KAWS has shown an uncanny ability to connect with a wide variety of people. Younger buyers clamor for his $50 Uniqlo T-shirts, while trophy-hunting collectors shell out millions for paintings.
Clothing that bears the name of a city near or far has become a closet staple for many consumers in recent years, evolving from impulse purchases to mainstream fashion.
I call it the tsunami of stuff. It's cresting. There are a lot of baby boomers. America's over-65 population reached 55.8 million in 2020, and an additional 42.4 million are in the 55-64 age group. This adds up to nearly 100 million people who have amassed a large amount of possessions - stuff they bought, stuff they got from their own parents, stuff their kids stuck them with.
In the digital world that we're in, you know, negative videos are what goes viral. People are always knocking people down a peg and it's really easy to fall into that. If something bad happens-which, when you own your business, something bad happens every day- it's easy to circle in despair. But my challenge is to look for the positive and figure out how to pivot, and if something isn't working then figure out a different way to get it done.
The lyrics have a rather annoying quality to them, similar to the way that other songs like "Call Me Maybe" by Carly Rae Jepsen, "Fireflies" by Owl City or even "Friday" by Rebecca Black did in their time - songs that gained rapid popularity and, just as quickly, sparked rapid backlash from many due to overexposure to them.
We photograph people obsessively, but we rarely capture the everyday spaces where life actually happens. And when those spaces disappear, something profound goes with them. The furniture was never just furniture—it was the stage where decades of family life played out. Every scratch, stain, and worn patch told a story.
Sentimental Value is very much a film about a house - a Victorian " dragestil," or "dragon style," home in Oslo where generations of the same family have lived for more than a 100 years. Director Joachim Trier, who found the house in Oslo's Frogner neighborhood, called its role in the film "a witness of the unspoken ... a witness of the 20th century."
My father kept manuals for products we hadn't owned in years, filed alphabetically in a cabinet. When I asked why, he looked at me like I'd suggested burning money. "What if we need to look something up?" The concept of finding any manual online in seconds just doesn't compute for a generation that had to rely on these paper lifelines.
We might be exposed to more ads and commercials today than ever before in human history, but the idea of advertising itself is certainly not a new concept. According to Instapage, the first signs of advertisements actually appeared in ancient Egyptian steel carvings from 2000 BC. Meanwhile, the first printed ad was published in 1472, when William Caxton decided to advertise a book by posting flyers on church doors in England.
It's important to state that I am the most insufferably sentimental person I know. There are old birthday cards collecting dust in my jam-packed cupboards, stuffed toys their colours long-faded sitting in my bedroom despite their prime cuddling years over, while gifts handmade by friends I no longer talk to take up real estate on my cluttered shelves. You couldn't pay me to part with any of them.
Picture this: you're knee-deep in renovation dust, crowbar in hand, when something unexpected tumbles from behind century-old plaster. A yellowed envelope? A strange metal box? That moment when your heart skips because you realize you might have just found something extraordinary. For some lucky homeowners, these discoveries turn out to be worth thousands of dollars, transforming a simple home improvement project into an unexpected treasure hunt.
I recently gained a new obsession, and I'm ready to share it with the world: finding and analyzing rare vintage images. A picture speaks a thousand words, and these photographs tell us more about history than a textbook chapter ever could. So even if you think history is boring, I'm well-equipped to change your mind, and give you some delicious food for your brain to chew on today.
What telling people to touch grass ignores, in part, is that grass is not all that good to touch. It's itchy and sticky - there could be bugs in there. There's a far more profoundjoyin touching machines, as is shown again and again in Albert Birney's Obex, which functions as both a shrine to and warning about our reliance on technology.
Usually, my handbag is a medley of digital devices and life essentials my phone, iPad, chargers, keys, tampons. But lately, you're likely to also find a half-done newspaper crossword, a ton of stationery, the book I've restarted three times, and whatever scraps and trinkets I've picked up throughout the day to put in my scrapbook. Analog is back, and it feels like we need it more than ever.
The traditional museum experience, pausing in front of an object, and absorbing its history visually or by reading its description, has long shaped how collectors and others relate to cultural treasures. Yet, over the last few decades, digital technology has quietly rewritten many of those rules, changing not only how collections are exhibited but also how they are documented, preserved, and even inherited.
When was the last time you saw an ashtray filled with stubbed-out Marlboros at a friend's apartment? At a restaurant? For some of us, the answer may very well be "never." Maybe that's the charm of the International Museum of Dinnerware Design's new exhibition on ashtrays - invoking an era before health codes and Mayor Bloomberg. Or reaching back even further, when you might see a Similac-branded ashtray in the office of your OB/GYN.
Helping people to reconnect with old memories, viewers are transported to their local corner shop, school playgrounds and childhood cupboards. "I think this project has struck a chord because there's a particular interest in hand drawn designs of the past in the current age of AI where human effort is at an all-time low. Now the first thought is 'I'll get AI to do that', rather than commissioning an illustrator," says Chris.
Napat Pattrayanond + 20 More SpecsLess Specs Napat Pattrayanond Text description provided by the architects. Museum Of Broken Relationships is a renovation and a transformation of a historical Chiang Mai building into a museum space. The building, originally a shop and a warehouse built in 1904, had already been altered various times.
As someone who loves vintage things, you can find me at my local thrift store regularly. I enjoy stocking my closet with secondhand finds and finding gifts or unexpected storage gems instead of buying them new. The thrill of the hunt is ultimately what keeps me going back time after time. Whether I have 10 minutes or an hour to peruse, flipping through clothing racks and scouring the shelves always brings me joy,
I had always associated scrapbooking with grandmas and bored children, so, imagine my surprise when as a twentysomething with a Big Girl Job I found myself enamoured of printing, cutting, and sticking random bits and bobs into a book. If, like me, you've racked up a disconcerting amount of screen time, you may have stumbled across a multitude of craft-inspired social media posts made primarily by young women. Described as junk journalling, the hobby is distinguishable by an affinity with collecting and storing physical mementoes, such as tickets, receipts, packaging and Polaroids.
If you're not the kind of person who gets excited when they see an all-beige living room spread in a home decor magazine, you've come to the right place. Sure, we get the appeal of keeping things chic and minimalist, but sometimes you want your house to feel fun and playful. Whether you're into whimsymaxxing, dopamine decor, or just have an affinity for all things cute and colorful, you're going to love the picks on this list.
Our new line of Colossal merchandise is finally hitting the (digital) shelves in the Colossal Shop. We're big fans of repping publications that inspire us, and we're excited to finally offer our own goods to this special community of readers. Hats and mugs are now available, and all proceeds directly support our ongoing commitment to make art accessible to everyone. You can also receive a mug by joining us with an annual Patron of the Arts membership.
Alg Eventual is an Ohiobased audio/visual new media artist creating glitch art, digital collages and abstract mixed media works with a reference to the roots of the early 2000s. His works feature scanner experiments, layered textures and titles like Exterior, Interwind, Articulation, Overthinking and Everything leads back to you, blending digital manipulation with tactile, fragmented aesthetics. More: Instagram