Not All Priceless Books in Timbuktu Destroyed

Not all manuscripts lost in "Islamist" siege of Timbuktu. Most apparently were hidden and saved. Texts represent important political, everyday, and Sufi history in this medieval African trade center. Some black-flag Islamists feared pollution from the manuscripts! 

New Yorker> http://tinyurl.com/aekkv75

Beach Nourishment Fraud

Beware of neologisms like "beach nourishment." Virginia Beach beach rebuilt 49 times since '51 @ $400 million in Federal tax money. A new term usually means a new con. Ranting against nourishment is like being against mother's milk. I say: Eat the sand!

Calling The Generics Biosimilars

If you want to protect your drug monopoly, impoverish your customers, and help sink U.S. federal health care.....call the generic competition-drugs "biosimilars." After intense lobbying by drug giants, Virginia has already banned "biosimilars."

ARTSPEAK EXPOSED

How to waffle. Artspeak exposed by who? Sherrie Levine! 

Story at guardian> http://tinyurl.com/azjm43v

Chandelier Bidding Should Be Banned

What is chandelier bidding? Flimflam auction house practice of "pointing to the chandelier" for a fake first bid. Should it be a crime or is it just theater? How many other bids are false? 

Story NYT> http://tinyurl.com/b4lb4l3

French Hashtag Ban Protest

"Hashtag" is now forbidden in France and the Twitter symbol must be called "mot-dièse" (the "sharp" sign in music). John Perreault, whose heritage is Breton via Quebec rather than French, announced that in retaliation ARTOPIA would no longer use "rendezvous" or "souffle." 

Hashtag story NPR> http://tinyurl.com/amapvds

Did Zen Influence Conceptual Art?

Did someone actually get it right? Review: Ellen Perlman's "Nothing and Everything: The Influence of Buddhism on the American Avant Garde."


Read> http://hyperallergic.com/63002/how-zen-catalyzed-conceptual-art/

M.A.D. Scent Show Stinks

M.A.D. scent show stinks....and so does the building says hyperallerigic columnist.

The Unpleasant Smell of Lost Opportunities>http://tinyurl.com/bdzf42c

Free Admission at Dallas Museum of Art

Dallas Museum of Art announces free admission!

http://www.dallasmuseumofart.org/

Twitterverse Exposed!

All you need to know about the Library of Congress Twitter Archive. Sort of. Who has access? Will commercial interests be allowed to mine the data? FBI? CIA? Is there a Facebook archive hidden away somewhere in some Cloud? Can you shield your tweets? Who can access my list of borrowed library books from the County Library mesh? Is pruning allowed?

Librarians of the Twitterverse by James Gleick | NYRblog | The New York Review of Books

www.nybooks.com

San Antonio All-Digital Library System

Texas leads the way. Bexar County Library System to be entirely digital; U. of Texas San Antonio Library has been bookless since 2010. Beginning of the end? Next: E-books must no longer be treated like physical books with limited access, as in my local library. Publishers? Get a new business model!

TM Daily Post> http://tinyurl.com/bd6vp6n

Free Artist-Statement App

Belgian artist Jasper Rigole's creates free artist-statement generator, "500 Letters." Try it, you'll like it:

"John Perreault ( New York City, United States) makes paintings and performances. By replaying the work for each exhibition and pushing the evocative power of the work a little further, Perreault tries to grasp language. Transformed into art, language becomes an ornament. At that moment, lots of ambiguities and indistinctnesses, which are inherent to the phenomenon, come to the surface...."

story via hyperallergic> http://tinyurl.com/a34pq78
http://www.500letters.org/form_15.php

Is Hirst the Worst?

Hirst-bashing spreads to Esquire. Kick him, kick him again, kick him while he is down.

The End of Art as Pure Money> http://tinyurl.com/aurrzzh

Van Gogh Self-Portrait Photo

What is the opposite of Photo Realism? Lithuanian artist turns Van Gogh self-portrait into a "photo." Is Rembrandt next? 

Via theatlantic> http://tinyurl.com/bapnjgb

Brit Awards Statuette: Hirst or Kusama?

Who put the dots on  this year's Brit Awards (Pop Music) statuette? Is it Damien Hirst or Kusama? Can you tell their dots apart?

Richard Serra Attacked by Met Curator

Conservative art coverage on Huffington Post links to same at the conservative The Art Newspaper. Does Richard Serra have the right to restore or alter his own art? Of course! Curator of his Met. Museum drawing show turns on him!!!

The Art Newspaper story: http://tinyurl.com/bjpbhbl

How to Authenticate Your Picasso

How to authenticate your Picasso. Lots to learn here, if it doesn't drive you crazy.

Article at artnews> http://tinyurl.com/b5zf378

Geneva Art Port Expands

Geneva free port for art to expand. What is an art free port? Find out here.

Via BBC> http://tinyurl.com/apm3bsx
And in case you missed it. China plans gigantic free port>http://tinyurl.com/a2vuu3p

Shipping Container in Whitney Moat?

Temporary shipping container studio (for classrooms) now in the Whitney "moat," until moving day to new site.

More pix on designboom> http://tinyurl.com/ae3plyp