Blog

An Attempt To Archive And Access Early Internet Art

project called Net Art Anthology, curated by Rhizome, an affiliate of the New Museum, was an attempt to tentatively create a historical understanding of net art. Unveiled online over the course of two years, the effort involved the archiving and restoration of 100 digital artworks— often a laborious process because browsers that could display the pieces no longer existed, or other aspects of the technology had to be preserved or emulated. – The New York Times

Ariana Grande And The Complications Of Cultural Appropriation

“Appropriation remains one of the hardest-to-talk-about phenomena in pop culture, which is, fundamentally, a hodgepodge of widely circulated ideas that originated in specific subcultures. One line of thought puts it in economic terms: Are marginalized creators being materially harmed and erased? But on another level, there are questions of aesthetics and tastes. Does the pop star draw upon her influences in a way that feels original? Does her work disrespect or honor those influences? Is there a double standard in how her work is received?” – The Atlantic

The Racial Reconciliation Fantasies The Oscars Love So Much? Really, It’s All Just Transactional

Critic Wesley Morris nods to The Blind Side, Crash, and The Help, but he concentrates, of course, on current contender Green Book and its Oscar-winning predecessor Driving Miss Daisy, as well as non-Oscar-contender The Upside. He points out that those films’ central (interracial) relationships are all based on employment — “pay-to-playmate transactions,” he calls them — and contrasts them to the more realistic employer-employee relations in a film that should have been an Oscar contender, Do the Right Thing. — The New York Times

Why Are South Indian Film Fans Stealing Milk And Pouring It All Over Movie Posters?

As it happens, there’s a Hindu ritual called paalabhishekam in which worshipers pour milk over the statue of a deity. Overenthusiastic fans in the state of Tamil Nadu have started applying the practice to their favorite films’ posters, hoping that will help the movies become hits. Only they’re not buying the milk; they’re stealing it — and driving the state’s dairy farmers and dealers broke in the process. — BBC

Daily Mail Flagged As Unreliable News Source By Microsoft’s New Browser

“Visitors to Mail Online who use Microsoft Edge can now see a statement asserting that ‘this website generally fails to maintain basic standards of accuracy and accountability’ and ‘has been forced to pay damages in numerous high-profile cases’. The message, which is produced by a third-party startup called NewsGuard, tells readers to proceed carefully given that ‘the site regularly publishes content that has damaged reputations, caused widespread alarm, or constituted harassment or invasion of privacy’.” — The Guardian