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Avant-Guardian Musings

  • Fall 2025
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“Art is an outlet toward regions which are not ruled by time and space”
— Marcel Duchamp

Avant-Guardian Musings is a curated space of ideas and information, resources, reviews and readings for undergraduate and graduate students studying modern and contemporary art history and visual art theory, film and photography studies, and the expanding field of visual culture and screen studies. For students currently enrolled in my courses or the field school, the blog and associated social media links also serve as a place of reflection and an extension of the ideas and visual material raised in lecture and seminar discussion.

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Blog
"No Fun City" Vancouver: Exploring Emotions of Detachment in Palermo, Sicily at AISU
"No Fun City" Vancouver: Exploring Emotions of Detachment in Palermo, Sicily at AISU
about a month ago
Making Sense of Art in the Age of Machine Learning—A Suggested Reading List
Making Sense of Art in the Age of Machine Learning—A Suggested Reading List
about a month ago
From the Archives | How (And Why) To Take Excellent Lecture Notes
From the Archives | How (And Why) To Take Excellent Lecture Notes
about a year ago
Weekly Musings + Round Up... And A Few More Things
Weekly Musings + Round Up... And A Few More Things
about 2 years ago
Weekly Musings + Round Up... And A Few More Things
about 2 years ago

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Classic lines and navy blues feed my sartorial soul 💙✨
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#dopaminedressing #whatiwore #ootd #arthistorianlife #citizensofhumanity #ralphlauren  #celine
Classic lines and navy blues feed my sartorial soul 💙✨ . . . #dopaminedressing #whatiwore #ootd #arthistorianlife #citizensofhumanity #ralphlauren #celine
Perfect Vancouver day!👌🏻🍃🌊✨Autumn rides are my favourite as we take advantage of every opportunity to get out there on the Aprilias ahead of the rain and coming cold.
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#motorcycle #motorcycleofinstagram #sportbike #sportbikelife #apriliatuon
Perfect Vancouver day!👌🏻🍃🌊✨Autumn rides are my favourite as we take advantage of every opportunity to get out there on the Aprilias ahead of the rain and coming cold. . . . #motorcycle #motorcycleofinstagram #sportbike #sportbikelife #apriliatuono #apriliatuonofactory #motogirl #motogirls #vancouver
Returning home from Palermo, Sicity this week, I have been reflecting on the research I presented at a roundtable discussion at the AISU (L’Associazione promuove e diffonde lo studio della storia urbana) biennial congress centered on “The
Returning home from Palermo, Sicity this week, I have been reflecting on the research I presented at a roundtable discussion at the AISU (L’Associazione promuove e diffonde lo studio della storia urbana) biennial congress centered on “The Crossroad City.” My contribution to the presentation focused on Vancouver and my exploration of the “No Fun City” label that has emerged over the past decade or more in local discourse and popular culture. Whenever I talk to Vancouverites about this concept, there is an immediate understanding about what it is I am trying to evoke in my research. In my blog this week (link in bio), I have excerpted some parts of my talk to provide a taste of how I am connecting the emotion of detachment to this hard to language dynamic while bringing in the important element of visual representation that shapes and is shaped through the many contradictions of the city. Perhaps most striking to me as I continue probing these questions in a post-pandemic world, increasingly impacted by machine learning and democratic backsliding, is how much discussions around emotions and our collective humanity matter today more than ever. . . . #arthistory #urban #urbanemotion #architecture #palermo #vancouver
Today, I visited Sicily’s contemporary art museum in Palazzo Riso, another converted baroque palace that was heavily bombed during WWII after local fascists made it their headquarters. I love thinking how much those people would have hated the
Today, I visited Sicily’s contemporary art museum in Palazzo Riso, another converted baroque palace that was heavily bombed during WWII after local fascists made it their headquarters. I love thinking how much those people would have hated the kind of art that occupies this space and lives on its walls. This art does not celebrate beauty, nor does it tell audiences what to think, who to love, or what rules or political leaders to follow— it is art that deliberately creates questions, discomfort, and provocation while asking audiences to shape the final meaning. Even today, here in Palermo, I discovered through conversation with locals that there are many who criticize and attack the works (artworks by non-Italians, women, people of colour, gay people, and those who use unconventional materials and approaches to art-making) exhibited in the space. It appears the culture wars are again reshaping Italy as they did 80 years ago. History does not repeat itself, as the Mark Twain saying goes, but it does rhyme. Pay attention. Among the artists pictured here: Vanessa Beecroft, Regina Jose Galindo, Herman Nitsch Christian Boltanski, Cesare Viel, Sergio Zavattieri, Loredana Longo, Carla Accardi, Richard Long, William Kentridge . . . #contemporyart #arthistory #sicily #palermo #italy #artwork #artmuseum
How to describe the Palazzo Butera in Sicily? Take a baroque palace on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea, restore it with great care, and then fill it with your collection of contemporary art, antiquities, ephemera, and a sprinkle of modern and Renai
How to describe the Palazzo Butera in Sicily? Take a baroque palace on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea, restore it with great care, and then fill it with your collection of contemporary art, antiquities, ephemera, and a sprinkle of modern and Renaissance works. Add a beautiful cafe with a terrace facing the sea and invite the public to admire it all. This is the best of what a private collection can be— bravo to the curators and anyone who had a hand in planning this space. It is breathtaking! A must visit if you come to Sicily. . . . #palermo #sicily #arthistory #contemporaryart #artcollection #palazzobutera #modernart #artmuseum

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© Dorothy Barenscott, Avant-Guardian Musings, and dorothybarenscott.com, 2010-2023. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Dorothy Barenscott, Avant-Guardian Musings, and dorothybarenscott.com with appropriate and specific direction to the original content.

Pop sculpture and installation artist Claes Oldenburg celebrates his 89th birthday today. This poster is connected to Oldenburg's infamous The Store project (1961) when he decided to subvert the practice of selling art in the the traditional sp…

Pop sculpture and installation artist Claes Oldenburg celebrates his 89th birthday today. This poster is connected to Oldenburg's infamous The Store project (1961) when he decided to subvert the practice of selling art in the the traditional spaces of the art gallery, and instead opened his own temporary storefront on the Lower East Side of New York to sell his work. We could call him the father of the pop-art store! Archival image courtesy of MOMA

Weekly Flipboard Links and Media Round Up

January 28, 2018

I have been in the mode of spring cleaning my office all week (I know, too early), and throwing away old paperwork, cleaning out digital files, prioritizing projects, and rediscovering many books, articles, and student work filed away for later reading. It has been both cathartic to let go of that which no longer serves me, and frustrating to realize I will never have the time to pursue all of the worthy research ideas that I would like to. In many ways, this blog was started eight years ago to test out and "muse" on precisely these kinds of topics. Back then, I certainly had more time to do this sort of thing, but I see now the benefit of going back to the practice of sparking and trying on some of these ideas in short posts meant to trigger and perhaps inspire others to pursue them. I hope to do more of this as I move into this year as I have enjoyed hearing back from readers (sometimes finding a post from many years ago) that they found useful. Sharing concepts in a free exchange of information is both radical and necessary in today's world. Enjoy the links and look for ways to share and spark ideas that will serve others. 

"Agnes Martin, Richard Tuttle, and the Line Between"
"Agnes Martin, Richard Tuttle, and the Line Between"

nybooks.com

"In Puerto Rico, Artists Rebuild and Reach Out"
"In Puerto Rico, Artists Rebuild and Reach Out"

nytimes.com

"French Art Luminaries Reject Jeff Koons’s Flashy Gift to Paris as a ‘Cynical’ Act of ‘Product Placement’"
"French Art Luminaries Reject Jeff Koons’s Flashy Gift to Paris as a ‘Cynical’ Act of ‘Product Placement’"

artnet.com

"A Documentary Lays Bare the Absurdity of the Art Market"
"A Documentary Lays Bare the Absurdity of the Art Market"

hyperallergic.com

"CEOs Are Going to Art School to Think More Creatively"
"CEOs Are Going to Art School to Think More Creatively"

artsy.net

"Ancient Rome’s System of Roads Visualized in the Style of Modern Subway Maps"
"Ancient Rome’s System of Roads Visualized in the Style of Modern Subway Maps"

openculture.co

"If Liberalism Is Dead, What Comes Next?"
"If Liberalism Is Dead, What Comes Next?"

nytimes.com

"Seeing Beyond Basquiat’s Market Value"
"Seeing Beyond Basquiat’s Market Value"

hyperallergic.com

"Barbara Kruger: Part of the Discourse | Art21 "Extended Play" (VIDEO)"
"Barbara Kruger: Part of the Discourse | Art21 "Extended Play" (VIDEO)"

art21

"The outsider art fair New York 2018 (VIDEO)"
"The outsider art fair New York 2018 (VIDEO)"

jameskalmroughcuts

"Agnes Martin, Richard Tuttle, and the Line Between" "In Puerto Rico, Artists Rebuild and Reach Out" "French Art Luminaries Reject Jeff Koons’s Flashy Gift to Paris as a ‘Cynical’ Act of ‘Product Placement’" "A Documentary Lays Bare the Absurdity of the Art Market" "CEOs Are Going to Art School to Think More Creatively" "Ancient Rome’s System of Roads Visualized in the Style of Modern Subway Maps" "If Liberalism Is Dead, What Comes Next?" "Seeing Beyond Basquiat’s Market Value" "Barbara Kruger: Part of the Discourse | Art21 "Extended Play" (VIDEO)" "The outsider art fair New York 2018 (VIDEO)"
  • Agnes Martin, Richard Tuttle, and the Line Between
  • In Puerto Rico, Artists Rebuild and Reach Out
  • French Art Luminaries Reject Jeff Koons’s Flashy Gift to Paris as a ‘Cynical’ Act of ‘Product Placement’
  • A Documentary Lays Bare the Absurdity of the Art Market
  • CEOs Are Going to Art School to Think More Creatively
  • Ancient Rome’s System of Roads Visualized in the Style of Modern Subway Maps
  • If Liberalism Is Dead, What Comes Next?
  • Seeing Beyond Basquiat’s Market Value
  • Barbara Kruger: Part of the Discourse | Art21 "Extended Play" (VIDEO)
  • The outsider art fair New York 2018 (VIDEO)
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© Dorothy Barenscott, 2010-2025