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22 Jun 2011 15:30

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World: Chinese artist Ai Weiwei earns rare reprieve from prison

  • Receiving bail for any reason is a rarity in China, so he’s lucky. In Weiwei’s case, he confessed to committing tax evasion, which many activists claim is untrue. The world-famous artist, noted for his criticism of the country’s Communist Party, is out of jail as a result, but on a form of probation that doesn’t allow him to leave or talk to anyone. “I’m sorry I can’t (talk), I am on probation, please understand,” Ai told the Associated Press. Experts have said that international pressure is the only reason authorities released him (well, along with some health problems). Meanwhile, Weiwei, who says officials treated him well in prison, isn’t the only dissident forced to keep quiet after coming out of jail — hundreds of other outspoken opponents of the Chinese government have kept quiet after their arrests. source

12 Sep 2009 11:15

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Culture: A bunch of Andy Warhol’s old paintings got ganked

The paintings cover the sports world of the late ’70s and are valued in the millions – if you think what Warhol did was art, that is. source

01 Jun 2009 22:40

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Offbeat: Turning trash into highly-zoomable photorealistic art

Chris Jordan likes taking data about our how we waste, scaling it up as large as possible, zooming out and creating works of art. He rules. source

19 Jan 2009 01:08

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Tech: Save it like a Polaroid picture

  • Could instant camera film be saved? One investor wants to make sure that Polaroid doesn’t just turn into a footnote of popular culture. Florian Kaps, an Austrian artist and entrepreneur, bought the company and plans to start making the film once again, with hopes to bring it to market by the end of the year. “The project is more than a business plan,” Kaps said. “It’s a fight against the idea that everything has to die when it doesn’t create turnover.” source