Columns & Features

Dr. YouTube, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying (About Failure) and Love My Viral Video

by Shruti Belliappa | Jan 21, 2014

Dr. YouTube, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying (About Failure) and Love My Viral Video

by Shruti Belliappa | Jan 21, 2014

What might viral videos tell us about the current sense of failure in the art world?

The Feast of Detroit

by Erin Sweeny | Jan 13, 2014

The Feast of Detroit

by Erin Sweeny | Jan 13, 2014

Does Detroit represent a failed system or does the city defy traditional responses to notions of failure?

Wangechi Mutu on failure

by Nicole J. Caruth | Jan 13, 2014

Wangechi Mutu on failure

by Nicole J. Caruth | Jan 13, 2014

“In a sense, failure is a tail that’s chasing me. I’m running away from it, but it’s attached to me. It helps me project myself forward.”

New Kids on the Block

Victoria Fu’s Five Attempts at a Palindrome

by Jacquelyn Gleisner | Jan 7, 2014

New Kids on the Block

Victoria Fu’s Five Attempts at a Palindrome

by Jacquelyn Gleisner | Jan 7, 2014

For San Diego-based artist Victoria Fu “failure as strategy is a nod to the delicate beauty and also complete absurdity of making.”

Now Playing

Twenty-One Songs from Sam Gordon

by Art21 | Jan 6, 2014

Now Playing

Twenty-One Songs from Sam Gordon

by Art21 | Jan 6, 2014

A playlist featuring artists and musicians who “fail to draw within the lines,” including Yoko One, Steve Reich, and Men.

Failing Productively: A Crash Course

by Jessica Hamlin | Dec 17, 2013

Failing Productively: A Crash Course

by Jessica Hamlin | Dec 17, 2013

How can we help students have a healthy understanding of failure?

Queer Berlin

A Brief Introduction to the ff

by Ali Fitzgerald | Dec 16, 2013

Queer Berlin

A Brief Introduction to the ff

by Ali Fitzgerald | Dec 16, 2013

A visual profile of a feminist network operating mostly out of Berlin.

Shifting Perceptions of Houston’s Third Ward

by Sally Frater | Dec 9, 2013

Shifting Perceptions of Houston’s Third Ward

by Sally Frater | Dec 9, 2013

Writer-in-Residence Sally Frater explores Unity Foto Bank, an online project and site-specific installation in Houston, Texas.

Emergency Response

by Alicia Eler | Dec 9, 2013

Emergency Response

by Alicia Eler | Dec 9, 2013

Alicia Eler speaks with artists Phong Bui and Pinar Yoldas about their individual responses to environmental disasters.

Nuanced Failure and Urban Space

by Michelle Millar Fisher | Dec 2, 2013

Nuanced Failure and Urban Space

by Michelle Millar Fisher | Dec 2, 2013

Urban architecture is no stranger to criticism and failure. Consider the work of Le Corbusier “whose legacy of urban plans…has been mythologized and often maligned.”

I’m a failure. Now what?

by Brendan Carroll | Dec 1, 2013

I’m a failure. Now what?

by Brendan Carroll | Dec 1, 2013

How does the life of a boxer compare to the life of an artist?

Copy That!

Free-Fail

by Joy Garnett | Dec 1, 2013

Copy That!

Free-Fail

by Joy Garnett | Dec 1, 2013

In reassessing the value of failure, consider Princeton computer scientist Ed Felten’s expression “the freedom to tinker.”

From the Editor

by Nicole J. Caruth | Dec 1, 2013

From the Editor

by Nicole J. Caruth | Dec 1, 2013

What does failure mean? Art21’s Digital Content Editor introduces the sophomore issue of the Art21 Magazine.

Staff Pick

smARTpower

by Wesley Miller | Nov 19, 2013

Staff Pick

smARTpower

by Wesley Miller | Nov 19, 2013

“smARTpower asks provocative questions about what a good work of art is, what art is good for, and for whom.”

Booked

On the Road to Legendary

by Nicole J. Caruth | Nov 11, 2013

Booked

On the Road to Legendary

by Nicole J. Caruth | Nov 11, 2013

Veteran photographer Gerard H. Gaskin discusses the long road to his first book, “Legendary: Inside the House Ballroom Scene,” due out this month.

Teaching with Contemporary Art

What It Takes

by Joe Fusaro | Nov 8, 2013

Teaching with Contemporary Art

What It Takes

by Joe Fusaro | Nov 8, 2013

What does it take to become an artist? K-12 students respond.

Postcards

Postcard from Brendan Fernandes

by Art21 | Nov 6, 2013

Postcards

Postcard from Brendan Fernandes

by Art21 | Nov 6, 2013

A new magazine project featuring postcards from contemporary artists living or working outside of the United States.

Flashback

Six Artists on Becoming Artists

by Art21 | Nov 5, 2013

Flashback

Six Artists on Becoming Artists

by Art21 | Nov 5, 2013

A roundup of Exclusive films in which Art21 artists talk about becoming or being artists.

Flashback

Kimsooja: It Was Just a Dream

by Art21 | Oct 21, 2013

Flashback

Kimsooja: It Was Just a Dream

by Art21 | Oct 21, 2013

Artist Kimsooja discusses her path to becoming an artist, her earliest influences, and her “breathing room” installations.

Now Playing

Jacolby Satterwhite

by Art21 | Oct 8, 2013

Now Playing

Jacolby Satterwhite

by Art21 | Oct 8, 2013

New York Close Up artist Jacolby Satterwhite shares the top twenty-one songs playing in his studio.

Copy That!

They Are the World

by Joy Garnett | Oct 8, 2013

Copy That!

They Are the World

by Joy Garnett | Oct 8, 2013

Joy Garnett launches her new column by addressing copying and archival tendencies among contemporary artists.

Booked

An Excerpt from “The Rest of Us”

by Jessica Lott | Oct 1, 2013

Booked

An Excerpt from “The Rest of Us”

by Jessica Lott | Oct 1, 2013

An excerpt from Jessica Lott’s debut novel, “The Rest of Us,” a love story set in New York City’s art world.

Flashback

Allan McCollum: In Charge of His Own Destiny

by Art21 | Oct 1, 2013

Flashback

Allan McCollum: In Charge of His Own Destiny

by Art21 | Oct 1, 2013

Artist Allan McCollum reflects on early influences, from his famous uncle Jon Gnagy to post-war mass production and science fiction films.

Center Field: Art in the Middle

Reenactment and Mourning: Old Roads to Gary Indiana

by Caroline Picard | Aug 28, 2013

Center Field: Art in the Middle

Reenactment and Mourning: Old Roads to Gary Indiana

by Caroline Picard | Aug 28, 2013

Chicago-based columnist Caroline Picard looks back on an artist’s tribute to Michael Jackson and “the complex network surrounding Jackson’s stardom.”

Gimme Shelter: Performance Now

Glitter and Chains

by Marissa Perel | Aug 27, 2013

Gimme Shelter: Performance Now

Glitter and Chains

by Marissa Perel | Aug 27, 2013

Marissa Perel reviews Carlos Maria Romero and Juan Betancurth’s performance at Abrons Arts Center.

Word is a Virus

The Flights of Concord

by Carol Cheh | Aug 22, 2013

Word is a Virus

The Flights of Concord

by Carol Cheh | Aug 22, 2013

Columnist Carol Cheh interviews members of Concord, a “youthful and highly organic project” based in Los Angeles.

Alchemy of Inspiration

Difficult Relationships at the Whitney

by Jessica Lott | Aug 20, 2013

Alchemy of Inspiration

Difficult Relationships at the Whitney

by Jessica Lott | Aug 20, 2013

Columnist Jessica Lott reviews the Whitney Museum’s exhibition “I, YOU, WE,” a throwback to the 1993 Whitney Biennial.

New Kids on the Block

Paolo Cirio’s Lovely Faces

by Jacquelyn Gleisner | Aug 12, 2013

New Kids on the Block

Paolo Cirio’s Lovely Faces

by Jacquelyn Gleisner | Aug 12, 2013

Columnist Jacquelyn Gleisner interviews media artist Paolo Cirio about his controversial dating website, Lovely-Faces.

On View Now

Transcendent Tapestries: El Anatsui at the Brooklyn Museum

by Max Weintraub | Aug 7, 2013

On View Now

Transcendent Tapestries: El Anatsui at the Brooklyn Museum

by Max Weintraub | Aug 7, 2013

Gravity and Grace: Monumental Works by El Anatsui at the Brooklyn Museum marks the first solo exhibition in a New York museum of Anatsui’s art. Featuring over thirty works by …

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Works Well With Others

by Jack Watson | Jul 31, 2013

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Works Well With Others

by Jack Watson | Jul 31, 2013

Guest blogger Jack Watson asks what would happen if art teachers stopped showing students “how to work and started modeling how to work with others?”

Word is a Virus

Armchair Travels

by Carol Cheh | Jul 30, 2013

Word is a Virus

Armchair Travels

by Carol Cheh | Jul 30, 2013

Columnist Carol Cheh reminisces on two exhibitions in L.A. that complicate “our reception of myth” and inspire “more nuanced engagement.”

Praxis Makes Perfect

On Landlines

by Erin Sweeny | Jul 25, 2013

Praxis Makes Perfect

On Landlines

by Erin Sweeny | Jul 25, 2013

Columnist Erin Sweeny ponders the “evolving network” engendered by a temporary art space-cum-subway station newsstand.

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Making the Circle Bigger

by Joe Fusaro | Jul 17, 2013

Teaching with Contemporary Art

Making the Circle Bigger

by Joe Fusaro | Jul 17, 2013

“After my last post I got to thinking about the kinds of networks teachers create in order to stimulate thinking and their own practice.”

Center Field: Art in the Middle

Pledging Artistic Friendship: “2 of a Kind” at LVL3

by Caroline Picard | Jul 16, 2013

Center Field: Art in the Middle

Pledging Artistic Friendship: “2 of a Kind” at LVL3

by Caroline Picard | Jul 16, 2013

Caroline Picard reviews a Chicago exhibition that she describes as an “invisible network of relationships, historical and contemporary, pragmatic and idealistic, that facilitate artistic production.”

Staff Pick

Staff Pick: Doug Aitken’s “Station to Station”

by Jonathan Munar | Jul 9, 2013

Staff Pick

Staff Pick: Doug Aitken’s “Station to Station”

by Jonathan Munar | Jul 9, 2013

Jonathan Munar, Art21’s Director of Digital Media and Strategy, takes a quick look at the forthcoming project from artist Doug Aitken.

New Kids on the Block

Nails Across America with Breanne Trammell

by Jacquelyn Gleisner | Jul 8, 2013

New Kids on the Block

Nails Across America with Breanne Trammell

by Jacquelyn Gleisner | Jul 8, 2013

Columnist Jacquelyn Gleisner steps into a 1968 trailer to get a manicure and talk to artist Breanne Trammell about her traveling project “Nails Across America.”