Category: visual

David Hockney believes that Constable’s amazing sky pictures were accomplished with the aid of optical devices. “Meteorologists look at skies in a different way to most people. They study clouds professionally. They say that only Constable got them right.” – National Post (Canada) (The Telegraph)

Israeli port officials in Haifa intercepted a crate bound for the U.S. that was filled with valuable artifacts (ranging from 3000 BC–1000 AD) looted from Israeli archeological sites and believed to be headed for sale on the international antiquities black market. – Times of India (AP)

Bernard Arnault has bought Art & Auction Magazine. “The tricky part comes when you notice that Art & Auction – whose audience is a small but influential cabal of art sellers and buyers – has suddenly become a corporate sibling of Phillips, the world’s third-largest art auctioneer. Meanwhile, Christie’s auction house is owned by Arnault’s archrival, Pinault Printemps Redoute. – Inside.com

She may be unknown by name, but taxidermist Emily Mayer’s work is already wildly famous – she made the severed cow’s head and stuffed bear for Damien Hirst’s hits. Now she’s setting out to make a career as a sculptor – but, to the shock of many, her medium’s still the same. “A lot of the animals I work with come from road-kill. I’ll be driving along when I suddenly see something and slam on my brakes.” – The Times (UK)

Small towns in Canada – mostly on the prairies, have erected giant statues to all sorts of things: “giant deer antlers, a giant turtle, a giant mushroom, giant wheat sheaves, a giant space ship like Star Trek’s USS Enterprise at a town called Vulcan, and the giant Happy Rock – a slab of rock with a happy face painted on it.” There are about 220 of them across the country. “It’s an embarrassment to some of the communities, but at the same time it attracts attention.” – Chicago Tribune (Reuters)

On the heels of the Guggenheim’s smash success in Bilbao, cities all over the world are clamoring for a Guggenheim of their own. “No less than six cities in Italy have applied to build Guggenheim museums. There are bids in from South Africa and Australia too, but the next is almost certain to go to a city in Latin America.” Not to mention an $800 million Soho museum targeted to open in 2006. – The Times (UK)

Since relocating to Berlin a year ago, the German government has planned several major cultural projects commemorating the Holocaust and Germany’s lost Jews. But most of the them are plagued by delays and red tape. “As things stand, the so-called triangle of major new Jewish projects form a bizarre picture: a building without an exhibition (the Jewish Museum), an exhibition without a building (the Topography of Terror site at the former SS headquarters) and an embarrassingly vacant central lot (the numbingly debated Holocaust Memorial).” – New York Times

Architect Kazuyo Sejima was under the impression that she had been selected to design a new building for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney; while the city became subsumed with Olympics-frenzy and the MCA battled for funding, Sejima has been left wondering if she has the job. Has the MCA blown their chance with her? – Sydney Morning Herald

For the last 18 years, one of Israel’s top archaeologists has been digging at Mt. Gerizim, home of the world’s small remaining Samaritan community, on the West Bank. Amongst his many discoveries, the archaeologist has unearthed the fact that “if digging in Israel is like working in a thorn field of political and religious sensitivities, archaeology in the territories is thornier yet.” – The Jerusalem Report

An interview with Iranian artist Shirin Neshat, whose popular “Women of Allah” photo series and video installations subvert stereotypes of Muslim women. “There’s the stereotype about the women – they’re all victims and submissive – and they’re not. Slowly I subvert that image by showing in the most subtle and candid way how strong these women are.” – Time (Europe)