Quilts... trust me again
Last week, I highlighted a series of stories about the Iroquois Nationals lacrosse team and said, “Trust me on this one.” This week, I’m recommending an art exhibition by a quilter. Trust me, again. Scroll down and get ready for a COVID-safe trip to the Art Institute. Or at least click the links in the recommendations section at the end and find some time to check out Bisa Butler’s work online. Here’s a preview.
Model cities
See the entire thread, including London, Halstatt, Venice, and Manhattan, here.
For some reason, this reminded me of a 2012 piece I wrote for Books & Culture (RIP).
Books
When Amazon delivers all your orders at once, it’s like when the cafeteria puts out your four favorite desserts on the same day.
Links
- At first glance, this is a story about wolves. But it’s really a story about tensions between technocratic and democratic impulses in environmental governance.
- This brief piece on the polarization of place brought to mind a line from my 2016 article on “Brexit, Global Cities, and the Future of World Order” (definitely too ambitious a title): “Boom and bust are not cycles… but adjacent places.”
- My friend Rick Gibson at The Hedgehog Review on “Digital Democracy’s Road Ahead.”
Recommendations
If you live anywhere near Chicago or have an opportunity to get to Chicago, make a COVID-safe visit to the Art Institute and see the Bisa Butler Portraits exhibition.
I talked with someone on the Art Institute staff yesterday about the best way to see the Monet and Chicago exhibition, given COVID protocols. He suggested I also consider taking in the members-only preview of an exhibition by “a quilter.” I’m mildly embarrassed to admit that I was humoring him at first, but I made a note to see Bisa Butler’s Portraits if we had time while waiting in the virtual line for Monet.
Monet and Chicago was great. I learned a lot about Monet, France, Impressionism, and the role that Chicago collectors and the 1893 World’s Fair played in shaping the reception of the artist.
But Butler’s work was amazing. Portraits was easily one of the most memorable exhibitions I’ve seen at the Art Institute. Check these out.
Read more about Butler and the exhibition here.
Listen to this
Butler put together this playlist to go with her exhibition. Give it a listen.