abuses and selfie vanity, how about tackling the smartphone industry (and by extension, consumers’) slave labor issue? Oh, right… that’s a contemporary problem which could actually be addressed to productive ends. But that would involve more work than screen-capturing, not to mention addressing the awkward hypocrisy of generation-thinkpiece’s consumption habits. [Dezeen]
- Today, Bandcamp is donating 100% of its shares from music downloads to the ACLU, in support of refugees and in protest of Trump’s policies. What a great opportunity to support independent artists and a good cause! Some musicians, such as (amazing) punk band BIDET, have pledged to donate their shares as well. [Bandcamp]
- Eike Schmidt, director of Florence’s Uffizi Gallery, has vowed to show more female artists, and will make efforts to highlight the work of women in their collection. This stemmed from a conversation with the Guerrilla Girls. Hell yes! [artnet News]
- Other good news: NYC is finally getting the ball rolling on Community Land Trusts. Basically, this is a model of semi-collective ownership that ensures neighborhoods control their housing stock and can keep it affordable in perpetuity. More of this, please! [Next City]
- The Contemporary, a rad, non-collecting institution in Baltimore presently headed by AFC friend Deana Haggag, is seeking a new Executive Director (Deana’s leaving to head US Artists… we’re sad/happy for her). [The Contemporary]
- Mutations is coming to the Highline, and the exhibition looks like it should be good. It will feature works by Jan Rafman, Radames Juni Figueroa, and many others. [ARTnews]
- Why are some single-collector museums terrible and others successful? It seems striking a balance between the appearance of a “vanity project” and adaptable programming are vital. This is an article I wish so many rich people had read before assuming their personal tastes were a public good. [Observer]
- Illustrator Maki Naro confirms what we’ve suspected: we are living in a 1990s cyberpunk dystopia. [The Nib]
- “Art can become a strong ally of revolution only in so far as it remains faithful to itself. Poets, painters, sculptors and musicians will themselves find their own approach and methods, if the struggle for freedom of oppressed classes and peoples scatters the clouds of skepticism and of pessimism which cover the horizon of mankind.” -Leon Trotsky, 1938. Thank you, editors of Temporary Art Review, for republishing this on inauguration day. [Temporary Art Review]
