Elsa and Norman Rush at their home. Photo by LaToya Ruby Frazier for The New York Times
- Tel Aviv based curator Maayan Shellef and artists Eran Hadas and Gal Eshel have invented yet another entity who doesn’t get you. His name is Frankie the Documentary Robot, and he interviews people about their emotions, attempting to ‘learn’ what it means to be human. Frankie is taking his futile attempts at empathy on the road and will arrive in Linz, Austria next month, for the Ars Electronica festival. [Vimeo]
- The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts is de-acquisitioning one of its two Hopper paintings to raise money for its contemporary art fund. The painting’s sale will quintuple PAFA’s acquiring budget, with 75% of that money going towards buying new work and 25% towards filling gaps in its historical collection. [The New York Times]
- Last week artist Anthony Antonellis had a chip implanted in his hand so he could distribute his net art with greater ease. This blog collects some of the reactions around the web to the piece. A few favorites: “The Devil worshiping technocrats are now using state run media to promote human tracking chips aka RFID chips as cool and stylish digital tattoos” and “It’s coming and i bet ObamaCare is going to be the kick starter for this hot mess” and “No big deal. Just a rainbow MARK OF THE BEAST” [butifeelgreat]
- Norman Rush gets a profile in the Times Magazine. Both he and his wife speak like the protagonist in his book Mating. Fascinating. On a side note, photographer Latoya Ruby Frazier took the shots for the spread. [New York Times Magazine]
- “How and why did one of the world’s greatest libraries get into the real estate business?” The Nation has acquired ten years of minutes from trustee meetings, and the story behind the Central Library Plan. [Nation]
- New York Magazine has profiled Mark Thompson, the ex-BBC executive who’s restructuring the New York Times, and a grand plan to expand as a larger brand of “news products.” [New York Magazine]
