London’s Guardian newspaper has hired an artist-in-residence. He is Michael Atavar, and “playing the role of idiot savant outsider, he may illuminate some aspect of our work, or he may add previously unimagined meaning to it. Then again, he may just shrug and wander off. It really doesn’t matter. In a giant shift of culture, we’re trying not to be prescriptive: so no deadlines, no brief, and no project as such.” – The Guardian 10/24/00