Colby Chamberlain

As someone preoccupied with how human beings operate within institutions, I’ve always loved Frederick Wiseman’s films. As a Queens native, my favorite will always be ‘In Jackson Heights.’

Rosalind Krauss, Annette Michelson, and “October” make an appearance on the UK quiz show “University Challenge.” #UniversityChallenge #arthistory

Rosalind Krauss, Annette Michelson, and “October” make an appearance on the UK quiz show “University Challenge.” #UniversityChallenge #arthistory

The part he was born to play.

Trump's economy is being held up by a massive AI bubble.

A recent study found that of 300 companies that owned generative AI tools, 95% reported zero return on their investments.

We will not entertain a bailout of these companies should this bubble pop.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT Colby Chamberlain on Alison Knowles

"By Knowles, with Knowles, through Knowles, we can locate models for collaboration and participation that remain tacky to the touch." www.artforum.com/columns/colb...

From MoMA and PS1 to the Cleveland Institute of Art, I keep finding myself at institutions that have benefited not just from Agnes Gund’s philanthropic support but her moral clarity and kindness. Rest in peace.

George Maciunas: Lecture and Performance - Events - e-flux An evening dedicated to George Maciunas, featuring a lecture by Colby Chamberlain and a performance by Laura Ortman of work by Maciunas.

I’m giving a talk at e-flux on Thursday 9/25, 7:30pm, “The Fluxhouse Cooperatives and the Future of the City.” The program will also include a performance of Maciunas’s “Solo for Violin” by Laura Ortman.
www.e-flux.com/events/67832...

Against Artsploitation | Dana Kopel Somehow, the anti-austerity politics of our work didn’t apply to those of us working at the museum. Behind the New Museum’s veneer of social justice was rampant exploitation.

It’s Labor Day! In Baffler no. 59, Dana Kopel took us inside the fight to unionize at the New Museum, where management skimped on raises but found the money to hire union-busting consultants and lawyers.
thebaffler.com/salvos/again...

Transgender studies professor Dr. Susan Stryker tears Gavin Newsom a new one while accepting the Transgender Legacy Award from the California state legislature 🔥🔥🔥 @susanstryker.bsky.social

Why is Stallone’s ‘Rocky’ statue still on top of the Philadelphia Museum of Art steps? No matter how you look at it, a statue of Rocky is a statue of Sylvester Stallone.

On the Balboa's current occupation of the steps: www.inquirer.com/columnists/r...

Triple Canopy – The Balboa Effect by Colby Chamberlain The Guggenheim Bilbao’s latest installation is a 1,400-pound bronze pun.

Apparently Rocky Balboa is once again at the top of the Philadelphia Museum steps. I wrote about the Balboa statue back in 2008 for an early issue of Triple Canopy.
tc3.canopycanopycanopy.com/contents/the...

It works!!

Did not expect to learn in the Christophe de Menil obit that Dash Snow and Uma Thurman are related.

Ever since I moved out of NYC, I think of the line “I don't want to move to a city where the only cultural advantage is being able to make a right turn on a red light” pretty much every day.

Page from "Writing Art History After Occupy," October 192 (Spring 2025): 107–30.

Page from "Writing Art History After Occupy," October 192 (Spring 2025): 107–30.

Page from "Writing Art History After Occupy," October 192 (Spring 2025): 107–30.

Page from "Writing Art History After Occupy," October 192 (Spring 2025): 107–30.

Here we discuss #OWS’s impact on our approach to the practice of art history and ask what resources Occupy's unfinished project can offer a moment dominated by the dawn of a second Trump administration.

Cover of Lindsay Caplan, “Arte Programmata: Freedom, Control, and the Computer in 1960s Italy” (University of Minnesota, 2022

Cover of Nadja Millner-Larsen, “Up Against the Real: Black Mask From Art to Action” (University of Chicago, 2023)

Cover of Colby Chamberlain, “Fluxus Administration: George Maciunas and the Art of Paperwork” (University of Chicago, 2024).

The three of us were fellows at the Whitney ISP when #OccupyWallStreet broke out, working on manuscripts that have since been published @uchicagopress.bsky.social @uminnpress.bsky.social

Writing Art History After Occupy* Abstract. This conversation explores the impact of Occupy Wall Street on the practice of art history. The authors of three recent books—on the new media art of Arte Programmata, the administrative aut...

The best way to think in dark times is to think with others. It has been sustaining to work with Lindsay Caplan and Nadja Millner-Larsen on “Writing Art History After Occupy,” first as a panel and now as a (no-paywall!) article in the journal October.
direct.mit.edu/octo/article...

Cleveland Artist to Transform Vintage Bus into Museum of the Great Migration Cleveland-based artist Robert Louis Brandon Edwards is repurposing a 1947 Greyhound bus to serve as a museum commemorating the Great Migration.

Downtown Cleveland is filled with fantastic architecture (much of which is featured in the new Superman movie). Great news that this Art Deco Greyhound station will be given a new role.
www.artforum.com/news/clevela...

The next time College Art Association makes a call for conference panels, I’m going to propose a panel on the prevalence of redundant panels. #CAA114

reposting with alt text

There are now three leftist academics with children who have become prominent Democratic politicians— Marxist economist Donald Harris; Gramsci scholar Joseph Buttigieg, and post-colonial theorist Mahmood Mamdani.

It’s wild how much politicians from Queens have shaped the national political scene in the past ten years. I’d read a take.

Greedo ranked Cuomo first.

“Where are the greatest museum seats in the world? Thanks for asking. The soft modernist squares in the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna are hard to beat, as are the Ashmolean’s cosy circular sofas and benches.”

The two social groups I frequently see wearing Apple Watches: nurses and grandparents. The former, because they’re constantly on their feet while doing rounds in the hospital; the latter because they’re afraid of falling and not being able to call an ambulance to bring them to the hospital.

Senior Editor The Baffler is seeking a senior editor to work closely with the editor in chief in determining the overall themes and direction of the magazine and website. With the editor in chief…

The Baffler is seeking a new Senior Editor. Apply by July 11.