Chuck Close’s “A Couple of Ways of Doing Something,” now showing at the Austin Museum of Art, is a new look at some old photographic techniques. Close’s use of an early form of the photograph, called a daguerrotype, forms the basis of the exhibit.

Unlike artists who show us alternate realities that don’t actually exist, Chuck Close shows us what we’ve been missing in the world right in front of our faces. “I have always been fascinated by how one way of doing something can kick open a door to …

With all of this digital stuff, sometimes it feels good to go back to the analog world. I find making a real, honest-to-paper-pulp zine every once in a while keeps things in perspective. As many of you know, I spent the summer of 2008 in my old haunts in southeast Alabama. Well, I made a zine to commemorate the last few months of skateboarding, correspondence, and heat.

Robert and Shana ParkHarrison‘s exhibit, The Architect’s Brother, has been one of my favorite statements on our relationship with our technology and our planet since I first saw it in San Diego almost four years ago. This time around, I caught the display — including several pieces I hadn’t seen before — at The Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science in Tallhassee, Florida.

Mark C. Taylor is one of those people you stumble upon and wonder why you were previously roaming around unaware. His countless books explore many areas of culture, philosophy, art, theory, and, most recently, commerce. I originally came across his work while doing research on artist Mark Tansey (Taylor’s The Picture in Question explores the mix of messages and theory in Tansey’s paintings).

Remember when thoughts and theories about so-called “Generation X” were on the tip of everyone’s tongue? We were called “slackers,” and older people said we lacked motivation and passion. I’ve always taken issue with these characterizations because I’ve constantly seen people my age pursuing paths and interests that had no prior archetype — and working very hard at them. Now that the focus has shifted to the next generation, and now that we’ve been pushing for a while, our generation is emerging in new careers and pursuits quite different from …

“Technology marches on, over you or through you, take your pick.” – Stewart Brand
As technology marches on, who, besides alarmist Luddites, is keeping tabs on the changes it’s bringing about? One such person is philosopher Andrew Feenberg — and he does it with a philosophical pedigree that no one else can claim and from a critical stance that no other can maintain. His many books on the subject illuminate numerous aspects of technology’s ever-increasing influence that are so often overlooked in similar texts, yet he maintains an even keel: Andrew …

The pieces in Robert ParkeHarrison‘s The Architect’s Brother depict a character named “Everyman” coping with a number of distraught scenarios in which the pace of technology has out-stepped the resources of the earth. As tired as this theme may sound, ParkeHarrison brings a new perspective to each of many glimpses of these possible futures. These images are riddled with melancholy, but the weight is ultimately lifted by an unflagging belief in human agency.

Cynthia Connolly has been a fixture in the DC punk rock scene since its voice started echoing out of the Capital. The independent stalwarts of Dischord in DC, K Records, and Killrockstars in Olympia, WA are among her friends and her photo subjects: She takes pictures and makes postcards — one series of which was of many of these musicians and their cars.