The Digest. 08.25.10.

Artwork Ahead. Snapped in Sydney, Australia, by the highly attentive Chris Baron.
- Profile pictures, Slavic style. (It Really Makes You Think.)
- Today’s Political Must-Read: An eye-opening profile of the billionaire Koch brothers, and their behind-the-scenes funding of fishy “think” tanks. The Smithsonian should be pretty embarrassed about the bit on the last page. (Find the reference right after the drop cap).
- Go, Dick Cavett and Roger Ebert.
- When art doesn’t imitate life: Killing ants in the name of art.
- Ansel Adams trust sues over negatives.
- On shady art dealing practices. (Arts Journal.)
- Eli Broad’s private show palace to land in downtown L.A. Related: Christopher Knight on the history of private museums and Christopher Hawthorne on Diller Scofidio’s architectural design. If you’re gonna read one story about this, read Hawthorne.
- Thank the Lord of Overpriced Convention Center Catering: ‘wichcraft to take over Armory Show food contract. This doesn’t mean I will stop lobbying for a taco truck.
- Scientific evidence shows that ancient statues were pretty tacky. (An Xiao Mina.)
- Richard Prince and Takashi Murakami team up for Britney Spears magazine cover. Forget Work of Art. Surely this trifecta represents the end of civilization? (@streetartblog.)
- The photographs of Tema Stauffer.
- Have been enjoying Timothy Buckwalter’s image essays.
- Yayoi Kusama, baby approved. (@MattressFactory.)
- The first digital camera. Looks like it only weighed 30 lbs.
- Bruce Davidson and other photographers’ ‘80s subway pictures. (The Doree Chronicles.)
- The map as art.
- Not new, but interesting: Jonathan Lethem and Philip Lopate deconstruct Susan Sontag.
- Today’s Graff: Aryz in Barcelona.
- A totally weird stone house in Portugal.
- Minimalism in Legos. (@ARTnewsmag.)

Aw, shucks. Thanks!
The Richard Prince/Murakami cover is just funny because it really looks like any other cover … so what did they pay for exactly?