Can A White Cube Museum & Conference Center In Lusanga Redress Economic Inequality In The Democratic Republic Of Congo?

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A RENDERING OF THE WHITE CUBE IN LUSANGA (IMAGE: © OMA)

Can A White Cube Museum & Conference Center In Lusanga Redress Economic Inequality In The Democratic Republic Of Congo?

With the establishment of LIRCAEI, the iconic modernist White Cube will be recontextualized in the setting that has historically underwritten its development. In economic terms, plantations have funded not just the building of most European and American infrastructure and industries, but also that of museums and universities. On an ideological level, the violence and brutality unfolding on one side—the plantation zones—has informed and haunted the civility, taste and aesthetics championed at the other: the White Cubes. By colliding these two opposite poles of global value chains with each other, LIRCAEI aims to overcome both the monoculture of the plantation system—that exhausts people and the environment and the sterility of the White Cube—a free haven for critique, love, and singularity, that, more often than not, reaffirms class divides.

A RENDERING OF THE WHITE CUBE IN LUSANGA (IMAGE: © OMA)

Fake Letter Requesting Removal Of Dana Schutz' 'Open Casket' Emmett Till Painting Dials Up Protest Temperature

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The controversy around artist Dana Schutz' controversial painting 'Open Casket' and the horrific death of Emmett Till continues at the Whitney Biennial. This shocking image above appeared in Google Images and is from former Breitbart editor Milo Yiannopoulos' website. 

The debated work is based on a photograph from the funeral of Emmett Till, a 14-year-old black American who was murdered in Mississippi for flirting with a white woman. 

Schutz shared her perspective about the painting with ArtNet News, saying:

You’ve said in the Times that you approached the painting as a mother, and as a way to explore a mother’s pain. Would there have been no way to address the subject without, as your critics would have it, appropriating black experience?

It was the feeling of understanding and sharing the pain, the horror. I could never, ever know her experience, but I know what it is to love your child. I don’t know if there would be a way to address the subject without some way of approaching it on a personal level.

Could you have foreseen that you were stepping on a third rail by treating this explosive subject? If so, what made it necessary to paint Emmett Till specifically?
Yes, for many reasons. The anger surrounding this painting is real and I understand that. It’s a problematic painting and I knew that getting into it. I do think that it is better to try to engage something extremely uncomfortable, maybe impossible, and fail, than to not respond at all.

Will the reaction to the painting change anything about your practice in the future?
I’m sure it has to.

On Thursday morning several new outlets including Artsy, Frieze, and Out Magazine published parts or all of an open letter alleged to have been written by the artist Dana Schutz, requesting that the painting be removed from the exhibition. Shortly after, the letter addressed to Whitney Biennial 2017 co-curators Christopher Y. Lew and Mia Locks was declared to be a fake by  Stephen Soba, the Whitney Museum’s director of communications.

Queer artist Parker Bright has maintained a vigil in front of the painting, blocking its view. Bright met with Lew and Locks to express his views, and he was assured that Schutz would not sell the painting or profit from it in any way, writes Out.

Artist Hannah Black sent a letter earlier in the week to the curators, requesting that the painting be moved and destroyed. AOC will revisit this story after digesting a number of essays and thoughtful pieces about the controversy.

Read AOC's original story, including the full text of Black's letter to the Whitney and new details around Emmett Till's death: Dana Schutz' Painting Of Emmett Till Creates Controversy At Whitney Biennial 2017 AOC The Wokes

Dana Schutz' Painting Of Emmett Till Creates Controversy At Whitney Biennial 2017

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'Trump Regretters' Are Growing, Feeling That Trump Is "Going Too Far"

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Last month, half of Trump voters felt he was "surrounding himself with the best people". This week, only 39 percent do.  The majority of Trump supporters still feel the President is "keeping his promises" and "getting things done" but "three of the four traits on which Americans rate {Trump} as doing 'more than expected' are negative", says Margie Omero of PSB Research, who polled 800 general population respondents between March 6-9.

"He has no crossover appeal," Omero told MarieClaire.com, citing other polling outlets that have found Trump to be strong with his supporters, but dangerously weak with Democrats and independents. "So if he starts to slip with his base—as he has in our poll—where does he have room to grow?"

"He has to hold onto his base going into the midterms," she added. "If this slide continues, he is going to have some serious trouble."

PSB has issued another potential flag on Trump's field of political play: Voters who were "With Her" last fall are twice as likely as Trump voters to have taken some sort of politically-motivated action since January. Actions include protesting and marching, contacting their congressional rep, donating to a cause, or switching away from a product or service whose leadership didn't share their values.

"People are looking for ways to take action," said Omero. "There may not be a vote until next November, but there's still plenty to be done between now and then."

The PSB poll was conducted among 800 general population respondents between March 6-9, before details of Trumpcare -- his proposed health care plan and the federal budget were released. Given a health care plan that doubles insurance costs for many people in the 50-65 age bracket -- and Trump's proposed federal budget with its staggering cuts for programs like breakfasts for poor children and the elderly, and the elimination of any arts funding including axing Big Bird and The Cookie Monster, as part of PBS, It seems totally reasonable that Trump's "going too far" numbers will decline further.

Related: Trump's Budget Blueprint Is A War on the Future of the American Economy VOX

Trump's Budget Hits Trump's Voters Hard The Daily Beast

The tax Trump paid in 2005 is the tax Trump wants to abolish Business Insider

Trump's budget would cut funding for Appalachia -- and his allies in coal country are livid VOX

Why Does Trump Want to Defund Meals on Wheels? Seth Meyers Thinks He's "dead Inside" Vanity Fair

Savannah Cunningham, In Center Of Marine Online Misogyny Scandal, Starts Basic Training In April

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Savannah Cunningham, In Center Of Marine Online Misogyny Scandal, Starts Basic Training In April

Savannah Cunningham says that while she's been torn over how to respond to the online harassment, she decided to join the Marines because it was the most selective and demanding. She will work on a crew loading missiles on Cobra helicopters.

As her Twitter pics reveal, Cunningham has been working out intensely in preparation for Marine duty. "I wanted to make sure I could do anything male Marines could," she told the Times. "I didn't want anyone to hold me to a lower standard. "

While horrified by what happened to her and how a former close boyfriend shared a private strip tease video, Sav now dates a Marine sergeant and says the majority of male Marines she knows were totally disgusted by the photo sharing. 

"We have to be positive examples of the change we want to see," she said. "Courage, integrity, honor: I want to live those values."

 Annie Leibovitz Archives Go To LUMA Foundation's Living Archives Program

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Annie Leibovitz, Photographs from the “Driving” series. © Annie Leibovitz

Iconic photographer Annie Leibovitz has arranged for her archives to be part of the LUMA Foundation, the Swiss nonprofit founded by Maja Hoffmann. The collaboration is part of LUMA's Living Archives Program, dedicated to working with living artists across disciplines including photography, design, literature, film, and dance. 

Over 8,000 photographs will open on May 26 in an exhibition coinciding with the opening of LUMA's Frank-Gehry designed Parc des Ateliers location in Arles, France.

“Annie Leibovitz Archive Project #1: The Early Years”—which opens on May 27—will focus on the photographer’s work between 1968 and 1983 and is intended as the first of several projects dedicated to Leibovitz’s career-beginnings. The show will also mark the first time that the archives become available to the public. ArtNet writes:

Opening with photographs taken when she was enrolled at the San Francisco Art Institute as a painting major, the exhibition will go on to examine the artist’s work through 1983. During that time, Leibovitz began working for Rolling Stone, eventually becoming the magazine’s chief photographer in 1973 before resigning ten years later to photograph for Vanity Fair.

London's V&A Design Museum Acquires Pussyhat While New York's A Fearless Girl Goes Pink, Too

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London's Victoria & Albert Museum Pussyhat Acquisition

On International Women's Day, a simple pink fashion accessory made of yarn and knitting needles has assumed its place in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London. Home to the world's largest design and fashion collection, the V&A was called "an important acquisition" by museum curator Corinna Gardner who called it "an immensely recognizable expression of female solidarity and symbol of the power of collective action."

On International Women's Day, AOC introduced you to 'A Fearless Girl' the defiant 4 ft bronze little girl facing off against Wall Street's 'Charging Bull' in Bowling Green lower Manhattan. She is part of a campaign by State Street Global Advisers to insist that corporate boards add more women.  People are clamoring to make 'A Fearless Girl' a permanent fixture as a foil to the Wall Street'Charging Bull' sculpture, and our instincts suggest that we will all get our wish.

Pussyhats were celebrated worldwide yesterday, including in Parliaments honoring International Women's Day. Read on. 

Meryl Streep & Viola Davis Are Fast Friends Since Meeting In 2008 Film 'Doubt'

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Close friends Meryl Streep and Viola Davis

Moving towards the stage to accept her award for best supporting actress at Sunday night's Oscars, Viola Davis stopped to give Meryl Streep an affectionate kiss and hug. Vanity Fair writes that their friendship is one of the most public and vocally supporting relationships in Hollywood. 

Streep and Davis first worked together in the 2008 film 'Doubt'. Accepting her 2009 SAG award for best actress in 'Doubt', Streep channeled all her diva powers, calling out "the gigantically gifted Viola Davis." Raising her arms to the heavens, Streep implored the audience, "My God, somebody give her a movie!". Three years later Davis starred in 'The Help' and was nominated for Best Actress, only to lose to . . . Meryl Streep, who won for 'The Iron Lady'. Such an event would dampen the enthusiasm of most friendships, but not these two women.

The next morning Streep donated $20,000 in Davis' name, shared between the Segue Institute for Learning, an in-need charter school in Davis's hometown of Rhode Island and a college-prep program Upward Bound.

When Davis received her Hollywood Walk of Fame star in January 2017, Streep opened the event, with choice comments about her friend. “Viola Davis is possessed. She is possessed to the blazing, incandescent power. She is arguably the most immediate, responsive artist I have ever worked with,” Streep said. She then went on to describe Davis’s ability to be “so alive she glistens” and to “write paragraphs with her eyes.”

Laurence des Cars Named New Director Of Musée d’Orsay in Paris

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Laurence des Cars. Photo ©Sophie Boegly.

Laurence des Cars was named the new director of the Musée d’Orsay in Paris, officially appointed by French President Francois Hollande on February 27. Currently the director of the Musée de l’Orangerie, des Cars will assume her new post on March 15, for a tenure of at least five years.

Le Monde reports that des Cars’s appointment is also significant in that she’s only the second woman curator to head a major Paris museum, alongside Sophie Makariou at the Musée Guimet.

Netflix's 'The White Helmets' About Syrian Crisis Takes Home First Oscar Win

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Netflix's 'The White Helmets' About Syrian Crisis Takes Home First Oscar Win

Netflix's film 'The White Helmets', the story of volunteer rescue workers in Syria, took home the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Sunday.  The victory was a wonderful first win for Netflix, distributor of the film. 

The 40-minute film follows three rescue workers with the White Helmets -- also known as the Syrian Civil Defense -- who train in Turkey to provide emergency medical assistance to civilians caught in Syria's civil war.

AOC has tracked in the month of Feb. efforts to bring cinematographer and press officer for the White Helmets Khaled Khatib to the US.  The leader of the White Helmets Raed Saleh was also unable to obtain the necessary travel documents. There is no doubt that the two men were originally caught up in the Trump administration's Muslim ban.  The situation appeared to be on the verge of resolution but fell apart again days before the Oscars. 

Meryl Streep Is Furious With Karl Lagerfeld's Calling Her 'Cheap' & Ruining Her 20th Oscar Nomination Celebration

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The superb actor and feminist Meryl Streep showcased her Elie Saab off-the-shoulder peacock blue fashion statement at the Oscars. Streep is being honored for her 20th nomination for her role in 'Florence Foster Jenkins'. 

The activist actor was not amused at the accusations leveled against her by Chanel's Karl Lagerfeld that Streep commissioned a custom Chanel creation but cancelled it when the House refused to pay her to wear it. 

A representative for Streep fought back that Lagerfeld's statement was false and that it is against her personal ethics to be paid to wear a gown on the red carpet. Lagerfeld, who I personally believe has no time for Meryl Streep's feminist activism, subsequently admitted that the error was his and that he regretted the controversy. But Meryl dismissed Lagerfeld's so-called apology, saying that his comments has eclipsed her celebration-worthy 20th nomination. 

"I do not take this lightly, and Mr. Lagerfeld's generic 'statement' of regret for this 'controversy' was not an apology," her statement read. 

The imperious Karl Lagerfeld is accustomed to having the last word on everything and Streep wasn't having it. Bravo, Meryl! She accused the designer of defaming her -- which he certainly did suggesting that she accepted bribes to wear clothes --, her stylist and the "illustrious designer" (Elie Saab) whose dress she chose to wear. Streep also castigated WWD for printing the "defamation" in the first place. 

The story received global attention, Streep said, and continues "to overwhelm my appearance at the Oscars, on the occasion of my record-breaking 20th nomination, and to eclipse this honour in the eyes of the media, my colleagues and the audience."

The always haughty Lagerfeld told WWD: "“After we gift her a dress that’s €100,000, we found later we had to pay,” he said. “We give them dresses, we make the dresses, but we don’t pay ... A genius actress, but cheapness also, no?”

A spokesperson for Chanel said that they had engaged in conversations with Streep’s stylist to design a dress for her to wear to the Academy Awards, but were well aware that she was considering options from other design houses: “When informed by the stylist that Ms Streep had chosen a dress by another designer there was no mention of the reason. Chanel wishes to express our continued and deep respect for Ms Streep.” 

I suspect that Meryl Streep is up to her nostrils with self-important men. President Trump unleashed a Tweet storm against her earlier in the awards season. Trump & Lagerfeld actually make good company. ~ Anne

Missoni Closes Milan Fashion Week With Sea of Pussyhats

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The global fashion industry has moved on to Paris, but Angela Missoni's grand finale in Milan inspired cheers, tears, and a global femme-power fashion salute, as Planned Parenthood pins at over 40 of the New York shows were replaced by pink Pussyhats in Missoni's exuberant grand finale for Milan. Missoni added her family's signature zig-zagging prints and bold stripes to her must-have fashion accessory, but the pointed ears and bold pink color left no doubt that the hats were inspired by the American-bred, global Women's Marches the day after Donald Trump's inauguration, January 21, 2017. In America the marches are considered to be the biggest ever, and the momentum continues. 

Petra Collins, Hari Nef, Lena Dunham: From Gucci to Planned Parenthood Via Lenny Letter

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Petra Collins, Hari Nef, Ali Micheal

Petra Collins, Hari Nef, Lena Dunham: From Gucci to Planned Parenthood Via Lenny Letter

Petra's commitment to body sovereignty was on display in this October 2012 Planned Parenthood video 'You Don't Own Me', published as a motivator to American women to vote in the 2012 presidential election.

In January 2016, Lena Dunham's Lenny Letter published 'Hypervisibility', in which Hari Nef reflects "on being a visible member of a marginalized community."  A year later, Nef joined a '100 Years' Planned Parenthood tribute narration cast that includes Meryl Streep, Jennifer Lawrence, America Ferrera, Constance Wu, Mindy Kaling and many more. Kirsten Lepore handled the animation; Abrams and musician Jack Antonoff contributed music.

The film '100 Years', The History of 100 Years of Women's Health Care at Planned Parenthood, was produced by Dunham and J.J. Abrams . 

“This film reminds us of the tremendous progress that’s been made for women’s health and rights just days before the new president is inaugurated — and at a moment when extreme politicians are trying to defund and shut down Planned Parenthood,” Dunham wrote in a note for Lenny Letter.

Lena Dunham, Hari Nef

Cameron Russell Helped Launch 'The Models March' By Victor Demarchelier For The Edit Feb. 23, 2017

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Cameron Russell Helped Launch 'The Models' March By Victor Demarchelier For The Edit Feb. 23, 2017

Top model Cameron Russell is devoted to public activism and maintaining a strong voice in the fashion industry. From a TED Talk about how models can maintain their own self-image in a fashion industry that loves mannequins to protesting climate change, Cameron Russell embraces issues with the knowledge that she has the power to influence change. Interviewed by The Edit, Russell explains her own path to protest and why we should join her.

Cameron Russell is styled in polished utilitarian looks by Alison Edmond. Photographer Victor Demarchelier is in the studio capturing 'The Model's March' (clearly inspired by the world's January 21, 2017 Women's Marches) for The Edit, February 23, 2017.

Related: Cameron Russell Says Privilege & Insecurity Make Modeling A Bad Career Choice AOC Body