the show is so successful, i think, because it acknowledges that materials and mediums are the main concern of artists' work, without shutting down other discourses and histories

"The Living End" recognizes how the regeneration of painting through performance and video of the 1960s and 70s was rooted in a critique of white men's dominance of the medium

it also includes many artists of color, trans and queer artists, and women. it doesn't put identity at the center but it doesn't ignore it, either--

i didn't want to get into it in the review itself, but while writing this I was thinking a lot about Dean Kissick's "Painted Protest" and the reaction to it. "The Living End" is a great example of an exhibition that addresses the present while making meaningful connections to history

but Jamillah James, curator of "The Living End," had a brilliant insight that never occurred to me.. she saw performance video as a way for artists to treat painting's gestures as a kind of material, and connected that to the imitation and automation of painterly gestures in contemporary software

the exhibition responds to some things I've been thinking about a lot this year, namely how artists are making the connections between art history, particularly the history of painting, and digital media. I wrote an essay on the topic that Eyebeam published in September: eyebeam.org/software-as-...

the discourse around AI is full of hysteria and hype so i felt encouraged to see museums doing what they should be doing--presenting more thoughtful approaches that help audiences make sense of how AI functions and what it can do. i hope there's more of that in 2025

misha

My piece highlighting Gen AI “myths” in terms of how we talk about the technology, and what purpose those myths serve, is my self-serving contribution (looking to post a bunch from other folks today too). www.techpolicy.press/challenging-...

but it could be an episode of Elsbeth

yeah i think it was calculated to cause a stir and that’s part of the problem

these were in ps1’s show about the iraq war five years ago!

also it includes my thoughts on bluesky and why i hate it but will keep trying to use it

anyway, the picks are Sara Cwynar at 55 Walker, wangshui at kurimanzutto, Dean Kissick on the art world's problems, Erin Kissane on the dark forest internet, and "World Computer Sculpture Garden," a group show on the Ethereum blockchain. enjoy

there are some thematic echoes among the entries that express the overall outlook of my newsletter: trying to figure out how art and criticism can engage with contemporary media instead of withdrawing into the cloisters