Nothing in Nolan’s “Odyssey” will stick in my memory as much as Bernadette Peters as Circe in the 1997 made-for-tv version delivering the line “You must cross the river of fire and sacrifice a ram.”
Colby Chamberlain
@colbychamberlain.bsky.social
Associate Professor of Art History, Cleveland Institute of Art | “Fluxus Administration,” UChicago Press, 2024 | Queens native, Cleveland resident | he/him
The erasure of Occupy from public memory (none of my students have heard of it!) was one of the motivations for this Writing Art History After Occupy roundtable. direct.mit.edu/octo/article...
Writing Art History After Occupy*
Abstract. This conversation explores the impact of Occupy Wall Street on the practice of art history. The authors of three recent books—on the new media art of Arte Programmata, the administrative aut...
direct.mit.edu
The surprising tidbit here is that Eakin green-lighted the NYT’s notorious Derrida obituary.
Dayna Tortorici@dtortorici.bsky.social · 2w agoI reviewed Emily Eakin’s “The Frenchmen” — a memoir / intellectual history / group biography of Althusser, Lacan, Foucault, Barthes, Deleuze, Guattari, Derrida, and De Man—for @newyorker.com
Of course there are quite a few aesthetic traditions — Dada, Fluxus, lots of conceptual art — that *detourn* bureaucratic instruments to as a mode of critique, parody, resistance. I hope some of that work is addressed in Gindlesparger's book! It's a central theme in Colby Chamberlain's work!
Fluxus Administration
A new, innovative approach to the work of Fluxus artist George Maciunas. Though widely recognized as the founder of the legendary Fluxus movement, George Maciunas has long been a puzzling figure in th...
press.uchicago.edu
Soyoung Yoon has been named the next director of the Whitney ISP. This is great news! As the (now former) director the Parsons MFA program, she has the know-how to handle the admin side of the job, while also being an absolutely brilliant scholar with deep ties to the program. Knicks in five.
“The Left does not do mathematics!!” — Henry Flynt, just now at Emily Harvey Foundation
A short piece on Melvin Edwards (1937–2026) from way back in 2010.
As someone preoccupied with how human beings operate within institutions, I’ve always loved Frederick Wiseman’s films. As a Queens native, my favorite will always be ‘In Jackson Heights.’
Rosalind Krauss, Annette Michelson, and “October” make an appearance on the UK quiz show “University Challenge.” #UniversityChallenge #arthistory
Rosalind Krauss, Annette Michelson, and “October” make an appearance on the UK quiz show “University Challenge.” #UniversityChallenge #arthistory
Trump's economy is being held up by a massive AI bubble. A recent study found that of 300 companies that owned generative AI tools, 95% reported zero return on their investments. We will not entertain a bailout of these companies should this bubble pop.
"By Knowles, with Knowles, through Knowles, we can locate models for collaboration and participation that remain tacky to the touch." www.artforum.com/columns/colb...
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Colby Chamberlain on Alison Knowles
artforum.com
From MoMA and PS1 to the Cleveland Institute of Art, I keep finding myself at institutions that have benefited not just from Agnes Gund’s philanthropic support but her moral clarity and kindness. Rest in peace.
I’m giving a talk at e-flux on Thursday 9/25, 7:30pm, “The Fluxhouse Cooperatives and the Future of the City.” The program will also include a performance of Maciunas’s “Solo for Violin” by Laura Ortman. www.e-flux.com/events/67832...
George Maciunas: Lecture and Performance - Events - e-flux
An evening dedicated to George Maciunas, featuring a lecture by Colby Chamberlain and a performance by Laura Ortman of work by Maciunas.
e-flux.com
It’s Labor Day! In Baffler no. 59, Dana Kopel took us inside the fight to unionize at the New Museum, where management skimped on raises but found the money to hire union-busting consultants and lawyers. thebaffler.com/salvos/again...
Against Artsploitation | Dana Kopel
Somehow, the anti-austerity politics of our work didn’t apply to those of us working at the museum. Behind the New Museum’s veneer of social justice was rampant exploitation.
thebaffler.com
Transgender studies professor Dr. Susan Stryker tears Gavin Newsom a new one while accepting the Transgender Legacy Award from the California state legislature 🔥🔥🔥 @susanstryker.bsky.social
Apparently Rocky Balboa is once again at the top of the Philadelphia Museum steps. I wrote about the Balboa statue back in 2008 for an early issue of Triple Canopy. tc3.canopycanopycanopy.com/contents/the...
Triple Canopy – The Balboa Effect by Colby Chamberlain
The Guggenheim Bilbao’s latest installation is a 1,400-pound bronze pun.
tc3.canopycanopycanopy.com
Did not expect to learn in the Christophe de Menil obit that Dash Snow and Uma Thurman are related.
The best way to think in dark times is to think with others. It has been sustaining to work with Lindsay Caplan and Nadja Millner-Larsen on “Writing Art History After Occupy,” first as a panel and now as a (no-paywall!) article in the journal October. direct.mit.edu/octo/article...
Writing Art History After Occupy*
Abstract. This conversation explores the impact of Occupy Wall Street on the practice of art history. The authors of three recent books—on the new media art of Arte Programmata, the administrative aut...
direct.mit.edu
Downtown Cleveland is filled with fantastic architecture (much of which is featured in the new Superman movie). Great news that this Art Deco Greyhound station will be given a new role. www.artforum.com/news/clevela...
Cleveland Artist to Transform Vintage Bus into Museum of the Great Migration
Cleveland-based artist Robert Louis Brandon Edwards is repurposing a 1947 Greyhound bus to serve as a museum commemorating the Great Migration.
artforum.com
The next time College Art Association makes a call for conference panels, I’m going to propose a panel on the prevalence of redundant panels. #CAA114
There are now three leftist academics with children who have become prominent Democratic politicians— Marxist economist Donald Harris; Gramsci scholar Joseph Buttigieg, and post-colonial theorist Mahmood Mamdani.
It’s wild how much politicians from Queens have shaped the national political scene in the past ten years. I’d read a take.