Fused #2: It's been a great week for crypto bros, and a bad one for the humanities
Arts & Culture News for the week starting 11/18/24
Hi everyone,
It’s finally winter in New York, and while I may be depressed that it’s dark by 4PM, I am so excited for the cold. I made broth for soups. I am sipping on a cup of tea as I write this. I was made for cold and dreary weather.
I hope you’re enjoying the new formats - the longer essays and the weekly news round ups. As I mentioned last week I am also working on an interview series. A few of you messaged me to learn more about it and asked about being featured, which was really fun.
If you work in the art & culture world (whether as a filmmaker, a gallerist, an artist, a writer, an art handler, what-have-ya) and you wanna be interviewed, drop me a line here or DM me on Instagram.
I’m excited about the small community we're building. You might be here from my TikTok days (feels like forever ago!) and while I’m not inspired by the platform at the moment, I may go back one day. You never know.
Ok, love ya!
Ginevra
Arts & Culture News for the week starting 11/18/24
Maurizio Cattelan’s banana sold for $6.2 million, but you already knew that. Crypto bros everywhere are raving. In the meantime, that stupid taped fruit is worth more than the art market it was supposed to ridicule, which kinda defeats the whole purpose. I liked Valentina Di Liscia’s thoughts on it:
“But what if “Comedian” is what we all deep down know it to be — a solipsistic statement, an overpriced fruit, bad art that doesn’t even rise to the satisfying punch of a gimmick? Much like poorly executed art-world satire that secretly relishes in what it purports to critique, Cattelan’s piece isn’t holding up a mirror to anything. Sun, tonight top’s bidder, didn’t acquire “a part of history,” as he said in a statement — he bought a banana and a roll of tape.”
Justin Sun, the billionaire acquirer, shared this on instagram (for whatever reason):
Airbnb and Paramount Pictures are bringing gladiator fights back to the Colosseum for a two-day-only experience. The locals are not happy. I have lots of thoughts. I wrote about it here.
Three members of Just Stop Oil have been charged after spray-painting Stonehenge, the latest in a string of protests by the climate activist organization. The group has previously glued themselves to paintings and thrown soup at Van Gogh in the name of drawing attention to the climate crisis. Why are they targeting art? Because safeguarding humanity’s future should take precedence over protecting objects, no matter how valuable.
UNESCO has granted enhanced protection to 34 historic sites in Lebanon, ensuring these sites are afforded the highest level of protection under international law. The decision came almost a month after an Israeli airstrike struck near the Roman ruins of Baalbek, a UNESCO World Heritage site. The ongoing conflict has already damaged cultural landmarks, including Baalbek’s Roman temples and the Qubbat Doris shrine, as well as forcing thousands of civilians to flee from the area. According to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health, Israeli attacks in the country have killed at least 3,102 people and injured 13,819 since October 2023.
The Schelling Architecture Foundation has rescinded its €10,000 prize awarded to British artist James Bridle due to their signing of an open letter pledging to boycott Israeli cultural institutions. The foundation stated that Bridle’s stance was “in direct contradiction” to actions aligned with “awareness of Germany’s national history.” Birdle published their response in ArtReview.
Boston University paused admissions for several Humanities and Social Sciences PhD programs. The decision, which was quietly updated on the university’s website, stems from financial pressures following BU’s agreement with the Boston University Graduate Workers Union (BUGWU). The recently ratified contract, which ended a historic seven-month strike, guarantees PhD candidates a $45,000 annual minimum stipend, a 3% yearly raise, and expanded benefits. Just in case you needed further proof that nobody gives a shit about the humanities and that we’re all gonna end up with zero literacy skills.
Union Protests. Source: Jessica Rinaldi, Getty Images A new poll reveals that a majority of Brits support the creation of a permanent exhibition at the British Museum focused on the UK's role in the transatlantic slave trade. The survey underscores growing public demand for institutions to confront Britain’s colonial history. What’s the point of a museum if it doesn’t help us confront our past?
Nikhil Chopra and HH Art Spaces, will be the curatorial team for Kochi-Muziris Biennale. The event is South Asia’s largest contemporary art exhibition and India’s first biennale of international contemporary art.
32 French cities replaced ad billboards with art. Meanwhile, in the US:
Source: Columbia Tribune
Artwork of the week
An electricity generator powered by seventy-two Greek lemons.
Following Joseph Beuys, who created Capri Battery – a single lemon plugged into a light bulb – in 1986, Aegina Battery dramatises the power of the abilities and knowledges embodied in the natural world. But unlike Beuy’s work, which was conceptual and non-functional, Aegina Battery actually generates power, and points towards the Mediterranean and its neighbouring countries as a site for learning, new forms of ecological relationships, and novel responses to climatic and other changes.
Jesus Christ what a week! The world is nuts