Toni Greenbaum One day perhaps, when we as a species have fully awakened, when we have mastered the Force—we will find a hologram of Toni Greenbaum within every jewelry box. Upon opening the container of our newly acquired jewel, we will be greeted by the illuminated figure of Ms. Greenbaum, materializing in a flickering beam […]
The Collectorship Awakenss Read More »
Photography by Eric Lafforgue. Image source: Scribol.com. If all you want right now is an uplifting story about the indomitability of the human spirit: The tribal inhabitants of Ethiopia’s Omo Valley are resourceful, resilient people with beautiful teeth. They transform garbage into treasured adornments, literally weaving the by-products of throwaway consumer culture into their traditions
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Fernando Benítez, found toys from chips bags, 2015, image source: DesignMilk Mexican artist and educator Mariana Acosta, recently featured in DesignMilk, launched the Precious Waste project as a means to explore the quality of “preciousness” in an academic setting. Acosta leads industrial and graphic design students at Mexico’s Universidad Gestalt de Diseño through an investigative
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[video:https://youtu.be/KrJYpActs7g width:750 height:422 autoplay:0] In her recent piece for The Atlantic, Victoria Clayton refers to the “problem” of needlessly complex writing in academia. But this complexity is only a problem for those who don’t see a need for it. And nobody needs complexity more than academics. Big ideas need big words to express them. Concepts must
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Image Source: Studio Roosegaarde Dutch designer Daan Roosegaarde, in a stunning show of disregard for everything capitalist society has to offer, has taken it upon himself to remove carbon particles out of our air. The carbon particles we’ve worked so hard to put into the air. After everything we’ve done to move society forward! Well,
The Sacramento Public Library has a 3-D printing lab. Photo credit: Jim Wilson/The New York Times On a recent trip to visit family, this writer was privileged to attend the grand opening of a new local library. While reviewing the map to locate where my nephew could meet Curious George in person, my sister-in-law noted
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Elvis Costello and Kelsey Grammar, 04-22-2003 episode of Frasier, image source: NBC Writing about art (or music) is like dancing (or sometimes singing, or occasionally knitting) about architecture, or maybe football, as once quipped either comedian/art collector Steve Martin, or comedian/artist Martin Mull, or maybe musician/comic actor Elvis Costello, or possibly even experimental satirist/Zappa-esque musician
Everyone’s a Critic/Curator/Comedian! Read More »
College professors worldwide tear out a thousand metric tons of their own hair each year whenever they see Wikipedia cited as a reference in student term papers. However, Wikipedia still holds the power in today’s society to confer existence itself to all manner of people, places, thoughts, ideas, and things. Wikipedia is the alchemical force
Art Jewelry Forum Is Officially Wikipedia-Real! Read More »
Social activism and activist art are generally not known for having a “gentle touch”—unless one has a social media presence equal to the Dalai Lama’s, a quiet voice is rarely heard. At the same time, overt, heavy-handed messages addressing the failures of society are rarely experienced as “enjoyable.” Nick Cave’s Soundsuits operate on numerous levels.
“What Makes a Woman?”—Elinor Burkett’s op-ed for The New York Times—triggered a saucy catfight between second-wave and third-wave feminists (and who doesn’t love a little girl-on-girl action, am I right?). Burkett makes what she seems to think is a compelling argument that being transgender is just another way for those assigned male at birth to
Creative Review’s Eliza Williams is cautiously skeptical of the “cool older women” trend appearing in fashion campaigns recently. Is it possible that in the same universe where 37-year-old Maggie Gyllenhaal has been declared “too old,” the advertising industry has suddenly accepted that a woman’s natural life cycle can often extend past adolescence? Before grown-up women
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Bike commuter Alain Servais has declared that “money is spoiling things” in an interview with Artspace Magazine. The investment banker-turned-collector loosens his cravat and dishes on the House of Cards-level backchanneling and machinations at work in the contemporary art market. Servais points to a lack of education and an abundance of money driving purchasing decisions
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