(Photo by ifmuth on flickr) Balance an entire bridge on a river barge? As if that wasn’t enough weight, why not prop some railroad cars inbetween? Those railroad cars must have some sort of interior structure to hold all that…
Good ol’ Earthlink. Back in the late 1990’s Earthlink was one of the top internet service providers. Chances are you or someone you know used Earthlink to connect to the internet. Today most people use Comcast or AT&T. Blah. Such…
Out of the millions of photos that get posted to flickr every day, my sprouting tulip photo is currently the #112th most popular image on flickr for April 1, 2013. A big thanks to Chicagoist for featuring my photo in…
The low sun casts light onto the stark white station house hovering over the downtown streets named Madison and Wabash. The darker setting of Chicago’s gritty urban loop provides a sharp contrast to the white-washed facade of this ancient train…
When i’m on the phone, instead of doodling, sometimes i like to type random repetitive letters. The f and j fit together rather nicely: Yes, these are all hand-typed. There are ten ff’s, 23 jj’s, and 389 fj’s. Photoshop says…
Ever have a brilliant idea to capture, but don’t have any paper nearby? Why not write your idea on a dollar bill? That way everyone in the world can be a part of reading your idea. You can also write…
Resident legal eagle @tklyber weighs in on a Supreme Court decision made last week, a big win for museums in the US. Museums can continue to show copies of artists work. Let’s say 30 years ago if a museum aquired…
You are talking to an artist about his/her work. Let’s say you don’t know much about art. Here’s a couple suggestions on what to say. First off, never say, “you must have a lot of time on your hands.” In…
I beg people to never ever utter this phrase to an artist, “you must have a lot of time on your hands.” You may not realize it, but it’s extremely insulting to the artist. If you have said these words…
The Los Angeles Community Museum of Art is allowing 20,000 of their images to be used for free for any purpose. They even offer an easy download link on each image to grab the highest-resolution file. All the images are…
Ferruccio Laviani‚Äôs “Good Vibrations” is amazing. This is a real cabinet created to look like a warped scan. However, I‚Äôd like to see another photo with a different angle. Showing another photo will ruin the illusion, but it will also…
At 3am I thought staying awake was sleeping. I stayed awake thinking I was actually sleeping. Then at 8am I thought sleeping was staying awake. I layed in bed thinking I was awake, but I was actually sleeping.
We know Wassily Kandinsky for his fun shape and line paintings like this particular painting done in 1922. Wassily Kandinsky, “Ohne Titel” watercolour, pen and brush with India ink on paper Executed in December 1922, sold for $2,943,594 June 24,…
It’s surprising how many websites put silly limits on what your password can be. For instance, character length. Why limit people to 12 or 14 characters? If I want my password to be 18 characters long, let it be 18…
My favorite website and iphone app are being killed by Google. That would be Google Reader. Don’t know what Google Reader is? Or maybe you heard of it, but aren’t sure what it was good for. Then check out my…
Everyone is talking about how this is the first Latin American pope. That’s cool. But on my Christian Notebook blog, I give 25 other reasons why Pope Francis is cool.
A selection of poem, “The New York School” by Joseph Bradshaw I can‚Äôt remember anything about the movie Pollock. I wish a bald Sigourney Weaver played the part of Jackson Pollock. That would make the film more memorable. I wish…
Imagine our country if everyone knew how to program or code. I cover this topic on my publishing and syndication blog, “Programming should be taught in all schools to all students.” Now before you reply with, “then our country would…
The Art Institute sent me an email promoting their Picasso show. Hmmm, they must have missed my review of the Picasso show. They could have included my quote on their ad. “Meh, ok” –Matt Maldre, spudart.org But seriously, I think…
[LA Times, image via Smithsonian American Art Museum; a detail of Norman Rockwell’s painting “Shadow Artist” in George Lucas’s personal collection] George Lucas wants to build a museum of inspiring art. This is so awesome! YES YES YES. I’m excited…
What happens when you put thousands of small ball bearings on a moving table? You get fascinating patterns of movement. (If you cannot see the video above, you may view it on vimeo at, “Gr√∂nlund-Nisunen – Unstable Matter – 2013.”)…
What do you think of the CTA ad for the Picasso show at the Art Institute? My brother, Erik, has some excellent points: Overall, I like it. It captures some of the cubist charm of Picasso’s work. Part of me…
Over 100 artworks by Picasso grace the new show at the Art Institute of Chicago. Everyone knows Picasso is a genius artist, so I approached the show with high expectations. My first impression after 45 minutes and three walk-arounds is…
As the Chicago Riverwalk expands, so does my excitement for this project. I already greatly enjoy walking the Riverwalk from Michigan Avenue to State Street many nights. Now Chicago is planning on expanding the Riverwalk past State Street. A zero-surface…
The Museum of Contemporary Art of Chicago asks for an artwork that you love. Happy Valentine’s Day! What are some artworks you love? We’ll be tweeting some of our V day favs, like “The Kiss” mcachicago.org/exhibitions/co‚Ä — MCA Chicago (@mcachicago)…
This online quiz is eerily accurate. I have been affirmed in my superpower desire of light manipulation. The online quiz by fusionspark, “Which Content Marketing Action Hero Are You” says I am Visualizator. Rather fitting that one of his super…
Seeing an image like this of pristine cards all nicely preserved inside protectors makes me want to make more well-worn cards. A baseball card with sharp corners is so institutional. “CAREFUL! Don’t set that card on the table, you might…
A new museum exhibition is up. You trot on down to the museum to check out the show. When walking through the exhibition, do you walk slowly observing the photos and artwork? Maybe read a couple captions. And then by…
“Every human being is an artist.” * Beuys’ quote on his art statement: ‘everybody is an artist‚’: I am searching for field character, 1973; as quoted in “Energy Plan for the Western man / Joseph Beuys in America”, by Carin…
The wonderful community news website, Everyblock was shut down by NBC News today. Everyblock was the epitome of community reporting and discussion. You want to talk about your neighborhood, Everyblock was the place. Why was Everyblock shut down? Poytner published a…
