- An important piece of western cultural patrimony is being preserved for posterity: the first Taco Bell has been spared demolition and is being trucked 45 miles to the company’s headquarters in Irvine, California. Fans can even watch its journey from designated Taco Bell locations along the route. [Los Angeles Magazine]
- National Geographic has an interactive graphic that shows what the Manhattan skyline will look like when all the planned and under-construction buildings are complete. Observations: until the past decade or so, relatively few buildings in the city were actually over 700 feet. Soon, the Chrysler Building is going to look tiny. [National Geographic]
- Prior to the 1979 revolution, Iranian Empress Farah Pahlavi assembled one of the greatest collections of modern and contemporary European and American art. After the royal family fled, the Tehran Museum of Contemporary Art’s collection miraculously survived thanks to protection by art enthusiast Firouz Shabazi Moghadam and others who guarded the Warhols, Gaughins, Pollocks, and Rothkos. Now that Iran’s international relations are improving, there’s hope that the museum can take its rightful place among the great art institutions of the world. It’s a really inspiring and compelling story. [Bloomberg]
- Europe’s royal palaces are given an unlikely second life as exhibition space for contemporary art [BBC]
- File this under disgusting and awesome: The National Association for the Preservation of Skin Art (NAPSA) offers people with tattoos the chance to preserve their skin after they die, even framing posthumously removed tattoos as one would a painting. Someone do this to me [Michael] after I die, please.[WTVR]
- Hyperallergic has a recap on last night’s protest of the Brooklyn Real Estate Summit at the Brooklyn Museum. The story here: lots of artists came out, which has been an issue in the past and there was real community engagement in the issues during the protest. [Hyperallergic]
- In related protest news, The Guerilla Girls have declared war on “cartels of collectors [who] get behind the work of a few selected artists; galleries are paying for exhibitions of their artists at museums; and art fairs are showing the same bankable work over and over.” Expect guerilla projections, demonstrations, and more. The campaign kicks off in the Twin Cities. [The Art Newspaper]
- Here’s some nice news: Italian designer Enzo Mari has granted the reproduction rights of his designs to an organization in Berlin that helps refugees start careers in furniture making. The group CUCULA will be producing Mari’s “Autoprogettazione” series to raise funds for relief activities. [Dezeen]
