I’m finally getting around to posting notes about “The Future of the Image,” a lecture panel at Columbia University last week featuring visual theorists W. J. T. Mitchell and Jacques Rancière. For an academic lecture, the place was packed–I arrived 15 minutes early and got one of the last seats. Many people were […]
Since the confusing boundaries between science, technology, and art are a favorite topic here at 291–and yesterday’s post was such a grisly example–it’s only appropriate to make note of the Times‘ morbid little article about the 1962 Stereoscopic Atlas of the Human Body. Apparently Stanford University plans to put the 25-volume masterpiece online to […]
Erik C. Rühling is a graphic designer and artist based in Atlanta, Georgia. He recently published a timely little book called Infernal Device with Disinformation press. It’s a book of torture–literally. Infernal Device features three-dimensional models Rühling made of antique torture and execution devices, accompanied by pithy descriptions of their intended uses. […]
Fred Ritchin is one of those photographic writers I have mixed feelings about. On the one hand, he’s a solid stylist with good motivations—he’s one of the guys trying to enlarge the conversation about visual culture and bring everyone into the fold. On the other hand, his ideological stance often puts me at […]
Three variations on the theme:
1.) Stumbled across an interesting site a few weeks back: Strictly No Photography. In its current state, the idea may be more interesting than the execution–users register and upload their photographs of people, places, and things that are not supposed to be photographed. The site advertises itself as featuring […]
Last night 291 stopped by Aperture to see old friends and catch the talk and book signing by Hans Eijkelboom.
Eijkelboom is an amazing and ridiculously underappreciated Dutch conceptual photographer. Aperture just published a book of his work entitled Paris|New York|Shanghai, which represents a selection from a larger body of work called “Photo Notes.” […]
291 has featured unusual portrait commissions before—namely, MoMA’s offer to sell you your genetic portrait for $550. Now the ever-entertaining (and rather brilliant) Vik Muniz is offering something different: your portrait with a loved one in chocolate for $110,000.
Sound like a lot of money? Well, work by Muniz generally sells for quite a […]
Christine Finn at the Guardian recently wrote a post about the genetic portraits offered by MoMA to anyone willing to shoulder the $550 fee and a quick cheek swab. It’s a cool concept–selling people portraits of themselves that can only be obtained through a lab.
While MoMA is the first place I know of where […]
An article about children’s response to the horror of the bridge collapse in Minneapolis last week opened with the following sentence:
They all said the same thing: It was as if they were suddenly in a movie.
O’Connor, Anahad. “Schoolchildren Struggled to Escape.” New York Times.August 2, 2007.
It wasn’t the only story to focus on the movie-like […]
