Reading list, 24 June 2017

Sing it, sister: Diane Ragsdale, On “looky-loos” and the institutions who are desperate for them and desperate for them to behave.

A few weekends ago I traced the story of Sam Durant's work Scaffold, which was erected in the Walker Art Center's expanded sculpture gardens and then removed before the expansion was opened after protests by local Dakota people. This week in the Los Angeles Times Durant reflected on this, and dealt with questions around censorship.

There are a bunch of quotes in this Artsy editorial by Anna Louie Sussman that get my back up, but it's wide-ranging coverage of a strong trend: Why Old Women Have Replaced Young Men as the Art World’s Darlings

MIA (the Minneapolis Institute of Art) is blogging about its new audience data and loyalty programmes.

Hilary Milnes for Glossy: The anatomy of a pop-up launch. Interesting when thinking about museum expansions / engagement.

I love the polite ambivalence expressed by the people in this NYT article: Jeff Koons Sent Paris Flowers. Can It Find the Right Vase?

Shelley Bernstein explains why when computers tried to describe the Barnes Foundation's collection, they kept seeing stuffed animals.

Reading list, 17 June 2017

There will never be a definitive list, but this one is worth browsing if only for the photo of Linda Nochlin teaching at Vassar in 1965: The 10 Essays That Changed Art Criticism Forever.

I found this creepy as all get out: MAGA [Make America Great Again] Hats Are the Newest Form of Pre-Teen Rebellion

Colleen Dilenschneider's latest: Do [Museum] Expansions Increase Long-Term Visitation?

Teju Cole's latest: Getting Others Right

Robert Leonard's latest: Michael Parekowhai: The Empire of Light

One of the most influential books in my life: A brief history of feminist literature in New Zealand: Tessa Duder on her classic novel Alex

The always interesting Maciej Cegłowski: The founder of Pinboard on why fandom is good for business

Reading list, 10 June 2017

Nina Tonga, curator of Pacific Art at Te Papa, writes about 'Pikipiki hama kae vaevae manava: joining our vaka to share our breath or life stories', the museum's co-collecting initiative with Tongan communities in Auckland.

Read Tom Armitage's introduction (bringing together Sontag and screensavers) before you read Zack Hatfield on the forgotten joys of the screensaver.

Jia Tolentino on the end of the (internet) personal essay boom.

Thought-provoking: Chika Okeke-Agulu, 'Modern African Art Is Being Gentrified'.

I love Roberta Smith's language in this review, plus it introduced me to a plethora of new artists: ‘Midtown’: That Chair’s Charming, but Can I Sit in It?

Seb Chan writes about a project with RMIT students to produce visualisations giving insights into ACMI's collections.

Shelley Bernstein writes about the Barnes Foundation's new partnership with a bike-share initiative to reach new audiences.

And in new sites: Auckland curator Ioana Gordon-Smith has started collecting her writing online; veteran American exhibition-maker Dan Spock has started a 'museum tradecraft journal'.