Category: visual

“How is it possible that these grand masters are responsible for construction sites where many things have been going wrong for years? What are the reasons that public building sites in Germany so often turn into scenes of disaster?”

“Gladiz Collatupa, an archaeologist, once stashed six mummies at her parents’ house for safe keeping. That was when she dug for artifacts in the dirt of Peru, rich with the leavings of past cultures like the Inca and the Moche. Now she digs through packages at the post office instead, searching for ancient treasure being smuggled out of the country.”

“The social pendulum has swung back towards the ethos of the 1960s. We are seeing a reaction against the big, shiny, flashy tendencies of the past decade; people are making more meaningful work.”

“The forgers are believed to have sold more than 400 pieces of counterfeit art painted in the style of artists such as Kandinsky and Malevich. The suspects are alleged to also have forged authenticity certificates to give the impression the paintings were previously unknown works.”

“By 2030 the mainland will be home to 13 megacities–those with a population of 10 million or more–up from six today, estimates a McKinsey report. That breakneck urbanization is fast obliterating 5,000 years of architecture and culture.”

“After previously giving $1m (£640,000) to the National Museum of African American History and Culture, her total contribution is its biggest so far. The museum on Washington’s National Mall is due to be completed in 2015.”

“So why are so many dealers unwilling to acknowledge the commercial side of the Venice Biennale, let alone discuss details of sales?”

“All over China, planners are busy emptying the countryside of people, leveling villages, and replacing the small-plot agriculture that defined rural parts of the country for millennia with American-style industrial agriculture. Urban areas, meanwhile, have lost most of their distinctive characteristics.”