Here is a sneak peek of a new series of custom, one-of-kind desks that I am calling “The Rainbow Collection.” I have no idea when they will all be done. But in the meantime, enjoy! #tylerfuquacreations
Submitted by Jaime Sharp on November 3, 2022
“You’ve probably heard one. You may have helped craft one. A land acknowledgment is quickly becoming de rigueur among mainstream cultural and arts institutions. An official will stand at a podium and announce: This building is situated on the unceded land of the XYZ people. As if those people are not still here. As if this all happened in the past,” said Joseph Pierce for Hyperallergic. “He will breathe deeply and continue: We pay homage to the original stewards of these lands. The audience will nod in agreement. As if homage were the same as returning stolen land.”
“A land acknowledgment is not enough.”
“The problem with land acknowledgments is that they are almost never followed by meaningful action. Acknowledgment without action is an empty gesture, exculpatory and self-serving. What is more, such gestures shift the onus of action back onto Indigenous people, who neither asked for an apology nor have the ability to forgive on behalf of the land that has been stolen and desecrated. It is not my place to forgive on behalf of the land.”
“This is what settler institutions do not understand: Land does not require that you confirm it exists, but that you reciprocate the care it has given you. Land is not asking for acknowledgment. It is asking to be returned to itself. It is asking to be heard and cared for and attended to. It is asking to be free.”
“The land exists regardless of settler acknowledgment, which can only ever be the first step toward meaningful action. Next steps involve building relationships with that land as if it were your kin. Because it is.”
The modern art world is interestingly ripe with prankster spirit. From Banksy—who has practically made his career on his impish activities as much as the calibre of his work—to Maurizio Cattelan—whose name was on everybody’s lips at the end of the decade thanks to a banana and some duct tape—there is no shortage of shenanigans. But sometimes the guise of a prank can simply be a cover for some ill intent, and it is hard to tell with André Heller’s Untitled (Frame) as information comes to light.
Austrian artist and poet André Heller revealed this past Tuesday that a work stated by him to be created by legendary artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, which had gone up at The European Fine Art Fair for $3 million in 2017, was in fact a fake. Consisting of a frame covered in illustrations by Basquiat that Heller glued on with an original portrait by the artist at the centre, Heller had told art historian and expert on Basquiat’s work Dieter Buchhart that the frame was authentic.
While the piece never sold at TEFAF, the frame and the authentic portrait did each find independent buyers, the forgery going for the sum of 800,000 euros. Buchhart appeared shocked to discover that Heller had lied to him about the piece’s origins. Heller, on the other hand, refuses to admit to any allegations of forgery, attesting to the German press that it was simply a “childish prank.” Despite this, he did in fact buy back the frame.
André Heller may not have meant any harm by his action, but the fact that his fabrication for Untitled (Frame) sold for such a grand amount on the back of a lie seems more malicious than that. But it does highlight questions of authenticity and repurposing in art, as well as to what extent can fool audiences and buyers in a moral manner. Whatever the punchline he originally intended, it seems clear that the joke is on Heller now.
Another look at #Spiruvious from #whenwewereyoungfest this past Saturday. #fireart #burningpropane #largeart #festivalart #turnuptheheat
Submitted by Jaime Sharp on November 1, 2022
“PEAK Grantmaking has always been dedicated to creating communities for grants professionals to embrace our Learn, Share, Evolve Principle. As PEAK looks to its next chapter, we want to leverage our existing peer network structures in new ways to better foster a learning community that embraces and advances adaptive learning processes, and we also want to inspire our members to utilize this approach inside their own organizations. PEAK sees the concepts and practices of emergent learning as a natural fit to advance our work around our Principles for Peak Grantmaking in powerful new ways. Now is the time to define the concepts, qualities, and practices of emergent learning, and how we envision operationalizing it throughout our community and in the sector at large.”
“Perhaps most importantly, emergent learning helps us move away from the idea, advanced by dominant culture, that learning is time-limited, formal, written down, and driven by a select few who have preset our learning destination. Instead, emergent learning prescribes an ongoing journey where learning is dynamic and driven by the evolving needs of the individual, the community, the organization, and the sector. It is also driven by the mindset that learning is iterative and that lived experience matters, opening the door for knowledge to be sourced from different sectors, functions, and issue areas. It moves us away from a paradigm that limits us—where knowledge is power, held tightly, and shared deliberately, usually as a result of a financial transaction—to a liberated and democratized approach where knowledge is shared intentionally and freely. We move from learning that focuses on the individual to learning that embraces multiple voices and sets us all on a journey to authentically and effectively change the world!”
The key qualities and practices they list are:
1. Curiosity
2. Transparency
3. Diversity
4. Vulnerability
5. Collaboration
Submitted by Jaime Sharp on November 1, 2022
From Threshold Philanthropy: “Sometimes we forget that the flowers that we delight in during spring and summer did not sprout overnight. There were months of growth, mystery, and magic happening beneath the dark soil that we did not see, before the flowers unfurled and produced the sweet fragrances and foods for us and our plant and animal relatives to enjoy. Threshold Philanthropy was conceived during a pandemic, a racial uprising, and through a text message in a Target parking lot. Beth texted Morgan and offered an idea, a seed if you will. She asked, what if you and I create something with Lindsay? Morgan was like, could you elaborate? Beth said, here’s what I know, you two lead it and center yours and your communities healing. Beth wanted to retire, Morgan and Lindsay wanted to leave their jobs, and all three wanted to see the sector change. Our origins are not like most philanthropies, most are lead and funded by white people and have way more structures and processes in place.”
“Freedom dreams invite us to be clear and specific about naming and creating the conditions that will support us to grow and flourish. Lindsay, even with having imposter syndrome and questioning, did I do enough to deserve this dream job? Had been hungry and ready to create structures centered in dignity and belonging. She heard her internal struggle and chose to believe that her worth did not equate to an unknown measurement of ‘doing enough’ and embraced this opportunity as the gift that it was. She named her first needs, which were that her and her family’s needs were just as a priority as her work, which meant that her schedule would reflect that: making Morgan co-CEO, investing outside of the traditional stock market, and for her colleague Cristina to come on board. These requests were an invitation for Morgan and Beth to reciprocate trust and reflect on their needs as well for this partnership as they grew together. Over the span of a year, through texts, phone calls, tears, drinks, dreams, grief, learning together, shedding old patterns, joy, and deep friendships, Threshold Philanthropy grew quietly from a seed to a bud.”