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The Tortoise and the Roller Coaster

On a sculpture in Duisburg, Germany

October 31st, 2026 | By Jorge Rodriguez

In its October 19, 2026 edition, The Christian Science Monitor Weekly devotes a double-page spread to an interactive sculptural installation. I mention it for its photograph, which is hardly anything special in itself, though it has something striking about it. The contrast between the abyssal blue of the background and the gentle lines of light is lovely.

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Dreams, Colors, and a Little Sunshine

October 23rd, 2026 | By Jorge Rodriguez

I have sometimes thought about what, for once, I might call “the oneiric substance,” if only to steer the question into less sinister territory: do dreams arise from experiences not fully processed, or are they autonomous energetic structures, detached from various material or temporal sources, that pass through the mind in search of the lost warmth of emotions? The question has its beauty.

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Geographies of Transit

October 14th, 2026 | By Ibis Hernández Abascal

In encounters with certain works of contemporary visual art, perception activates modes of association that situate aesthetic experience in territories where matter, gesture, and time intertwine. Elizabet Cerviño’s (Manzanillo, Cuba, 1986) exhibition The Rhythm of Resilience, recently presented at Gallery 114 in Ybor City, Florida, unfolds within this horizon.

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Mixed-media wall piece of stitched leather and fabric pouches, belts and zippers in red, white and blue.

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Art’s Power to Overcome Adversity Resounds in “Watts”

January 23rd, 2016 | By Anise Stevens

In the summer of 1965, a young black man was pulled over by a white police officer for suspicion of driving while under the influence. The incident occurred on August 11 on the outskirts of Watts and brought with it an unsettling exchange. What initially began as a roadside argument quickly escalated into a fight, attracting the attention of a growing group of onlookers.

Book cover of City on Fire on a dark square background: red fireworks over a city skyline.

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Garth Risk Hallberg’s City on Fire

January 23rd, 2016 | By Craig Ledoux

In 2013, the announcement that Garth Risk Hallberg, a debut novelist, was to receive an advance of nearly two million dollars, set the literary world atwitter. A New York Times article stated that the book drew a two-day bidding war, prompting ten publishers to offer more than a million dollars.

Book jacket with a brown horse against a pale blue sky, centered on a dark grey square.

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Mary Gaitskill’s The Mare

January 23rd, 2016 | By Daniel Brown

The brilliantly gifted novelist Mary Gaitskill, whose novel Veronica was a finalist for The National Book Award some years ago, and which showcased the greed and narcissism of the 1980s through the character of a high fashion New York model, has returned with her equally impressive The Mare.

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The Delicate Corset of the Anima

October 13th, 2026 | By Jorge Rodriguez

Whenever I take part—as a curator or a viewer—in an exhibition bringing together several artists, seven women in this case, any number of men or any combination of the two sexes, I try to imagine the reasons, the implicit mystique that such a combination requires.

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Give Don't Take

October 11th, 2026 | By Jorge Rodriguez

On Saturday, September 12th, The Annex Gallery brought together some forty people for an evening of celebration and fundraising dedicated to advancing the education of children living in some of the world's poorest communities. Jens G. Rosenkrantz and Kay Hurley, mother of Katie Hurley Wales, opened the gallery to host a benefit for Brighter Children, the organization led by Katie, under the banner Gather with Purpose.

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The Most Merciful Thing in the World

October 4th, 2026 | By Jorge Rodriguez

Beyond I.T.I.N.E.R.A.T.I.O.N.S., at The Annex Gallery, The Most Merciful Thing in the World, by renowned American artist Trevor Paglen, was the first exhibition I visited in the current FotoFocus Biennial at its main venue. Open since October 1, it held its official reception only yesterday, on the 3rd, following a performance-lecture by Paglen. This carefully conceived exhibition has been curated by Kevin Moore, Ph.D., Artistic Director and Curator of FotoFocus.

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Conceptual AI-generated black-and-white photograph of a stack of newspapers on a newsroom desk, tied with string and held down by a heavy padlock.
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The Paused Terms
November 7th, 2026 | By Jorge Rodriguez

Meta has put on hold new business terms that would have let it collect material from the websites of companies that advertise or sell through Facebook and Instagram, news publishers included. In a notice to business customers on November 5, the company said the changes to four sets of commercial and advertising terms would not take effect on November 20 as planned, and that its existing terms remain in force. Early versions allowed the collected material to be used to train Meta’s AI systems, with no way to opt out. On October 16 the company removed the word “train” and limited the use to advertising and business products, but publishers kept objecting. “We’re pausing the changes as we continue to engage with stakeholders,” a Meta spokesperson told Nieman Lab.

The pause followed court orders in two countries. On October 28, the Oslo District Court ruled that the terms could not take effect in Norway until a court reviewed whether they are legal, after a request from an association of Norwegian media companies that includes Schibsted, NRK and TV2. On November 3, a judge in São Paulo barred Meta from collecting and using content from members of three Brazilian newspaper, broadcaster and magazine associations without permission, including for AI training, with a fine of 1 million reais per day, capped at 100 million, if it does not comply. Britain’s competition regulator is also investigating whether Meta used its dominant position to impose unfair terms on publishers and advertisers.

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Conceptual AI-generated black-and-white photograph of a wooden voting booth in a small-town hall, with a vast windowless data center building visible through the window behind it.
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The Ballot Refusal
November 6th, 2026 | By Jorge Rodriguez

Voters in American towns and counties turned down data center development almost everywhere they were asked on November 3. According to Ballotpedia, 41 local ballot measures in 10 states dealt with the large computer buildings that run artificial intelligence services, through bans, temporary pauses, rezoning requests and nonbinding advisory questions. With most results counted on Wednesday, CNBC and Scientific American reported that voters sided against data centers in every case but one. In Wells, Maine, more than 80 percent approved a 180-day pause on data center construction that also applies to projects already proposed. The single exception was Harwood, North Dakota, where voters rejected, by about three to one, a proposal requiring extra review of industrial projects, data centers included. A $3 billion data center is already being built near the town.

The local votes came alongside races in which the buildings were a campaign issue. In a CNBC voter poll, 56 percent of voters said data centers were a crucial or major factor in their decision. Ohio’s incoming governor, Amy Acton, supports a conditional moratorium that would require new data centers to pay all of their utility costs and to be built with union labor, a position that could slow a large computing site planned by OpenAI, Nvidia and SoftBank in southern Ohio. The tallies are still unofficial. In towns that approved bans or pauses, developers will have to wait out the moratoriums or persuade voters to change the rules.

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Conceptual AI-generated black-and-white photograph of a long, nearly empty hospital corridor with a single nurse walking away beside a row of empty chairs.
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The Delayed Staff Plan
November 5th, 2026 | By Jorge Rodriguez

Britain’s health secretary, Yvette Cooper, told MPs on November 4 that artificial intelligence could mean the National Health Service in England needs fewer staff in some areas. Giving evidence to the House of Commons health committee, she said the technology “will lead to us wanting to increase certain areas but also to potentially reduce certain areas as well.” She named no jobs and announced no cuts. She also confirmed that the 10-year workforce plan, which will set how many doctors, nurses and other staff the health service trains and hires, has been delayed again and will now arrive in the new year, with no date. Cooper said predicting staff needs is much harder than it was two or three years ago.

The direction she described moves people away from hospitals. She told the committee she wants more emphasis on family doctors and community mental health care, and less on the hospital workforce over time. Practice nurse leaders complained that nurses were left out, and the Royal College of Nursing had already asked in June for the plan to be paused, arguing that it counted on AI savings without enough evidence. A separate independent review of NHS productivity and AI, led by Mark Bailie, a non-executive director of NHS England, is due in early 2027. Cooper suggested giving universities and training colleges clearer signals about where staff are needed, but for now they must plan student places without the official numbers.

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