A new reason to go to M.I.T.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has an amazing program where students can borrow a framed work by major artists from their List Visual Arts Center’s collection for an entire academic year. The Student Loan Art Program was founded in 1996 and boasts of over 400 pieces with which your dormroom can be beautified. There are plenty of big names on the list including Andy Warhol, Cindy Sherman, Sol LeWitt, and Ed Ruscha to name a few, as well as many Art:21 artists like Allora & Calzadilla, Ida Applebroog, Roni Horn, Gabriel Orozco, Susan Rothenberg, Collier Schorr, Laurie Simmons, Nancy Spero, Richard Tuttle, and Fred Wilson. At the top of my own M.I.T. wishlist would be Bernd & Hilla Becher’s Cooling Tower. Learn more about the Student Loan Art Program here.
Above, from the M.I.T. Student Loan Art Program’s collection: Alex Katz’s Portrait of a Poet : Kenneth Koch, 1970
The Best Of The Web
Recently I’ve noticed a huge change in my art-going habits. I’m much more likely to spend time looking at/thinking about art online than I am to step foot inside traditional exhibition spaces like museums or galleries. I blame this entirely on a handful of amazing art websites that have cropped up in recent years. When I’m not busy posting to my own blog I’m likely poking around these sites; they’re what I consider the best of the best of the web:
VVORK is a contemporary art blog run by artists Aleksandra Domanovic, Oliver Laric, Christoph Priglinger, and Georg Schnitzer. They are thoughtful curators, known for their conceptual leanings and ability to unearth notable and little-known artists from all corners of the world. The breadth of work covered and pace at which the blog is updated makes it always an amazing visit.
RHIZOME is the place to engage with everything interesting at the intersection of art and technology. Their blog is staffed by a handful of incisive writers whose viewpoints and taste I have really come to admire.
UBUWEB is an exhaustive archive of visual, auditory, and textual delight founded by poet Kenneth Goldsmith. It’s an art historical avalanche of the avant-garde (and beyond) with highlights including their film + video collection, anthology of conceptual writing, and archive of aspen magazine. Warning: you’ll lose hours of your life here.
WE MAKE MONEY NOT ART features interviews and reviews focused on contemporary art, design, and technology with just the right combination of smart and sass.
WORDS WITHOUT PICTURES has done wonders for the discourse of contemporary photography. It’s a year-long project started by LACMA photo curator Charlotte Cotton with a simple but effective idea. Each month a new essay is posted on the site, sparking discussion (both online and offline), and leaving you with the satisfying feeling that there are always fresh ways to think about a medium that’s been kicking around since 1839.
