Banana Duct-Taped to a Wall Sells for $120,000 at Art Basel Miami
A banana duct-taped to a wall has sold for $120,000 at Art Basel Miami, the international art fair featuring works by acclaimed and emerging artists. Another edition of the concept art is expected to sell for $150,000.
The humorous minimalist artwork comes from Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan and is titled Comedian.
Two editions of the banana-and-duct-tape art were presented by French contemporary gallery Perrotin at Art Basel on Wednesday, and both sold for $120,000 apiece. Artnet reports the first edition was purchased by a French woman and the second edition by a French man on Wednesday.
According to Artnet, after the sales of the first two editions, Perrotin gallery founder Emmanuel Perrotin called Cattelan and they agreed to sell a third edition for $150,000. The website reports that two institutions have expressed interest in purchasing the item. Perrotin could not immediately be reached for comment on whether a sale has gone through.
Gallery founder Emmanuel Perrotin said he was surprised by the fervor caused by Comedian at the art fair Wednesday. “It’s a miracle. I don’t know how this happened,” Perrotin told Artnet.
Cattelan did not expound on the meaning of the artwork to Artnet, but Perrotin told CNN that bananas are “a symbol of global trade, a double entendre, as well as a classic device for humor” and that Cattelan has form in transforming everyday objects into “vehicles of both delight and critique.”
In a press statement, the Perrotin gallery said Cattelan came up with the idea for Comedian about a year ago and opted to use a real banana after initially conceiving an idea for a sculpture shaped like a banana. “Every time he traveled, he brought a banana with him and hung it in his hotel room to find inspiration. He made several models: first in resin, then in bronze and in painted bronze, finally coming back to the initial idea of a real banana,” the statement said.
Known for his satirical style, one of Cattelan’s most famous artworks is America, a fully-functioning 18-karat solid gold toilet which is worth $6 million.
The gold toilet was first installed at the Guggenheim in 2016 and was available for use to the public.
In September, America was installed at Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire, England, as part of an exhibition of Cattelan’s work, where it was stolen. Two men were arrested and released at the time.
In a statement, Cattelan said in September: “I always liked heist movies and finally I’m in one of them.”
In October, British police arrested three more people in connection with the crime.
The gold toilet has not yet been recovered.
Pantone’s Color of the Year for 2020 Is Anti-Anxiety Blue
Pantone’s color of the year is Classic Blue. You could also call it 19-4052, if you geek out on that kind of stuff.
How to describe Classic Blue? If Yves Klein Blue had a baby with Indigo Blue, it would be Classic Blue. There’s a little Royal Blue in there somewhere, too, so maybe there could be some Yves-Indigo-Royal love triangle thing. Pantone describes the color as “aboundless blue evocative of the vast and infinite evening sky.” It’s very soothing — anti-anxiety blue, if you will.
So, how did they land on this color? Team Pantone looks at trend forecasts, fashion, beauty, lifestyle, political views, media, street art, travel destinations, new technologies, and new textures — to name just ten of the categories they consider. Then it’s time to narrow it down to a color family. And they found it was a blue mood.
“The color has to be emblematic of a global mood,” explains Laurie Pressman, vice-president of the Pantone Color Institute. She says this year’s pick harks back to the year the Pantone first began selecting colors of the year, two decades ago.
“In 1999, everybody was nervous about Y2K,” she explains. “Some of us were excited, some of us were shaky. ‘Is the world going to blow up?’ And here we are, heading into 2020, which I always referred to ask the ‘future’ and now we’re living in it. And we’re looking for same color characteristics and factors that would instill calm, confidence, and connection. With blue, this always comes to mind.”
Back then, the first color of the year was called Daylight Sky. Classic Blue is also sky-related, but the sky at dusk.
“It’s thought-provoking and a little deeper, but not a deep navy,” says Pressman. “This blue is not taking you into the mystery of what lies ahead. Instead, it speaks to our need for a stable and dependable foundation. We’re living in a time that requires trust and faith. We’re looking to those we can depend on.”
The past three Pantone Colors of the Year have been Greenery, Ultra Violet, and, last year, Living Coral — all bright but decidedly nonpartisan shades. You could argue that this one reads Democratic, but I think it’s significant that it’s so soothing. It’s a color for going into an election year, one that says, “Better rest up before the battle. But before you pull the covers over your head, would you take a look at how gorgeous the sky is?”
Justin Bieber apologizes for ‘saying really hurtful things’ related to race
Justin Bieber is apologizing for “hurtful things” he’s said in the past.
In an Instagram post Wednesday with an image of the words “STAND AGAINST RACISM,” the singer, 25, addressed his past mistakes around race.
“When I was young I was uneducated and found myself saying really hurtful things not knowing the power of my words,” he wrote. “Racism Is still very prevalent and I want to use my voice to remind we are all human being and all of EQUAL VALUE BEFORE GOD!”
Though he did not say what he was referring to, fans will remember that the singer offended when two videos surfaced in 2014 of him saying the N-word and mentioning the KKK.
In an earlier post, he shared a more general message addressing his past actions.
“I’m determined this holiday season to take ownership of all my shortcomings and work on them for myself and the ones I love!” he said. “What is your goal?”
Bieber’s comments also come at the same time that his wife, the former Hailey Baldwin, announced an art auction they’re organizing.
In another Instagram post, Bieber shared a screenshot of the auction details along with the caption: “Proceeds to families in need. Love, The Biebers”
The Biebers, who tied the knot last year, celebrated with a wedding Sept. 30 in South Carolina.
The happy couple and several famous friends posted photos of the festivities to Instagram at the time after the festivities. Justin shared two black-and-white photo booth shots of him and Hailey kissing, with a design in the upper left-hand corner that read “The Biebers, September 30, 2019.”
“My bride is ?,” he captioned the photo. In the picture, Hailey wore her hair pulled back in a low bun, showing off her Tiffany & Co. diamond earrings. Her wedding bling was also on full display on her ring finger in the sweet snapshots.
Article via USAToday
Selena Gomez & The Beliebers VS Justin Bieber & Sofia Richie #SelenaEndedJustinParty ?
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R. Kelly’s GF Joycelyn Savage Patreon Acct. Was Impostor … I’m NO Traitor!!!
R. Kelly‘s girlfriend is officially breaking her silence with a video that refutes the abuse claims attributed to her on a Patreon account … claims she calls total BS.
Joycelyn Savage says she wants to clear her name following reports she’d turned on Kelly by posting dirty deets about their relationship on the paysite, Patreon. She says she had nothing to do with the site, and STILL has no plans to assassinate Kelly’s character.
But, in this video we obtained … Joycelyn starts out reading a prepared statement, or, as Kelly’s critics might call it … a script.
As for the claims of abuse, purportedly made in her name on Patreon, she says they were all flat-out false — and she blames an impostor for launching that page, as well as an Instagram account bearing her name.
Joycelyn also reveals the current status of her relationship with Kelly, saying they communicate daily.
It should be noted … lots of people had cast doubt as to the veracity of the Patreon account, including R. Kelly accuser Lisa Van Allen, who explained her rationale to us on “TMZ Live.”
Joycelyn did go off script later in her video statement … adding both she and Azriel Clary are still firmly in Kelly’s corner, although Azriel never appears on camera.
As we reported, Patreon shut down the alleged Joycelyn account after it couldn’t authenticate the owner’s identity.
R. Kelly, meanwhile, is still behind bars … and dealing with multiple federal and state sexual abuse cases, but Joycelyn says she still sees him regularly.
Article via TMZ
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First black woman to win top literary prize says cultural appropriation is ‘total nonsense’
Bernardine Evaristo, the first black woman to win the Booker Prize for fiction writing, dismissed the idea that artists cannot engage in “cultural appropriation.”
Evaristo, 60, was one of two 2019 Booker Prize winners, an annual award given to the author of an “outstanding fiction” work written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. Evaristo spoke about the book that won her the award, Girl, Woman, Other, and how it would have been impossible without “cultural appropriation” at the Hay Festival Winter Weekend on Friday, according to The Times.
“This whole idea of cultural appropriation, which is where you are not supposed to write beyond your own culture and so on, is ridiculous,” Evaristo said. “That would mean that I could never write white characters or white writers can never write black characters. Look in television; that happens all the time. But there is this idea that when it comes to fiction that you are supposed to stay in your lane. It is a total nonsense.”
Evaristo’s book follows the lives of a dozen either black or mixed-race people. One girl, named Megan, grows up and identifies as non-binary and changes “their” name to Morgan. Evaristo said that writing about Megan was “a sensitive area” because the character could offend people.
Evaristo said, however, that she is not overly worried about offending others with her work.
“That’s not my primary concern because you don’t know who is going to be offended by anything you write. I refuse to construct some kind of character who is going to appease everybody,” Evaristo said.
Article via WashingtonExaminer
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If You Bought a Smart TV on Black Friday, the FBI has a Warning for You
Your brand-new smart TV might have all the latest technology, but it’s still vulnerable to hackers.
It’s hard to imagine that simply doing something that hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of people did over this weekend would be worthy of a warning from the FBI, but if you bought a smart TV you might want to read on. The FBI says your new TV might be the thing hackers use to break into your home. Yes, that FBI.
As if there weren’t already enough online threats to worry about, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is trying to ruin your excitement over the amazing deal you got on that brand new 65″ 4K television destined for the wall in your living room. Talk about a buzzkill. Can it really be that bad?
Yes it can. As the FBI warns:
“Beyond the risk that your TV manufacturer and app developers may be listening and watching you, that television can also be a gateway for hackers to come into your home. A bad cyber actor may not be able to access your locked-down computer directly, but it is possible that your unsecured TV can give him or her an easy way in the backdoor through your router.”
Most of us, if we’re paying attention, at least try to practice good cyber-hygiene when it comes to our laptops or smartphones. We turn on features like FaceID or TouchID. We activate two-factor authentication for important online accounts. We don’t share passwords.
Wait, you share your passwords? Be careful, Netflix isn’t cool with that anymore.
But I digress.
None of those best practices exist on a smart TV. Even though they are connected to the internet, and many are equipped with cameras and microphones, they’re remarkably un-secure. That means many of us just added a camera and microphone to our living rooms–or even worse, bedrooms–many of which can be hacked with very little effort.
Look, the reality is that your Smart TV is probably not the most likely target of a hacker. In fact, even the FBI admits that attacks like this are rare. Then again, it’s reasonable to wonder whether most of us would even know if our TV microphone was hacked.
There’s a general rule that applies here. Actually, I have no idea if it’s really a rule, but it’s certainly something worth thinking about: The more technology improves your life, and the more you come to depend on it, the greater the potential it has to cause you harm.
The FBI suggests regularly updating the security software on your TV, but if you’re worried, there’s always MacGyver’s favorite solution–black tape over the camera (which is actually the FBI’s recommendation).
I have a better idea–save yourself the money and just buy one without a microphone and camera. Who really needs those in a TV anyway? Considering every laptop, smartphone, and smart home device already has one or both, do you really need another in your TV? Or, even better, just skip the Smart TV and buy one without an internet connection. That might be the smartest solution of all.
Article via Inc
McDonald’s is testing a new chicken sandwich
After months of being bested in the Chicken Sandwich Wars, McDonald’s is testing a new weapon.
On Monday, McDonald’s kicked off a test of its new crispy chicken sandwich and deluxe crispy chicken sandwich in Houston, Texas, and Knoxville, Tennessee.
The crispy chicken sandwich has a fried chicken filet topped with butter and pickles, while the deluxe version also includes tomatoes, lettuce, and mayo.
Both sandwiches use a new chicken filet that has not been served at McDonald’s, differentiating them from the McChicken and the buttermilk crispy chicken sandwich. And the new sandwiches appear to be served in a foil bag, a presentation that Chick-fil-A and Popeyes use but McDonald’s has not.
McDonald’s has been working to perfect a new chicken sandwich for months, even before Popeyes launched its own earlier this year.
CNBC reported in July that McDonald’s franchisees were pushing the company to make the development of a new chicken sandwich its “top priority,” citing Chick-fil-A’s results. A sandwich that McDonald’s tested earlier this year apparently underwhelmed restaurant operators, The Wall Street Journal reported.
The launch of Popeyes’ chicken sandwich highlighted McDonald’s need for a superior chicken sandwich. The fast-food giant reported in October that it lost part of its share in the chicken category during the so-called Chicken Sandwich Wars.
McDonald’s is also planning to roll out chicken at breakfast in 2020, according to leaked documents viewed by Business Insider, though the company has not announced what the new menu item — or items — will be.
Article via BusinessInsider
Kid Rock responds to disparaging Oprah remarks: ‘I am what I am, I ain’t what I ain’t’
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WZTV) — Kid Rock has received a lot of feedback in the past few days after making disparaging remarks about Oprah Winfrey, and he has responded.
Kid Rock put out a statement on his Facebook page just before 5 p.m. Friday:
“My people tried to get me to do The Oprah Winfrey show years ago and her people wanted me to write down 5 reasons why I loved her and her show????? I said f*** that and her. End of story. I am just saying what a lot of people think. Not saying I should be, but sometimes I just do. Oh well. I have a big mouth and drink too much sometimes, shocker! I also work hard and do a ton to help others out but that’s just back page news because the press hates I love Trump, f*** them too. I am what I am, I ain’t what I ain’t!
PS And you haters and internet trolls can check my touring numbers and shut your ignorant a**** up! Boom!
PSS I did not get removed from MY OWN BAR (fake news) if anything I was leaving and the cops were helping me out. Hey, at least I don’t drink and drive!! ????
PSSS. Was it racist when I said “F*** Joy Behar”??? and by the way… I love Kathy Lee Gifford.”
Rock’s statement comes after a patron at his Nashville honky tonk captured video of him in a profanity-laced rant about Oprah Winfrey and others.
TMZ posted the video early Friday morning of Kid Rock swearing and slurring his words on stage, especially calling out Oprah, but also Joy Behar and Kathie Lee Gifford. This apparently occurred last week.
The “Cowboy” singer defended his tirade, saying, “I’m not the bad guy” and “I’m just an honest guy,” while an onlooker can be heard calling him racist.
The video ends with him singing “Proud Mary,” before security tends to him.
This time last year, Kid Rock was kicked out of the Nashville Christmas parade for calling Behar an expletive. However, he also paid off layaways for hundreds of families in Nashville.
Article via Fox17
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Fashion brand Loewe pulls outfit resembling concentration camp uniforms
A luxury fashion house apologized Friday after being criticized for selling an ensemble resembling concentration camp uniforms from the Holocaust. Loewe, a luxury brand based in Spain, sold the outfit as part of its William De Morgan capsule collection, which became available on November 14 and is inspired by the 19th century British ceramicist. Items in the collection are being sold for upwards of $5,000.Many who criticized the outfit — including Diet Prada, a fashion industry watchdog account on Instagram — cited the similarities to concentration camp uniforms worn by Holocaust victims, which also consisted of vertical-striped, button-down shirts and matching pants.
Loewe issued the apology via the brand’s Instagram account and has since removed the products from its website.
“It was brought to our attention that one of our looks featured in a magazine and part of our Arts and Crafts ceramicist William De Morgan could be misconstrued as referring to one of the most odious moments in the history of mankind,” the statement read. “It was absolutely never our intention and we apologize to anyone who might feel we were insensitive to sacred memories. The products featured have been removed from our commercial offering.”
This isn’t the first time brands have come under fire for selling clothing reminiscent of the Holocaust.
Zara, also based in Spain, apologized in 2014 for selling a striped T-shirt bearing a yellow star — which also resembled uniforms worn by Jewish concentration camp inmates.
The company had said the shirt was actually inspired by “the sheriff’s stars from the Classic Western films,” but swiftly pulled the item just hours after it went on sale.
Article via CNN
‘Who cares what anybody else says?’ Alicia Keys applauds son for rainbow nail polish
Alicia Keys is urging fans to pursue “less labels, more expressions” after her son voiced an insecurity about his rainbow nail polish.
In an Instagram video shared over the weekend, Keys recounted to followers how her younger son, 4-year-old Genesis, had been excited to join her at the nail salon, where he decided he wanted each finger to be pained a different color like a rainbow.
“After she painted his nails, he looked at me and said, ‘Mommy, I don’t want this on my nails,'” Keys recalled. “And I was like, ‘Why? You were so sure you were good.'”
“People are not going to like it,” she recalled her son saying.
“Can you believe this?” Keys asked viewers. “He’s four years old. Four. And he already understands the concept that someone’s going to judge him because he chose a rainbow color on his nails.”
The singer kept things positive with her son, applauding his creative idea and telling him others would do the same.
“You had this idea, stick with it,” she told him. “You chose it, you liked it, you do it. Who cares what anybody else says? Plus, you know, a lot of guys paint their nails. It’s not, like, some strange thing that you only do.”
Keys said the experience got her thinking about “how completely judged we are all the time.” She became frustrated that people often get held back from being able to explore both “masculine and feminine energies.”
“It gets concerning to me that we can’t just explore these different sides of ourselves,” she added. “Even for me, myself, I often explore the masculine energy that’s inside of me. It’s very natural to me. That’s how I feel… For my boys, (it’s) similar: if they want to express the feminine energy that’s inside of them, there’s all these judgements and all these rules and stereotypes and vibes, and it’s really frustrating to me.”
Article via USAToday