What is Art

Engineers working on technological innovations from solar cells to stretchy electronics have drawn inspiration from the Japanese art of kirigami. The lesser-known cousin of origami , which involves cutting and folding paper , helps to create three-dimensional shapes from flat, paper-like materials or to add form-fitting flexibility. Now scientists using kirigami have developed a new type of no-slip shoe sole that mimics the texture of snakeskin, reports Nicola Davis for the Guardian . The authors of the new research, published this week in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering , say their innovation could help cut down on injuries from falls, particularly among older people. "Falls are the leading cause of death for older adults and the second leading cause of occupational-related deaths," Giovanni Traverso, an engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and co-author of the new research, says in a statement from Harvard University. "If we could

Pseudo-Tommaso Salini's Portrait of a Young Man as Bacchus, estimated at £40,000-£60,000 Courtesy of Sotheby's The coronavirus lockdown is resulting in some unlikely digital alliances in the art market, as poachers jump into bed with gamekeepers. Dealers have long loved to grumble about auction houses. But now, with the latter struggling to get consignments and the former unable to open their galleries or attend fairs, historic divides are succumbing to mutually beneficial arrangements. Last week it was announced that the La Biennale Paris is organising an online sale with Christie's in September to give exhibitors an alternative platform in lieu of the cancelled September fair. And now, Sotheby's is launching The Dealer's Eye: London and The Dealer's Eye: New York (both 18-25 June), two online sales including over 100 Old Master and 19th century paintings and drawings consigned by over 35 dealers, each of whom has entered three works. The sale is

Halsey is stepping up her support for the Black Lives Matter movement by launching a special fund to help black creators. The Black Creators Fund will provide financial support, resources and a platform to black creators, the singer explains in a statement posted to Instagram. "Looking for black creators who want to enrich the world with their work," she writes, "use #BLACKCREATORSFUND & tag your favorite black creators in the comments." Launching Thursday (June 11), the fund will help amplify black artists' voice and perspective, read a statement. The initiative is an ongoing one, and it'll be entirely funded by the Halsey team. "If you're an artist, poet, graphic designer, writer, film maker, music producer, journalist, make up artist, or creator of any kind," reads the launch statement, "we want to see your work and want to help achieve your goals" The biracial singer-songwriter -- her mom is Irish, Italian and

WASHINGTON (AP) — Almost as soon as the towering black fencing was erected last week to seal off Lafayette Park, the barrier became an art gallery and a sounding board for the demonstrators protesting years of black deaths at the hands of police officers. Now, with much of the temporary fencing around the White House coming down, there's an effort to preserve hundreds of pieces of instant American history. Both the Washington, D.C., government and several museums in the Smithsonian network have expressed an interest, but for now volunteers on the scene are working to gather up the items and keep them safe. "We're trying to be as gentle as we can with everything," said Natalie Casey-Sanger, a D.C. resident. "I've heard some people express hopes for long-term plans but nothing concrete." Casey-Sanger said volunteers started removing almost everything from the fence late Tuesday night out of concern that it would suddenly be taken down early

Bernal Heights The most recent iteration of the painting included a tribute to Sean Monterrosa, who was killed by Vallejo police on May 27. | Photo: Kseniya… On Friday, Hoodline reported that the latest incarnation of the famous Bernal Hill rock — a "Black Lives Matter" message painted by neighborhood artist Kseniya Makarova — was almost immediately covered up. Over the past six days, the art has been painted over (and subsequently re-added) four times. But while the first four erasures were allegedly done by a nearby resident, the latest was done by the city itself. On Tuesday morning, an SF Public Works employee was seen removing the artwork from the rock — d espite its longstanding status in the neighborhood as a forum for public expression. Bernal Heights resident Kevin DeFranco took a video of his interaction with the Public Works employee, which he shared with Hoodline. In the video, the employee says that the department had received complaints about the "Black

LONDON — What with everything else that's going on, international art collectors might seem like the last people we should worry about right now. Yet this small group of wealthy individuals is the customer base that supports a $60 billion global industry, with an estimated 310,000 businesses employing about three million people, according to a report published this year by Art Basel and UBS. And that industry, like so many others, is hurting. The coronavirus pandemic caused a near total shutdown of the art world as we know it in April and May. Auctions and art fairs were either postponed or converted into online-only events. Sales plummeted. Commercial galleries tried to do some business through so-called virtual viewing rooms, but revenue has declined sharply : Many are cutting jobs and facing closure. Unlike the music industry and other retail sectors, the centuries-old art market has been slow to adapt to the digital era. The uniqueness of original works has made collectors

Allen Boothroyd co-founded Meridian Audio in 1977 with Bob Stuart and formed his own design consultant business in 1991, from which other design work flourished. (All images: Meridian Audio) Meridian Audio has announced the recent passing of co-founder Allen Boothroyd. Having graduated from the Royal College of Art, where he studied industrial design in the 1960s, Boothroyd (1943-2020) eventually teamed with award-winning electronics engineer Bob Stuart in the world of hi-fi. Their collaboration included designing a preamplifier and power amplifier for Lecson Audio, which earned a British Design Council Award in 1974, and they founded Meridian Audio in 1977. "Allen graduated from the Royal College of Art in the 1960s, when not many people knew what an industrial designer did. Allen was always at pains to explain that it was not just a question of the product's appearance, it encompassed all the production engineering and mechanical stages to take a produc