The normally pencil-necked Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum has mounted an exhibition of fine art in its 211 Gallery, a space where it puts shows that have a cultural relation to aeronautics but not the whiz-bang edutainment draw of, say, a flight simulator. The exhibit consists of selected pieces from the NASM’s 4000+ collection of paintings, sculptures, sketches, and even some textile works related to human aspirations to flight. It features heavy-hitter names, too, like Rauschenberg, Calder, Wyeth, and, uh, Norman Rockwell.

This looks interesting, if you can get past the odd title of the exhibit, “Generous Friends.”

Generous Friends: Building an Art Collection for the National Air and Space Museum

An army of volunteers started dismantling The Gates today. the Christo & Jeanne Claude mega-spectacle that installed 7,500 arches with orange-sienna-saffron-whatever curtains hanging in them throughout Central Park. The New York Times has this curiously unsatisfying interview with Jeanne Claude on the imminent dismantling. The details, though, are really cool—the ripstop nylon fabric panels will be shredded and turned into carpet padding, and the aluminum archways themselves are going to be melted down and turned into pop cans.

Apparently people have taken to cutting swatches of fabric from the gates, which Jeanne Claude describes as (more…)

The India Times’ “Economic Times” section reports that Installation art is gaining popularity in India. The article is vague on the details of this trend but notes several artists—some new, some established—who are experimenting with installation. Satish Gujral, for instance (that’s his work above) , although Gujral’s website (more…)