One hundred female artists have been commissioned to create new works of art for the Park Avenue Armory. This project is being completed to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment, which allowed women to vote in America since 1920 legally. The Park Avenue Armory is partnering with the Upper East Side Art & Performance Club, which hosts art demonstrations throughout New York City. It’s been confirmed that these one hundred new works will be displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The President, Co-Founder and Executive Producer for the Park Avenue Army spoke on this upcoming event. Rebecca Robertson noted that this venue would look back throughout one of the most historic moments in America. It’ll support the creation of artistic works by innovative women, some of which will explore how far we’ve come and how much further we can go in the 2020s. Artworks will centre about the LGBTQ community, modern pregnancy and women’s power in the workplace.

Two events are being hosted in correlation with this project. The 1st being dubbed “The 100 Years of Growth” and the 2nd named “The 100 Years of Women”. Displays will be hosted on February 15th during the “Culture in a Changing America” exposition. Visitors to this venue can anticipate artistic conversations, numerous performances of a creative nature and multiple displays from various female artists.

Confirmed Artists

Participants confirmed for the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Voting Rights were released by the Upper East Side & Performance Club. Kathleen Turner, Beverly Sheftall, Eryn Wise, Jessica Brown, Zoe Buckman, Makeba Rainey and Tatyana Fazlalizadeh have been confirmed to be creating female-centred artworks. Ninety-three artists haven’t been confirmed, with events slated to begin in less than a month. Subsequently, guests can expect multiple surprises in terms of participants. It’s known that artistic institutions like the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Standing Rock will appear at these respective venues.

Guests won’t know the full confirmed list until February 15th. Individuals going to the 100 Years of Women Venue will know the full list of artists, as their event won’t being until May 16th. Regardless, this will be one of the highest-rated artistic celebrations in 2020. Additional institutions that will assist with this venue in its developments include the Julliard School, the Experimental Theatre Company and the Apollo Theatre. Associated ticket costs haven’t been publicly revealed and won’t be until Januarys-end. 

Often people don’t embrace the artistic styles of video games, believing that they don’t contend with showcases in Paris or Milan. However, those individuals would be wrong about the beauty that unfolds with pieces of art in the video game industry. One of the most expressive and beautiful forms of video game art is the cyberpunk demographic. This includes paintings that compile metropolises with neon lights in a dark setting. Often there are slums with criminal underworlds, providing a picture with thousands of stories. Experiencing one of these artworks has individuals blur the lines between reality and this makeshift world.

The modern era allows for this aesthetic to be adopted by hundreds of artists worldwide, which has flourished the level of paintings created in this genre. This article celebrates the two best video games created that portrayed artwork from notable artists and created unforgettable landscapes.

Observer

The first of the two notable cyberpunk games we are covering include Observer. Built as a science fiction video game, it’s has players investigate a complicated murder throughout an apartment block. It was inspired by the Blade Runner franchise, meaning that deep blues and oranges are spread across a neon-lite city during the dead of night. When entering the cybernetic mode of this game, visual technology is implemented. This technology applies a blue holographic, which spreads across the layout of this complex. It creates an immersive environment and artistic-styling that continues to be praised today. Players have portrayed this art-style to be aggressive but beautiful, with unforgettable moments of action.

Deus Ex: Mankind Divided

The second game that artistically themed around the cyberpunk genre is Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, which acted as a sequel to a PlayStation One game. What made the artistic styling of Deus Ex beautiful was the sepia overtone, which was displayed throughout the skyscrapers and streets. Deep oranges with light reds and violet purples created an environment that, to this day, hasn’t been rivaled. All paintings drawn in correlation to this game franchise were completed by Mathieu Latour-Duhaime, who is considered to be the highest-grade artist in the video game franchise. He is a mastermind at creating bustling, lively, metropolises within his paintings. One of his most notable works was for Deus Ex, which saw an urban jungle with electrical wires sprawling to the slums and neon-lights, paving the way from the underground to the upper world skyscrapers. 

The Museum of Natural History and Art at Harvard University are expressing their concerns regarding the planet’s food vulnerability with a new exhibition. This comes after economic and nutritional crops that are maintained worldwide are coming under siege. Various bacteria fungi are attacking crops like Bananas, Wheat, and Coffee Beans. These include the Hemileia Vastatrix, Fusarium Oxysporu, and Phytophthora Infestans. Subsequently, the supply of plant-like foods is being more limited and eliminating jobs in the agricultural industry.

The new exhibit displayed by the Museum of Natural History and Art is themed around the 20th/21st Centuries. Rotting fruit is placed into glass models from the 20th century, creating an unconventional conduit that makes for unique beauty. This exhibition is being called the Glass Flowers, with the models being supplied by the Balachka Ware Collection. There are more than 4300 sculptures of flowers, which are built from the rotting fruit. The ware collection provided to Harvard University was created between 1887 and 1936 in Germany. The designers were father and son, named Rudolph and Leopold Balachka.

The Fruits in Decay Exhibit

The Glass Flowers Exhibit isn’t the only showcase at Harvard’s Museum. They’ve implemented a complimenting exhibit named Fruits in Decay. It’s similar to the glass flowers, with a collection of models centered around diseased and rotting fruit-bearing plants. This includes Strawberries, which have been covered by Botrytis Fuzz. There are also tropical leaves that have been broken down by Taphrina Fungus. The final piece of art in this exhibit are Pears, which have been mummified by Phytoplasma.

These nerving exhibits create a sentimental aesthetic to Harvard’s Museum, with viewers often leaving under the mindset of contemplation. These exhibits are meant to be tools for teaching, displaying the delicate structure of our world and its various ecosystems. The time to pay attention to our declining plant, fruit, and vegetable species has never been more critical. It was recently reported that Erwinia Amylovora, more commonly known as Fire Blight, has begun appearing in Apple Orchards across North America. Subsequently, the world’s supply of Red and Green Apples could be under attack from Erwinia Amylovora. This version of Fire Blight is said to be fast-acting, spreading at rates not typically seen since 2000.

Global Agriculture hasn’t ever been more vulnerable than it is this century. Pathogenic Threats are destroying the cultivation of crops, which will force farming into indoor locations, where food supplies can be extensively protected. This will face its own series of problems, with the solutions for these various problems unknown. Hopefully, one of the Harvard Elite is inspired to focus their efforts on crop management after this exhibit.

The rapid advancements in virtual reality technology are enabling new forms of education to be provided to the masses. One such instance of this educational format is with Galleries and Museums, who have begun adopting VR to educate their guests. It’s a specialized form of entertainment that enables individuals to escape the crowds and get a more in-depth insight into paintings in the museum or gallery. However, there are low percentages of artists that are adopting this technology. Subsequently, the Muse du Louvre is encouraging local artists to educate themselves on this technology to assist the masses with learning about artworks.

Painting Details

This isn’t the first time that the Muse du Louvre Museum has engaged with virtual reality. For the last three months, they have maintained a new exhibit centered around the Mona Lisa Painting and Virtual Reality. It’s named Mona Lisa: Beyond the Glass and has guests use the HTC Vive to traverse a small room with detailed information on the painting’s past. Its total length is several minutes, acting as one of the most significant digital experiences created for the 2019 – 20 Season. It’s anticipated that numerous other museums will begin adopting this Virtual Reality Exhibit, which will enable art fanatics worldwide to see the Mona Lisa without ever being in France. 

When the program begins on the HTC Vive, the scene starts with the Mona Lisa appearing behind a glass casing. Surrounding that casing are crowds of visitors, who disappear without a trace. This gives consumers a much more electric vibe to the experience, where the painting feels like your own for several minutes. After the time is up, the ghostly bodies of visitors return near the painting. This informs guests that the next person in line is ready.

Consumer Availability

Genuinely, this is a breathtaking technology that’s being maintained in the most professional of manners. The HTC Corporation confirmed that a consumer-available version of this program would be released in 2020. Anyone owning one of the HTC Vive Cosmo Headsets, which sells for $700.00, can experience the Mona Lisa for themselves in the coming months. This product can be purchased at any Wal-Mart, Target, GameStop, or BestBuy across the nation.  

The German Art Community has begun to express their sadness towards the loss of the Berlin Art Fair. The parent company revealed that they had cancelled all future editions of the art showcase, which was prompted by a loss of funds and artist stability. The Art Berlin Fair is considered to be one of the world’s most significant contemporary and modern art events. It had gained substantial popularity after three years of proper operation, showing more than 1000 Galleries in its existence. The last Berlin Art Fair was at the Tempelhof International Airport in September 2019, where 110 Galleries were showcased to the public.

The parent company, the Koelnmesse Organizing Group, made this announcement on December 12th. They had purchased the Berlin Art Fair in 2016, where it was then known at the Art Berlin Contemporary. For more than ten years, this organization maintained eighty art trade fairs nationwide. This includes the Cologne Fine Art of Design and Art Fair De’ Cologne. The organizing group also noted that the Tempelhof International Airport, which has been abandoned of flights for more than a decade, ceased being a viable headquarters for the Berlin Art Fair. This was prompted by a lack of funds, causing the airport’s authority to deem the associations 2021 offer unsatisfactory.

The Chief Executive Officer for the Koelnmesse Organizing Group provided a public statement regarding the situation of the fair. He noted that under the conditions provided by the Tempelhof International Airport. The CEO also doesn’t see any possibility where future events can be organized towards the expectations of art fanatics worldwide. He then mentioned how they are focusing their efforts towards the Cologne Art Fairs, which still are maintained in Germany. Subsequently, fans of the Koelnmesse Organizing Group’s art showcases don’t have to go without their beauty. However, the loss of the Berlin Art Fair is still a significant one. We can only hope that the Tempelhof International Airport can reaccept a future bid or another location in the Berlin area can be located. Until then, the final Berlin Art Week will take place in September 2020.

The Available Galleries

Those wanting to visit the final rendition of the Berlin Art Fair can anticipate some of the nation’s most beloved artists. Those include Bastian, Michael Janssen, Karin Günther, and Steve Turner. The most popular of which is Steve Turner, who is known for his outstanding contemporary pieces. His most famous pieces of art include “Off Balance, and Surface Tension.”

The German Art Community has begun to express their sadness towards the loss of the Berlin Art Fair. The parent company revealed that they had cancelled all future editions of the art showcase, which was prompted by a loss of funds and artist stability. The Art Berlin Fair is considered to be one of the world’s most significant contemporary and modern art events. It had gained substantial popularity after three years of proper operation, showing more than 1000 Galleries in its existence. The last Berlin Art Fair was at the Tempelhof International Airport in September 2019, where 110 Galleries were showcased to the public.

The parent company, the Koelnmesse Organizing Group, made this announcement on December 12th. They had purchased the Berlin Art Fair in 2016, where it was then known at the Art Berlin Contemporary. For more than ten years, this organization maintained eighty art trade fairs nationwide. This includes the Cologne Fine Art of Design and Art Fair De’ Cologne. The organizing group also noted that the Tempelhof International Airport, which has been abandoned of flights for more than a decade, ceased being a viable headquarters for the Berlin Art Fair. This was prompted by a lack of funds, causing the airport’s authority to deem the associations 2021 offer unsatisfactory.

The Available Galleries

The Chief Executive Officer for the Koelnmesse Organizing Group provided a public statement regarding the situation of the fair. He noted that under the conditions provided by the Tempelhof International Airport. The CEO also doesn’t see any possibility where future events can be organized towards the expectations of art fanatics worldwide. He then mentioned how they are focusing their efforts towards the Cologne Art Fairs, which still are maintained in Germany. Subsequently, fans of the Koelnmesse Organizing Group’s art showcases don’t have to go without their beauty. However, the loss of the Berlin Art Fair is still a significant one. We can only hope that the Tempelhof International Airport can reaccept a future bid or another location in the Berlin area can be located. Until then, the final Berlin Art Week will take place in September 2020.

Those wanting to visit the final rendition of the Berlin Art Fair can anticipate some of the nation’s most beloved artists. Those include Bastian, Michael Janssen, Karin Günther, and Steve Turner. The most popular of which is Steve Turner, who is known for his outstanding contemporary pieces. His most famous pieces of art include “Off Balance, and Surface Tension.”

One of the most highly valued art collections from Germany has been stolen while on display in China. The collection owned by a woman who had obtained multiple works from Renate Graf, Markus Lüpertz and Anselm Kiefer. Its total estimated value is more than €300 million, with reports indicating that some paintings have been sold on the black market. The German Collector allowed these pieces to be on loan, moving from location to location in China. Several media officials reported on this news when Maria Chen-Tu, the German Woman owning this collection, informed them that her collection had been stolen. Maria is of Taiwanese Descent, and she noted that this collection was loaned to a male businessman for sale for over ten years.

Maria Chen-Tu knows the criminal behind the stolen arts, as she claims it’s the very businessman that took the art collection loan. Chinese laws stipulate he doesn’t have to return any imported items and that once in his possession, are legally his property. Maria, after several exhibitions and zero sales, asked that her collection be relocated to her Hong Kong Depot. However, the business didn’t comply with her requests and ignored all her deadlines. Ma Yue, the identified businessman for this stolen art collection, started to block her contact methods. For the last two months, he hasn’t been available to Maria Chen-Tu. There are also rumours that pieces from her art collection are being sold through the online black market. Unfortunately, Chinese Officials have refused to work with Maria Chen-Tu because of her Taiwanese Descent. This didn’t stop Maria Chen-Tu from receiving her justice though.

Ma Yue was tasked with exhibiting this vast collection of artworks for ten years, with works meant to be sold to the highest bidders over this period. After he stole the artwork and Chinese officials didn’t co-operate, Maria contacted the United Nations for assistance. Since then, the culprit has been captured, and he will begin insolvency proceedings starting January 2020. He will have to relocate or repay for the stolen artwork while facing a significant prison sentence.

Mario Chen-Tu spoke to reporters after her public announcement in Beijing. She mentioned that her concern for the fate of these paintings keeps her up every night. These works are hundreds of years old and are most likely being stored improperly. Subsequently, it’s expected that these paintings will be destroyed over a short period. There is little hope that Ma Yue will assist law enforcement with locating the lost collection and that he will face his prison sentence instead.

The advancements for equal rights in women’s pay have grown exponentially across Canada. Most recently, the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art has once again faced a backlash against their lack of equal pay. The women working for MACM have announced that they will be protesting for November 18th and 22nd. Their strike will be focused on the lack of job security with the museum and demand that wages be increased to the same rates as their male co-workers. These women are supported by the Quebec Professional Workers Union, which almost guarantee’s that their strike will be beneficial.

The decision to strike against the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art was made after an original three-day voting period, where female workers decided if striking was required or not. After intensive debates, it was determined that a strike would be held for six days. However, the Union changed its position and lowered the strike to four days. This wouldn’t be the first time that employees of MACM have gone on strike before, with the museum having faced striking issues for the last five years.

Contract Problems

The Museum of Contemporary Art in Montreal began facing their issues after thirty workers didn’t receive contract renewal in 2015. It became a viral story across the province of Quebec, with the museum forcibly having to rehire the terminated employees. However, they were rehired as part-timers and haven’t received a new contract in five years.

This has brought more problems for the museum, as it was revealed that male workers have continually gained contracts and that male part-time employees receive the same benefit as full-time individuals. MACM has also provided their male employees with a 5.25% pay increase over five years, which is significantly higher than most salaries maintained at Quebec Museums. The Contemporary Art Museum in Montreal was subject to claims of sexism and abuse, with many reporters noting that these men couldn’t receive their pay increases without the loss of contracts for female employees.

The Quebec Professional Workers Union noted that women working at the museum had been underpaid while having to maintain jobs comparable or harder than a man. The MACM is the largest museum in Canada for Contemporary Art, its shocking that they violate equality rights for women.

Quebec’s Problems

The Province of Quebec has been littered with problems regarding sexism for more than a decade. They’re primarily known as a conservative province, with views reminiscent to European Politics. Outdated viewpoints have resulted in women having lower pay or not receiving the same job as men. Since equality became a significant subject amongst Canadians, the urge for women’s rights has increased in Quebec. Changes for women can be seen across the nation daily. Subsequently, the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art will have no choice but to agree to the union’s demands.

The subtle and yet very effective way that every little detail inside a casino is used to achieve the desired outcome is an art form in itself. Much thought and consideration are put into every single bit of detail. In the end, the casino needs clients to stay a little longer, return more often, venture beyond the limits of their imagination and spend a little more than what the might initially have had in mind. This is how casinos stay afloat, and they achieve it through subtle aspects of design and the use of colour.

Many might already be aware of the fact that windows and wall clocks are a definite no in any casino. Casino management does not want to remind patrons how much time they have spent in there already. They don’t want them to watch the sun go down in a tremendous panoramic display of hues of gold and orange, nor to watch the break of dawn of a new day upon them. No clock with arms showing how much time has gone by in an accusative manner. None of these will ever be seen inside the walls of any grand casino.

Calming Colours

The little details which often do pass our watchful eyes are still much more subtle. Such a tiny little detail is hidden in the colour of the card tables. It might be easy to spend hours at the card table without ever wondering why they are always green. It is easy to assume that it is just an industry norm. Yet, green is considered to be a calm and relaxing colour, one that has proven to make people feel more at home in this intimidating environment of flashing lights, constant noises and crowded spaces. The art of keeping players calm is thus accomplished with the brilliant display of the colour green on tables. Counterbalancing other factors out and ensuring calm and relaxed players, always urged to go that one step further.

Another practical use of colour in casinos is in the very busy, often referred to as ugly, carpets. Regardless of whether the design of an average casino carpets suits your taste or not, we can all agree that they are notoriously busy. For this, many reasons have also surfaced. One is that it is another skilful manoeuvre of casino designers ensuring that patrons rather look away from the floor and on to the slot machines and tables. These are the areas where casinos want their patrons to focus and hence with very subtle and artistic planning; they force patrons to look away from where they have no interest. Alternative arguments state that it is purely done in such a way to hide stains and the many chips which land on the floor during the night, but in a place of magic and wonder, we prefer to settle for the initial explanation.

A considerable part of the history of gambling, which in itself goes back for centuries, is centred around one single small little item. The core of the multi-billion industry from way back until today, the dice. The dice dates back as far as Sophocles already reporting on it from before his time. Over centuries it became the icon for handing the power of your life over to Lady Luck. The little cube is making decisions for the indecisive, divining the future, casting your lot.

In the lifetime of Sophocles, he already reported on this little invention to which so much power is allocated. A design by Greek legend, Palamedes. A development that occurred during the attack on Troy. This version of the history of the dice is however under siege by another version stated by Herodotus claiming that it was indeed an invention of the Lydians during the kingship of King Atys. Regardless of both claims, archaeologists have found numerous findings that the dice indeed dates back way before then. Indeed a little bit of history which has prevailed for centuries and remains valid today.

Modern Dice

The precursors of the dice are seen to be magical devices applied by primitive people to cast the lot to divine their future. These were most likely bits of knuckle bone or even ankle bones of sheep, buffalo or any other animal carcass. Over time markings were made on these to give additional meaning to the four sides. Later on, in history, these devices were made of ivory, gold, porcelain or alabaster. Some of these dices which closely resemble the modern-day dice were found in excavations in China dating back as far as 600 BCE, as well as in Egyptian tombs from as far back as 2000 BCE. In India written records were found in Sanskrit, dating back to over 2000 years ago, referring to the dice.

During the 16th-century dice games gained the interest of the mathematicians of the time. Galileo and Girolamo Cardano were only two of the many who often researched probability and randomness of these games. This interest was later on concluded in the belief that the dice had no structure indeed when it falls and that it merely indicated the will of the gods and other supernatural forces.

The new dice still is an enigma, often considered to be the magic wand of another unpredictable force of supernatural power, mostly made of cellulose or any other plastic material and an essential component to the casino industry and home board games. A little known fact is that the Western dice is considered to be left-handed with the numbers on the cube positioned in a clockwise direction, while the dices of the Chinese is right-handed with the numbers in a counter-clockwise direction.