Perhaps the most striking aspect of Isa Genzken: Retrospective—an expansive four-decade survey of the German artist’s work at MCA Chicago featuring sculpture, film, installation, painting, and photography—is the fact that it was all made by the same person. Over the course of her career, Genzken has successfully assimilated a wide array of styles without losing sight of a handful of core concerns: architectural structure, the[…..]

Help Desk is an arts-advice column that demystifies practices for artists, writers, curators, collectors, patrons, and the general public. Submit your questions anonymously here. All submissions become the property of Daily Serving. Help Desk is cosponsored by KQED.org. “You’ve seen the pictures. You’ve read the tweets. New York City looks like a post-apocalyptic wasteland along its waterfront. Among the many things New York City needs right[…..]

In William Gibson‘s 1986 novel Count Zero, an abandoned but sentient AI robot composes art objects from detritus found in space.  Despite being built by a computer from discards and rubbish, these objects have a deeply human gravity—both a grace and a yearning for grace—and are highly prized.   It is precisely this evocative use of materials and imagery that Isa Genzken gives us in[…..]