Furrow, 2008, by Ben Butler. (Image courtesy of Butler.)
- Fast Company wants to map your influencer-ness. Yes, I’m a dork and signed up for it.
- A World Cup trophy made from 24 lbs. of cocaine. The mind reels.
- Both Gothamist and the NY Daily News have done a list on New York City’s ten ugliest buildings tied to the release of the AIA Guide to New York — both of which feature the EXACT SAME BUILDINGS. If you want a little bit of originality (I actually read the guide), check out my list of the ten ugliest over at WNYC, which I did a month ago. In a town like New York there’s enough ugly to go around without having to repeat top tens.
- Charles Saatchi donates his collection to England. (Arts Journal.)
- What now for the Whitney’s Breuer building? Three experts opine. (My take? Nightclub!)
- GPS as art. (@russelltrombone.)
- The Brillo Box, James Harvey edition.
- Fish-Work, a slideshow featuring Corey Arnold’s crab fishing adventures in the Bering Sea. Looks strangely refreshing given our scalding New York City temperatures.
- Finding — or not — Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks diner.
- An American conservator sets up a class to help Iraqis repair their damaged treasures. Nice. (@TylerGreenDC.)
- Yesterday was Frida Kahlo’s birf-day.
- The Day in Art Merch: Jenny Holzer sneakers.
- Must. Get. An inflataframe.
- The latest in graffiti animation, evolution edition: If I had a compound full of abandoned buildings, I would so let Blu just have at them. (Thank you @fabrye.)
- How skaters deconstruct architecture. (@MetropolisMag.)
- Frank Gehry’s house.
- Jean Nouvel’s all-red Serpentine Pavilion. See a slideshow here. (Cityscapes.)
- And since we seem to be on a starchitect kick: The Dark Lord Foster’s giant tent in Kazakhstan.
- Vintage board games you gotta wonder about: BP Offshore Oil Strike. (@timnyc.)
My life in oil. And other environmentally destructive activities.
Read the essay (and see many more photos) here.