weekend links: Dakota Access Pipeline protest, Bruce Nauman, Laura Ballance
Bruce Nauman, Double Poke in the Eye II (1985). Image courtesy The New York Times.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in North Dakota has attracted worldwide attention for their protest of the Dakota Access Pipeline Project, which they contend threatens their water supply and desecrates important cultural grounds. Read about the conflict and the cultural heritage sites at stake, and find out ways you can help here. [artnet]
Bruce Nauman made a name for himself constructing clever neon light sculptures in the ’70s and ’80s, among other work. But he’s been absent from the art world since representing the U.S. at the Venice Biennale in 2009. That changes this week with the debut of “Contrapposto Studies” in New York and then in Philadelphia—respective residents take note. [The New York Times]
The National Endowment for the Arts has released a new map tracking the percentage of Americans who participate in the arts, and the results are surprising—in fact, you may confuse this map with another more famous one from history. Draw conclusions as you will. [The Washington Post]
Merge Records has been a staple of the indie underground for decades now, releasing landmark albums from Neutral Milk Hotel, The Magnetic Fields, and a host of other bands (including personal favorite Teenage Fanclub, whose latest album, Here, is out today). Catch up with Merge CEO, Superchunk bassist, and “#1 badass” Laura Ballance in this interview. [She Shreds]
Congratulations to the 2016 Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Fellowship winners! A particularly notable prize, this fellowship is awarded to poets between the ages of 21 and 31: some of our country’s youngest, finest writers. These five certainly fit that description. [Poetry Foundation]
Etel Adnan has inspired countless writers and artists, first with her political writing and later with her colorful, abstract landscape paintings. Issue 6 cover artist Kevin McNamee-Tweed counts her among his influences, and you can, too—a major retrospective of her work is on display at Serpentine Gallery in London, but you can get a glimpse right here. [Hyperallergic]
—Sean Redmond