- Is it getting hot in here? Chicago might be one step closer to hell now that it has been revealed that former NBA star and Gold Bond spokesperson Shaquille O’Neal will be curating his second-ever art exhibition, SHAQ LOVES PEOPLE. (For those who do not remember the year 2010, Shaq curated Size DOES Matter for the Flag Art Foundation.) [EXPO CHICAGO]
- More hell. WNYC runs a story on how truly terrible the Port Authority is. A choice quote: “If hell had a hell, that would be it.” [WNYC]
- Khaled Jarrar’s indefinite travel ban might keep him from attending yet another exhibition, this one in Helsinki. [artnet News]
- BuzzFeed has received $50 million in venture capital funding. Lots of chatter about this, but blogger Felix Salmon says you’ll learn more reading the BuzzFeed press release (most of the news analysis, including that from the Times, is not very informative). Basically, the money’s going to be spent on building their current editorial product; investing massively in video; and an aggressive international expansion, into a number of brand-new languages and cultures. They will also be buying new media properties. [The Medium]
- Apparently, Marfa isn’t the utopia that people make it out to be. Town locals are suffering from gentrification and soaring property values. [San Antonio Express News via Hyperallergic]
- A job for artists that doesn’t exist any longer: mask-maker for disfigured soldiers of war. [The Atlantic]
- Barneys has to pay $525,000 for racial profiling. The store would regularly (and disproportionately) accuse black and Latino customers of shoplifting and credit card fraud. [New York Times]
- Hold on to your laws, Iceland! “Harriet” does not pass the Icelandic name test, but one Harriet Cardew and her family are taking this matter to court. [Smithsonian Magazine]
- A couple falls off a cliff while taking a selfie. There were no survivors. [New York Post]
