The Digest. 05.15.08.

Bonks, in L.A. (Photo by G@b13L.)

• “Michel Gondry Entertained for Days by New Cardboard Box.” (Via AFC.)
• Mark Bradford’s Help Us, a rooftop installation at Carnegie International, is viewable on Google Earth.
• The photography of Juliane Eirich.
• An ad for Brita: “Last year, 16 million gallons of oil were consumed to make plastic water bottles.” The ad neglects to mention how many gallons of oil were consumed to make plastic water filters. (Via NotCot.)
• The Smithsonian is gonna be in a movie. With Ben Stiller. No word if it had to sleep with the director to get the part.
• It’s all about the Benjamins…A story on why Clementine Gallery in NYC is being shuttered: “By October of 1996, they had amassed the princely sum of $60,000— enough to cover their expenses for the first year. (Now, 12 years later, they have to sell at least $80,000 every month to cover expenses.)” (Via Bloggy.)
• Where China and Africa meet. The photography of Paolo Woods.
• From the Department of Who Knew?: Rauschenberg won a Grammy.
• Plus, Jed Perl of the New Republic is no fan of Rauschenberg: “As for his art, it stank in the 1950s and it doesn’t look any better today.” Jack Shafer at Slate agrees. (Via AJ.)
• More Rauschenberg: Video of the artist talking about Erased De Kooning.
• Rich people still spending insane amounts of money on art: Francis Bacon triptych sells for $86.3 million.
• In related art-buying news… The best blog headline of the week: “The Most Expensive Ejaculation Ever Auctioned.” Update: I just learned that May is National Masturbation Month. How apropos.
• New ad campaign for Miami sells the city as high-end art and design destination. One hotel owner isn’t so sure about the plan: “Art is nice, and it adds to our culture and it sells condos. But it doesn’t sell hotel rooms. Sex sells.”
• Bust of Caesar found in French river.
• The Daily Show on the media’s obsession with white, working-class voters, which includes a special report called the West Virginia Douche-Off.
• Urban decay: Hotel edition. (Via MAN.)
• Graff of the Day: Baradon and Grino in Moscow.
• A Q&A with Troy Lovegates, aka Other, which includes a nice selection of images of his work. (Via Ekosystem.)
• The Eyes Have It: A.J. Fosik sculpture at White Walls in S.F.
• Art21 has a round-up of architectural videos, including a tour of the Mies van der Rohe’s Farnsworth House in real life…and Second Life.
• What can you do with a 7’10” wedge of space in Antwerp? Build a four-story house.
• A 1927 bus garage in Moscow to be turned into a gallery.
• Bone china rings.
• Chihuahua in a scuba outfit. (Via Coudal.)
• Your moment of Salvador Dalí, What’s My Line? edition.