Category: visual

It is easy to take for granted our way of keeping things in museums. Yet many cultures do not have the tradition of museums as a concept. They are a European transplant in much of the world. Instead, knowledge is passed on through oral culture, festivals, songs, poems, commemorations and casual conversations and observations. Heritage can be just as much about relationships and performance. – The Guardian

Although LACMA claims “the new building totals 347,500 square feet,” the plans show its true size as 261,000 square feet. The total square footage of the new building is 32% less than the buildings it replaces—a loss of 123,000 square feet. “This analysis demonstrates that Los Angeles County taxpayers, who are footing a hefty portion of the bill for the $750-million project, are being robbed of their museum and collections,” says architecture critic Joseph Giovannini, co-chair of The Citizens’ Brigade to Save LACMA. – CityWatch LA

No worries, London will bring the art to you – and to everyone else, as long as you can get to the central city. “Details have been announced of an art programme on a spectacular scale, involving 2,000 sq metres of 8K resolution, 360-degree screens near Tottenham Court Road tube station.” – The Guardian (UK)

Not unlike the activist graphic design of the past, woke Instagram design is easy to comprehend, is clever, and often contains familiar themes so that meaning doesn’t have to be spelled out. Companies are happy to seize on that visual language for their own vaguely worded “Go People” posts. But those can easily fall flat – audiences see through the language to the emptiness that lies below. – Hyperallergic

A Parisian woman struck a complicated co-ownership deal with an Oklahoma museum where she found a painting the Nazis stole from her father. Now she wants to revisit the deal for Camille Pissarro’s La Bergère Rentrant des Moutons (Shepherdess Bringing in Sheep). – The New York Times

That’s OK; your mobile robot can do it for you. (The show at the Saatchi in London also has some tightly restricted in-person options as well.) – BBC

At least 13 women have accused the artist of sexual misconduct, and an exhibit of the artist’s work was canceled in Iran, where the Tehran auction is also considering not including his work this year. But in Canada, where the artist has dual citizenship, a cultural festival that often invites him decided to remain “noncommittal about the accusations.” – The New York Times

Ross is dead, of course, but a new re-creation of his studio, along with “Master Classes” with the prolific pine painter, is just getting underway in Indiana. “‘This is fantastic,’ Brett Estes, the Best Bob winner said, outfitted in a Bob wig (from a costume shop), beard (real) and light blue button-down. His brushes were tucked in the front pocket.” – The New York Times

Joy Labinjo, a 25-year-old British-Nigerian painter, doesn’t get lonely in her studio. Instead, she says, “It’s easier to focus with fewer social engagements.” – The Guardian (UK)

Or at least repainting murals on an Arkansas River levee that spent six years in various stages of repair. “Muralists have to rope up for safety to work on the steeply sloped concrete. But that isn’t slowing any of them down.” – Colorado Public Radio