art in my face: On the way to see Superbad last weekend I got got trapped in the roundabout at 6^th and Wannamaker and had to circle twice. This area of Topeka makes me think of artist Benjamin Edwards’ vast commercial landscapes. Packed with ambiguously familiar logos and directionals competing for attention, they out-layer each other as they criss-cross-clutter-create multiple picture planes. Devoid of people, his lonely and stark environments are packed with an overwhelming amount of information both ubiquitous and impersonal. Take a look at his site and tell us what you think.

the 708s: Damien Hirst is back. “I just want to celebrate life by saying to hell with death. What better way of saying that than by taking the ultimate symbol of death and covering it in the ultimate symbol of luxury, desire and decadence?” Inspired by similarly bejeweled Aztec skulls, Hirst (famous for The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living, aka the Great White shark floating in formaldehyde), made a platinum cast of an 18th-century European man’s skull (the teeth are original) and covered it entirely with 8,601 diamonds. It is said to be the most expensive piece of contemporary work ever made. Entitled For the Love of God, it is the centerpiece for his upcoming show Beyond Belief. Valued at over ₤50 million ($100 million USD), an unknown investment group has already purchased the work.

the 701s: Let’s start this weekly feature (posing a new question for discussion and feedback) with the questions we posted in the gallery for participants of the archiving project. Answers given will added to the list: (1) What makes something beautiful, (2) What makes something valuable, and (3) What is art? Comment back with your thoughts. The archiving project closes September 7 and results will be posted here in a couple weeks.

“I have forced myself to contradict myself in order to avoid conforming to my own taste.”
—Marcel Duchamp (1887-1968