Column: Roundup: Greek strategy shifts on Parthenon Sculptures, Olafur Eliasson’s ice, a new Banksy mural
Greece says it will seek the return of the Parthenon Sculptures from England via diplomatic channels. Last year, one of the sculptures (of the river god Ilissos) in the British Museum’s collection traveled to the State Hermitage Museum in Russia, above.
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A socially minded design collective wins the Turner Prize. USC undergrads burn their art. And Greece will not pursue the Elgin Marbles in the courts. Plus: An Orange County campus designed by Richard Neutra may be demolished, how the NFL bleeds taxpayers all over the U.S. and a new Banksy work materializes in France.
— Greece will not pursue legal action for the return of the Parthenon Sculptures (a.k.a. the Elgin Marbles) from England, stating that it favors a “diplomatic and political” approach. Amal Clooney and the team of British lawyers who had issued a report suggesting legal action have now been dropped from the case by the Greek government.
Members of Assemble, a collective of artists, designers and architects, won the Turner Prize for working with residents in Liverpool, England, to revitalize a series of decaying row houses.
— Architecture with a conscience: Britain’s art and design collective Assemble takes the prestigious Turner Prize for their socially minded projects. Oliver Wainwright of the Guardian has a great write-up on their work.
— Is the Santa Monica Museum of Art looking to move to downtown Los Angeles?
— Preservationists oppose the proposed demolition of Richard Neutra-designed buildings at Orange Coast College.
— USC undergraduate art students burn work in a senior show as a gesture of support with the MFA class that withdrew in the spring.
— How Iranian censors blocked one sensitive religious film, but not another: an interesting story of power, politics and culture.
— The story of the disappearance and likely death of Syrian cartoonist Akram Raslan, a fearless critic of the Bashar Assad regime.
— Photographer’s images stolen by Islamic State.
— Margaret Atwood just signed a deal with Dark Horse Comics for her first graphic novel.
— The painting that could be a Leonardo da Vinci or a 19th century study of Da Vinci or a contemporary knockoff — and the conflict-of-interest behind it.
“Ice Watch,” an installation of iceberg fragments arranged by artist Olafur Eliasson in front of the Pantheon in Paris during the climate summit earlier this month.
— On Olafur Eliasson, the artist who brought ice to Paris during the Climate Change Conference. Would be interesting to know the carbon footprint of that installation.
— The role of art in propaganda and whether any museum might be willing to tackle the topic.
— The Son also rises: Mark Rothko’s son, Christopher, pens a book on his father’s work.
— William Poundstone helpfully rounds up some of the crazy things said about the Petersen Automotive Museum.
— Speaking of autos, the city of Ottowa has a great PSA on why onerous parking requirements are bad for a pedestrian-friendly urban development. (I covered the specifics of L.A.’s problems over the summer.)
— A cardboard box for children to play with … as conceived by Charles and Ray Eames.
— Banksy’s latest: A portrait of Steve Jobs (the son of a Syrian migrant) materializes at a refugee camp in Calais.
A stencil by English graffiti artist Banksy is seen at the entrance of a refugee camp in Calais, France. It depicts the late Apple Chairman Steve Jobs, whose biological father was from Syria.
— Los Angeles magazine has an interesting round-up of L.A. moments and the Angelenos who lived them —including an architect who was in the kitchen at the Ambassador the night that Robert F. Kennedy was shot and a man who grew up in a Bunker Hill neighborhood filled with Victorian homes.
— Police protection for NFL “dignitaries” and other ways in which the league survives off taxpayer subsidies. The Atlantic offers some excellent reading as L.A. debates possible stadiums in Carson or Inglewood, projects that would pretty much be funded by taxpayers — even though the average taxpayer would be unable to afford to attend a game in regular seats. Somebody please distribute to every member of the City Council.
— Last but not least, Art Crit Zingers — otherwise known as weird things professors say to students during critiques.
Find me on Twitter @cmonstah.
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