Even as more art is being made, seen, bought and sold than at any point in human history, there is a feeling in many quarters of listlessness. Reviewing the Venice Biennale in Newsweek two weeks ago, Blake Gopnik rehearsed the already-tired idea that it showed that art is at an end, “nothing more than a series of moves in a series of games.” We’re stuck or adrift and, as New Museum curator Lauren Cornell put it last fall, “deeply obsessed with the past.”

But there are signs of life. Artists are finding interesting ways forward, and in a number of recent books, philosophers and critics are too. The results are all over the map, but there is a feeling that new ideas are beginning to simmer. Read More

Even as more art is being made, seen, bought and sold than at any point in human history, there is a feeling in many quarters of listlessness. Reviewing the Venice Biennale in Newsweek two weeks ago, Blake Gopnik rehearsed the already-tired idea that it showed that art is at an end, “nothing more than a series of moves in a series of games.” We’re stuck or adrift and, as New Museum curator Lauren Cornell put it last fall, “deeply obsessed with the past.”

But there are signs of life. Artists are finding interesting ways forward, and in a number of recent books, philosophers and critics are too. The results are all over the map, but there is a feeling that new ideas are beginning to simmer. Read More

When my plane broke through the Los Angeles smog on an afternoon in early spring, I imagined I had willed the town into existence by nothing more than my arrival. It’s the city’s foundational myth—perpetually born yesterday. I was there to cover an art fair called Paris Photo, which was being held at that most mythic of L.A. landmarks—Paramount Studios—and to report on the city’s art world. If New York had a say in the matter, it was something of an accident of history that there were ever artists in Los Angeles at all. The dealers and collectors were always in New York. And who could force the entertainment industry to care? For decades, the most noteworthy thing about successful Los Angeles artists—aside from a core group—was that they left for the East Coast.

The reality is more complicated. New York changed. Downtown ceased being a squatter’s free-for-all and became an outdoor shopping center. The S&M clubs and taxi garages of Chelsea gave way to galleries stacked on top of one another. Increasingly, the creatively minded transplants who migrated each day to New York from all over the country came with expiration dates. Ten years would go by, if you were lucky, before the inevitable fatigue set in. So many migrants have gone to California as a solution to some problem that it’s become an American trope. But in a town where the front page of the largest daily newspaper reports the unsubstantiated rumor that industry blogger Nikki Finke would be fired from Deadline Hollywood, the arts have quietly carved out a home. New York just got more and more expensive. Read More

As New York City considers its options for mayor, Silicon Alley is biting its nails at the prospect of a post-Bloomberg world. And last night, four candidates–former councilman Sal Albanese, former Congressman Anthony Weiner, comptroller John Liu and former Bronx president Adolfo Carrión–appeared at the Museum of the Moving Image to pitch themselves to the tech industry. (Front-runner Christine Quinn declined to show.)

And, well, they gave it the old college try. Read More

New Yorkers may no longer be able to buy lighters that look like the Statue of Liberty or that cute cow in the photograph to the left.

The New York State Assembly approved a ban on novelty lighters today, joining the State Senate, which did so last week, and leaving the bill just a gubernatorial signature away from becoming law. Read More

If you drink so much that you need to quantify your blood alcohol content on a regular basis, you might want to take a step back and evaluate your choices.

Or, you could just buy this Breathalyzer that not only measures your BAC, but posts it to Facebook and Twitter. It even comes with removable mouthpieces for all your boozehound friends to collect ‘n’ trade. Read More

Advertising is a simple business.

A publisher creates inventory, whether it’s in a newspaper, over the airwaves, by the side of the road or online. They sell part of that inventory to companies who want to get their products and brand names in front of an audience.

Though it seems like a simple equation, there are a lot of ways it could go wrong, especially in the dizzying world of online ads.

Read More

Tumblr “director/media evangelist” Mark Coatney, one of the company’s early employees and the man who built the site’s outreach team, just announced that he’s leaving the company. For those keeping score at home, that’s right on the heels of creative director Jacob Bijani’s departure.

Mr. Coatney didn’t detail his reasons for leaving in the announcement on his Tumblr, other than to say, “It’s a a good time, with Tumblr moving into a new and even better stage with Yahoo, and though I’m happy about the decision and excited about new opportunities, it’s still bittersweet.” Read More

Anthony Weiner slammed Mayor Michael Bloomberg for slapping small businesses with too many fines–but what was touted as the ex-Congressman’s first major policy speech fell flat with some in the Upper West Side audience, who walked away unimpressed earlier today.

Mr. Weiner’s address focused on complaints about the uptick in fines and summonses levied by the Bloomberg administration against small businesses, arguing the city should be making it easier–not harder–for small businesses to thrive. The issue of fines has been frequently touted by other candidates, including Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, who has made the issue a signature piece of his campaign. Read More

Today in news that literally makes no sense, it appears that John Mayer’s latest music video stars the Prancercise lady—as in, the lady who developed an exercise regime based off the movement of horses, and who might actually believe she is a horse. We’ll give you a second to sit with that.

Mr. Mayer’s team announced Read More