Around The Web | What We’re Reading
This week there are a lot of questions that need answering. Starting with the horrific Grenfell Tower fire in London in the early hours of Wednesday morning. Could this really have been avoided? And if so, as seems to be the case, how did we get to this point? It turns out that the London housing crisis and money-making private contractors have a huge role to play. On the other side of the Atlantic, there seems to be a collective lack of imagination. From Bob Dylan to a Mexican mayor, plagiarism is not just for school homework anymore, but does it count if the victim is a fictional character played by Kevin Spacey? In a world of fake news and the above-mentioned plagiarism, it is a struggle to believe anybody these days. But now it appears that we can’t even trust our own brain. In a fascinating study outlined below, psychologists found that the brain can make us believe that we committed a crime as grievous as murder by implanting a whole string of false memories placing you at the scene…
Here’s the best of the web this week:
“Most inner-London boroughs report similar experiences of low-income displacement, public housing neglect and officially sponsored gentrification. These have been powder-keg issues in London for years, with activists warning that some crisis would come sooner or later. It’s now arrived, in the worst possible way imaginable.” As the horror of the Grenfell Tower fire unfurls, the story has become one of severe neglect by public services. What are the conditions that led to this disaster?
“I always felt that art should reflect the culture of the time. The responsibility we have is to record the events of history within an artistic expression. Each season, I’ve found it more relevant to reflect the times in the work.” Today multitalented designer Virgil Abloh will present his fashion installation at Pitti Uomo in collaboration with American artist Jenny Holzer. Here Abloh talks about the inspiration of the international refugee crisis.
“In this work, Jacques, Pierre, and Weiwei have fostered a robust dialogue with our building to create a thought-provoking, immersive experience that explores how surveillance transforms public space into a controlled environment where individuals forfeit their anonymity.” Discover the latest installation by Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Wei Wei using drones to stalk your every step (and make it into art).
“I’m working within my art form…It’s called songwriting. It has to do with melody and rhythm, and then after that, anything goes. You make everything yours. We all do it.” Did Bob Dylan copy his Nobel Prize lecture from SparkNotes? This wouldn’t be the first time he has been accused of plagiarism…
“’Copying was never the objective. The world’s attention, yes’, he said, specifically addressing ‘the President of the United States Frank Underwood and his cabinet.’” It’s not only Bob Dylan struggling for inspiration… this Mexican politician seems to have found his perfect speech on Netflix show House of Cards. But does it count as plagiarism?
“The situation is a study in the malleability of memory: an implausible notion, doubted at first, grows into a firmly held belief that reshapes one’s autobiography and sense of identity.” In the late 1980s, 6 people were charged with murder in the US and then later exonerated of the crime due to no DNA evidence whatsoever. So if they didn’t do it, why do they recall the crime so clearly?
“Media reports poured in this week about a new study touting the benefits of cow milk – and the potential harms of non-cow milk…but perhaps the most concerning detail is the study’s ties to the dairy industry.” As veganism becomes ever more popular, the mammoths of the dairy industry are clearly worrying, so they have started putting out questionable studies on how milk alternatives can stunt growth in children. Is there actually any evidence?
