Nerdiness = Hyperwhiteness?

With nerd culture seemingly on the rise in pop culture (tv series, current and upcoming feature films, etc.), a scholar looks at the roots of nerdiness.

From the NY Times, click here for story.

I just want to be loved

The Great Happiness Space - Tale of an Osaka Love Thief (2006) is a documentary on the lives of "host club" workers in Japan -- attractive 20-something guys who are paid to make women feel loved, not sexually, but as in to feel cared for. The entire film is available for free on-line viewing on Google video.

Screw self-pity; Enjoy This Instead

Lately life just appears to bring one adversity after another, reminders not to take anything for granted (but I'm having trouble listening).

What does this have to do with art? Maybe nothing but at this point, who cares?

In the face of reigning self-pity, there is a light of joy: Filipino prison inmates do Thriller en masse.

Having a Cow over Homer

(click on image for story)

Oops! No more expandable posts

Sorry, something got screwed up w/the HTML template so the expandable post option no longer works, and the new Help instructions are different, so I don't know how to fix it . . .

A-I-R: the next step?

I think I'll apply to an artist residency at the end of the year/new year, starting to feel like a natural next step towards becoming a professional artist. It's less investment and commitment than grad school, yet can still provide an ideal environment and community for productive process. Do they award them to non-degreed artists, or those w/o MFAs? I intend to find out, starting locally. Here are links to A-I-R databases, national and global:

http://www.artistcommunities.org/
http://www.resartis.org/
http://www.transartists.nl/

Bejewelled Skull Art prank

Last month, artist Damien Hirst unveiled the most expensive contemporary artwork ever made, a skull bedazzled with more than 8,000 fine diamonds. It's expected to sell for as much as $100 million. In response to the skull's exhibition at London's White Cube Gallery in Mason's Yard, an artist named Laura created a replica covered with 6,522 Swarovski crystals and dumped it outside the gallery in the middle of the night on top of a pile of trash.