C-MONSTER.net

Oh, the hair: Portrait of Nbuda Funkshun. From the Kriegsmann Files, a set of musician portraits discovered in an L.A. trash bin. NPR story here. (Image courtesy of sharpeworld.)

• 30 abstract satellite images of Earth. (Via VSL.)
• Sort-of related: The universe and Trevor Paglen.
• We have a very bad feeling about this. Unless, of course, we can be a judge. (Via AFC.)
• Design-conscious death, courtesy of Greg Lundgren.
• Me, me, me…on the subject of LACMA’s Edo-era art-merch.
• Picasso’s Guernica is getting worn out from its busy travel schedule. In related news: Pompeii is in dire state.
• I Don’t Have Time for Noncontroversial Art Exhibits: “No time for second-guessing or slowly soaking in the dynamic, geometric tension of the upcoming Cézanne retrospective. Not while there’s a guy in the East Village who’s going to vomit Cheerios into a piggy bank and smash it open with his penis.” (Via AFC.)
• Some lovely shots of the streets of New York City in the days before Olive Garden.
• Street art of the Day: Swoon in S.F. (Via Ekosystem.)
• Statisticians have figured out a way to sniff out forgeries by analyzing patterns left by the artist’s hand. (Via A.J.)
• Herzog & de Meuron’s proposed extension (with revision) for the Tate Modern (via architecture.mnp). A round-up on the subject here.
• Attention, Art Socialites: Art Institute of Chicago’s Modern Wing to hold its public opening on May 16, 2009. Plus: Louvre lays the first stone on new Islamic wing.
• Expect lots of juicy stories about mismanagement and overspending: Sen. Charles Grassley introduces legislation that would wipe out the Smithsonian’s exemption from the Freedom of Information Act.
• A New Yorker history of lawns. (Via architecture.mnp.)
• The ethics (and urban planning implications) of house flipping.
• Putting up those prefabs at MoMA: Not so easy. More on the show here.
• The winners of the Architectural Jelly Competition, with photos of some of the more notable entries.
• Dumpster living.
• The Decade in Government Efficiency: Eight years after the 2000 presidential debacle, ballot design still sucks.
• Your moment of What What in the Butt.