How Larry Gagosian Built An Artworld Empire With Russian Oligarchs

Automotive Library

The Library is a petrol head´s dream, a refined space that exhibits a private collection of luxury automobiles as fine works of art. Designed by A Work of Substance (same team behind the amazing Fleming Hotel) for an avid car collector and automotive enthusiast in Hong Kong, the private showroom occupies two levels of a six-story building. It is a curated library of vast automotive treasures, but also celebrates the spirit of driving and moments of excitement behind the wheel. 

 All the F*cking Books You See at the Bookstore

“Isn’t the art scene today revolting?” Andy Warhol asked Cecil Beaton. “I wish I could find a way of making it worse.” He did  ... revolting  

The movies long enjoyed a commanding cultural position as America’s central popular-art form. That era has come to an  end  

How Larry Gagosian Built An Artworld Empire With Russian Oligarchs

One art world source dubbed Gagosian “the official art dealer to the Russian oligarchy,” adding that “the Bond villains he consorts with are dangerous, repulsive and devalue art by their very presence.” - New York Post

Do You Think People’s Sexiest Men Were Hotter In The ’90s, 2000s, Or Now?

The Wizard of Oz as an Allegory for the Presidential Election of 1896

Jason Kottke  

I’ve never heard this theory before: L. Frank Baum wrote The Wizard of Oz as an allegory for the 1896 Presidential election, the central issue of which was the monetary concept of bimetallism. Quickly, from Wikipedia, a definition of bimetallism:

Bimetallism is a monetary standard in which the value of the monetary unit is defined as equivalent to certain quantities of two metals, typically gold and silver, creating a fixed rate of exchange between them.

There was much debate in the run-up to the election over how to define the rate between gold and silver in the US. Here’s where The Wizard of Oz comes in:

Dorothy is whipped out of Kansas by a tornado with her little dog “Toto” (short for teetotalers, who made a loud noise yip-yapping but were otherwise ineffective political companions). On her way to the Land of Oz, Dorothy picks up her electoral coalition. First, the Scarecrow, representing western farmers. “He thinks that he has no brains because his head is stuffed with straw. But we soon learn that he is shrewd and capable. He brings to life a major theme of the free silver movement: that the people, the farmer in particular, were capable of understanding the complex theories that underlay the choice of a standard.”

Next, the Tin Man (or Tin Woodman). The working class man, once a true human, is now just a cog in the industrial machine. Piece by piece his human body was replaced by metallic parts. He is now little more than a machine, a heartless (literally) machine. The Populist hope of the era was a grand farmer-labor coalition that never quite solidified — and we still see residual evidence of this hope in the official name of Minnesota’s Democratic Party, the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party.

The Cowardly Lion, then, was William Jennings Bryan himself. Capable of a great roar — his speeches were legendary — alas, to mix metaphors, he was all bark and no bite.

 

Open Culture: “There are browser extensions designed to increase your productivity every time you open a new tab. Others use positive affirmations, inspiring quotes, and nature photography to put your day on the right track. We hereby announce that we’re switching our settings and allegiance to New Tab with MoMA. After installing this extension, you’ll be treated to a new work of modern and contemporary art from The Museum of Modern Art’s collection whenever you open a new tab in Chrome…