#I doubt units that were previously released during the first patch

[rubywolf0201]

Hoyoverse: *reveals Huohuo’s banner rerun alongside Jiaoqiu’s banner*

Me, with very limited Stellar Jades:

[littlemisssquiggles]

So Willow said she bugged every room in the Schnee Mansion... sooo she got a live recording of Oscar telling James of Salem's apparent immortality. And Neo and Cinder were in there, along with a very unhappy Whiltey Schnee how might now be in control of the SDC and feeling more abandoned by his splintering family...

Heyo Miki-chan! Yeaahhh…here’s the thing with that titbit about the recording:

Even if a recording of Oscar andIronwood’s conversation should exist realistically within the show given the setupabout Willow bugging every room in Schnee Manor with cameras, I honestly don’tthink it’ll ever be used nor will it come up for the remainder of the season.

To me, I think the sole purpose of the narrativehighlighting that little detail was to: a) Provide a nice little way for Willow Schneeto contribute to the PLOT when she finally made her first onscreen debut. b) Provide a nice little way to redeem Willow’s character in the eyes of the audienceas she was originally pegged to be the quintessential ‘absent mother’ who spent most of her time drowning her sorrows in alcohol whileallowing her husband to abuse their children and run the family name that her deceasedfather once built into the dirt.

And finally c) To conveniently give Weiss the exact thing she needed to out her father for hiscrimes.

Gee-whillikers, I thought Clover Ebi was the one with luck on his side. Howlucky was Weiss that Whitley was the only obstacle keeping her back fromexploring Schnee Manor. Not to mention that it was also really lucky how noneof the staff at Schnee Manor tried to stop Weiss at all from wandering aroundthe place…in spite of the fact that the last known worker was fired for‘allowing her to leave the manor’.  

How lucky was Weiss that Jacques didn’timplement any kind of new policy with the staff at the Manor barring her and herfriends from exploring any part of the premises unsupervised since she left home.

How lucky was Weiss that Jacques didn’tforce her to be a ‘guest’in her own home by barring her fromexploring the Manor; thus providing a bit of a tougherchallenge to get to her dad’s office than justpoor Whitley.

Hard to believe that this was the same authoritarian father who once cut Weiss off financially just because she chose toattend an academy far away from her kingdom rather than stay home where Jacquescould keep a watchfuleye on her and dictate her education.

Hard to believe that Weiss could justeasily return home and wander the Manor as freely as she did when she lived there back in V4…despite leaving anddespite previously telling off her father in front of the friends she pledgedwere her family over her biological one much to Jacques’ clear annoyance.

Hard to believe Weiss faced zerorepercussions because of that moment. Turns out Weiss can tell off Jacques and STILL walkaround her home like she never left. Seriously, did Clover rub off some of his goodjuju on Weiss because that is just such gosh darn luck.

But wait, there’s more! How lucky wasWeiss that she was easily able to make her way to her father’s office and findit open when she needed it to be.

How lucky was Weiss that Jacques wasthe type to keep his office shut when he’s there but somehow leave it perfectlyaccessible when he isn’t there.

How lucky was Weiss that the night shechose to snoop around her father’s office just so happened to be the same nighther mom chose to make herself present for the first time ever in the story inthe exact same place as her.

How lucky was Weiss that her motherjust so happened to have the information she needed to rat out her father onhis crimes waiting right there in the room to give it to her when she arrived.

And theglazed cherry on top? How lucky was Weissthat her mother was able to provide her with the exact info she needed becauseshe just so happened to have rigged all of Schnee Manor with cameras. Wowee! It’s notlike that detail raises any kind of questions at all. Nope. None. Weiss reallygave Clover a run for his money with just how lucky she got in V7CH8. Amazing.

Alright, alright, my dry sense ofhumour aside—Not to be that person, however the more this squiggle meister watches RWBY, the more I’m starting to catch onto the CRWBYWriters’ overreliance on the almighty Power ofConvenience for the sake of pushing the PLOT.

For example: X thingamabobble was only introduced in this one scene for the sake of providingCharacter A with the precise thing they needed for the next scene and thenX thingamabobble is never used again in the PLOT since it already servedits key purpose.

As established in V7CH8, Willow onlyplaced the cameras for the sake of having a resource to out Jacques in theevent that she ever needed to leave him, I’m assuming.

“…You puta camera in here.”

“I putthem in every room of this house, for our safety, in case I ever needed to—“

I think the camera jig was purposefullyplaced as a plot device to provide a means for Weiss to rat out Jacques on hissecret alliance with Watts. Somehow, I have a better chance at believing thatthe camera detail will never be used ever again for the remainder of V7 thanotherwise.

Unless the PLOT attempts to introduce anothersubplot in which an emotionally distraught Whitley Schnee discovers therecorded footage of Ironwood and Oscar’s conversation about Salem on the Scrollhis mother gave Weiss and decides to use the information about Salem toblackmail the General and the Council into releasing his father from prisonunless they wanted to risk a repeat of what transpired down in Mantle with allof Atlas being plunged into a panic that would bring forth another wave ofGrimm. Especially during a tense time where both the People of Mantle and Atlasare living up in the sky and tensions are even higher now as the People ofAtlas are upset that they’re forced to share their kingdom with the “bottom feeders” and the People of Mantle still blame Atlas for the decimation oftheir home.

Even if the Robyn and the rest of theAtlas Council know about Salem’s existence, I doubt they’d want to reveal thenews to the rest of the kingdom as yet especially in the wake of tense timesfor both Atlas and Mantle.

Here’s what I’m thinking: My hunch isthat by the end of V7, Mantle’skingdom will be near destroyed and infested with Grimm with most of its kingdommoved up to living in Atlas. You’vebeen anticipating a ‘consequence’ for our heroes actions, right Miki-chan?

Well what if… thefitting consequence was that our heroes’ actions contributed toward the Fall ofMantle while settings things in motion for the inevitable Fall of Atlas?

As described before, when Mantle falls,all the People of Mantle will be moved up to Atlas right? While this will markthe first time in Remnant history that Atlas and Mantle are united, imagine if…noteveryone is happy with the reunion.

I can see the People of Atlas,particularly the upperclass, lashing out at the Mantlese, accusingthem of being unwantedimmigrants exploiting the resources of their kingdom while the surviving People of Mantle would argue that Atlaswouldn’t exist without them so if anyone was “exploited”, it was the Mantleseespecially since they still blame Atlas for what happened to their kingdom.

Having a subplot where the truth isused as weapon to bring forth more devastation—this time for both Atlas and Mantle who was now forced coexiston the same soil together— that could be fascinating to watch play out. Especially if you add the detail that Atlas hasnow become the equivalent of dangling a baited worm on a hook over a pool of piranhassince… imagine that Mantlebecomes exactly like Mountain Glenn and what’s left of Beacon after its fall—an abandoned, desolate kingdom infested withGrimm from the tundra all around Solitas that have now made it their territory;making it unsafe for the People of Mantle to return to their home for a whileor ever again.

With this, I can see Robyn Hill and her Happy Huntresses becomingmore prominent characters for theAtlas Arc as they would have to work with theAtlas Council and Military to siphon the rising tensions in Atlas due to thedisputes among both sides of their citizens.

With Atlas hovering over a literalcesspool of Grimm in the remains of Mantle below, let’s just say that Atlascould not afford another Grimm wave like Mantle. But as I said, tensions arerising. The People are miserable and the supposed leaders of both respectivekingdoms are at their wits ends trying to deal with the demands oftheir people.

I can even picture this as being anopportunity for our heroes to gain triple the experience in the field, workingwith the Ace Ops and the Happy Huntresses to clear out all the Grimm down inMantle. However this proves futile most of the time since the Grimm keepreturning to the city in droves due to all the tension up in Atlas.

To make matters worse, what if… there iseven tension among some members of the Ace Ops and the Happy Huntresses—like Marrow and May for example— which affect the troops ability to work togetherand often creates more problems than the Grimm do.

So basically it’s a scenario wheretimes aren’t all that hunky-dory anymore. The tension between Atlas and Mantle is growing by theday, plaguing everyone including its huntsmen and our heroes are unfortunatelycaught between all of it, forced to feel guilty about the whole thing sincetheir past choices were partially responsible for placing both kingdoms in thiscurrent “rough patch”.

With that thought in mind, that wouldmake the Fall of Atlas far worse since it could potentially kill not just the People ofAtlas but Mantle as well. If Atlasfalls, there would be no place for either Atlas or Mantle to go since the kingdom in the sky has fallen and what’s left of Mantlewas now a ghost territory made unfit by the Grimm. Basically, if Atlas falls,the People of Mantle and Atlas will be forced to restart from the same place their ancestors once did decades ago.

That could be a very cool developmentfor Atlas. Not to mention it could make a really, really great season for RWBYto watch unfold. Buuuuuuuuuuuut….I dunno. These are all just ideas here. Idoubt the story would do something like that with Whitley. As I told oneanon-ninja, I don’t want Whitley to become a villain. However I wouldn’t mindhim being used as an unfortunately pawn since I can see a greater likelihood ofthat.

Then again, what I mostly want for Whitis for him and Weiss’ relationship to become a focal point of Weiss’development. Imagine if…in addition to having to deal with recovering what’s left ofMantle, the tensions between the Ace Ops and the Happy Huntresses, the tensionbetween Mantle and Atlas overall—Weiss also has to deal with tension between herand her brother.

Like she’s trying her best to be a good big sister for Whitley like Winter was to her but Whit wasn’t meeting herhalfway at all on anything. No matter what Weiss did, Whitley would always shuther down since he blamed her for placing their father behind bars—not evenacknowledging that Jacques placed himself at the foot of this door. Weiss justpushed him inside.

No matter how much Weiss tried, she couldn’tseem to catch a break. None of our heroes could. Everything was just such a messand it was only going to be downhill from there.

I dunno. I guess what I’m mostly sayinghere is that I don’t expect the camerafootage plot device to come back; given how thingsoften go within RWBY.

If it does somehow return to serviceyet another subplot like you anticipated then alrighty then. But as of now, I’mnot expecting it too, fam.

As for Neo, while she was indeed insideSchnee Manor under disguise, she was also conveniently under disguise on thesame night our heroes showed up for the Schnee Dinner. Going off of what was foreshadowed back in V6—I think Neo was only there at Schnee Manor to scopeout for Ruby and learn where her next whereabouts were going to be. Since the Fire and Ice-cream duo labelled Ruby as their target, I’m expecting them to ambushher under the haze of the Fall of Mantle. That’s my guess with that.

~LittleMissSquiggles(2020)

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day Two Hundred Fifty-One: Turtle ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: Healing Waters and Scorching Flames ] [ AO3 Link ]

She’ll admit...it’s a little strange coming back here now. Hinata’s first visit to the capital of the Fire Nation had been during the Day of Black Sun - the solar eclipse that had been the allies’ hope to finally bring an end to the Hundred Year War. A day when, without the sun, the firebenders were to be completely powerless. But the plan went horribly awry thanks to leaked information...and the Avatar’s group was forced to flee and leave the rest of the invasion behind.

The only successes had been the freedom of Omashu, and the final straw in the change of heart within Sasuke.

Her second (and until now, final) visit to the city had been during the passing of Madara’s Comet. While Naruto faced the Fire Lord, Sasuke went to try and finally bring reason to his older brother. Though there had been the beginnings of a duel, Sasuke’s own revelation had been enough to overcome the last shreds of Itachi’s doubt...and they’d reached a peaceful resolution. With Naruto’s defeat of Fugaku, there had been an end to the war at last.

And from there? Years and years of diplomatic reparations, finding balance, and keeping every member of Team Avatar busy enough that visits between them have been few and far between.

Hinata herself has been using the time since the end of the war attempting to undo the damage done by the Fire Nation against the Southern Water tribes. The scattered remnants had been united, and the stolen waterbenders returned to the south. Reuniting them with family hadn’t been easy...and comforting both sides had taken its toll. Both prisoners and those who remained had to face losses: captives that had died during the war, and vice versa. Many no longer had homes to return to once it was all over.

The port where the prior prisoners were released turned into a makeshift refugee camp in their own territory. Shelters were built, resources stockpiled, and displaced tribesmen kept until new paths could be made. At first unintended, it turned into a hub that eventually grew into a city. Though many tribes, once steady, returned to their various homes...some, especially those without family or homes to return to, remained and helped the new city thrive.

Only now that things have begun to settle has Hinata found any time to leave the south. Given her connections with the Avatar, and the personal growth she obtained during her months fighting, it was she without question who was looked to - and is still looked to - for guidance in the south. But...she’s earned a much-deserved break, and has agreed to meet a few of the others in the Fire Nation to just...see one another.

Kiba decides to remain to handle the mantle in her place. The one nonbender of the group, he now leads the Southern Water tribe army. There’s no one else Hinata would entrust their progress to in her absence. He’ll be missed during their get-together, but he insists she deserves the break more than he. Hinata had been unable to argue otherwise, and so, rides on a ship to the island country alone.

Passing the gates that guard the bay, Hinata can’t help but look to them somberly. Much has changed these past few years...herself among them. And given how little she’s seen of her friends since the war’s end, she can only assume their metamorphoses will be just as apparent.

As the ship docks and she makes her way topside to disembark, Hinata can’t help a pause. Rather than a small escort to take her to the palace, the second prince is here himself to greet her.

Sasuke, flanked only by two guards, looks so...different.

Having been previously weighed by his father’s expectations, his own duality, and the struggles he faced, he now looks so much...lighter. Gone is the constant furrow to his brow, or the shadows in his eyes. True, some linger under them from exhaustion, but none of them are afforded much time to rest, even now. He just seems...more relaxed. Calm.

Happier.

In fact, he affords her a genuine - albeit tired - smile as she makes her way down to the dock. “Hinata,” he greets with a small bow. “It’s good to see you. Were the seas calm for your voyage…?”

Still a bit taken aback, Hinata blinks before smiling in turn. “They were. It was a pleasant trip. But I’m glad to be back on land for the time being.”

“And here I thought a waterbender could never tire of water.”

That earns a light laugh. “Water, no...bobbing and dipping in a ship, maybe. Has anyone else arrived yet…?”

“No, not yet. And Kiba isn’t with you, right?”

“No, he’s keeping an eye on things while I’m gone. Developments in the south are still very...ongoing.”

Sasuke nods, expression tingeing a bit gravely for a moment. “I understand...I’ve heard bits and pieces about what’s been going on down there. You’re doing amazing work.”

Her head ducks, humble at the praise. “It’s what needs to be done. And I’m happy to do it. Seeing my people come back from the hardships they suffered gives me hope. We’ve always been a tough people, but this has been our g-greatest test.”

For a moment, something passes over Sasuke’s face. But before she can question it, he gestures. “Well, for now, I suppose we’ll make our way up to the palace. You haven’t seen it since the repairs, have you?”

“No...this is my first trip back since the end of the war, and Itachi’s coronation.”

Surprise pulls at his features. “...has it really been that long?”

“It has,” she replies with a weary smile. “Time sure has flown, hasn’t it?”

“...yeah. Guess being so caught up will do that to you. One moment you’re just starting a new month...the next, you turn around and three have passed. There’s hardly been a dull moment since the war ended.”

A nod. “All I can hope is that it slows a bit soon. It would be nice to enjoy the labor we’ve been giving for so long. Just for a bit.”

“It would.” With her agreement, Sasuke leads Hinata toward the palace. “I can’t wait to see everyone...Naruto’s efforts in the Earth Kingdom were the last time I saw him, trying to sort out the Fire Nation occupants.”

“Was that ever resolved…?”

“Yes...and we’re working on plans to make it even better. But we can talk about that when he’s here to chime in. I think he’s got a better handle on it than I do, honestly. I’ve been more focused on aiding Itachi here as of late.”

Light small talk fills the air during their trek to the central building, and Hinata can’t help but wonder at the sheer size of it. It and the Earth Palace always make her feel so small. Nothing has ever compared to her little southern village.

“We can wait in the gardens for a while - I’ll have some tea brought out.”

Snapped from her reverie as Sasuke speaks, Hinata reflexively smiles. “That sounds great. I haven’t seen the gardens yet.”

“It’s honestly my favorite part of the entire palace. My mother and I spent a lot of time here before she...left.”

The pause earns a glance, but Hinata doesn’t press the subject.

They pass through only a few hallways before making their way into the gardens...and Hinata can’t help but stare. It’s...beautiful! Green, lush, and filled with ponds and fountains. After a lifetime in the snow and ice, plantlife and even grass still fill her with excitement. “They’re amazing…!”

“Let me show you the best part.” Approaching a pond, Sasuke takes a knee, seeming to...look for something.

Unsure what his intent is, Hinata does the same.

“...there!” Pointing, he gestures to a patch of reeds along the other end. From them...emerge several little creatures Hinata has never seen before.

Her eyes go wide. “They’re so cute…! What are they?”

“Turtleducks.”

“Turtle…?”

“Ducks. See, they have a shell, like the great lion turtles,” Sasuke explains. “Just...a lot smaller, and a lot fluffier.”

“I love them already…” Hinata murmurs, watching as they swim their way a bit closer, quacking softly. A few turtleducklings make their way to the bank, and she gently brushes a finger over one’s head.

Beside her, watching from the corner of his eye, Sasuke can’t help a hint of a smile.

“I wish we had these back home...but I think it’s likely far too cold.”

“Yeah, you’re probably right. But I guess that gives you a reason to visit, huh?”

Looking up, Hinata simply replies, “I already have a reason.”

Sasuke can’t help a blink of surprise, the bridge of his nose alighting a soft pink just as a courier steps into garden with a bow.

“Prince Sasuke, the Avatar and the earthbender will be here soon - word has been sent ahead with a...lemur of sorts.”

Moment broken, the pair glance up. “Thank you,” the Uchiha replies. “We’ll get ready to meet them.”

“Well, there goes the peace and quiet,” Hinata observes with a light laugh behind a hand.

“True...but it’ll be good to see them.”

“Mhm. But...maybe we’ll avoid showing them the turtleducks. I’m not sure the little things will appreciate the noise.”

Sasuke can’t help a humorous scoff. “...you have a point. We’ll visit them again later, when the others are busy.”

Just the two of us.

                                                            .oOo.

     Hi so this is technically yesterday's entry...I'm sorry it's late but I was gone LITERALLY all day and was pooped when I got home real late, so...this is me finally getting it done ;w; Sorry about the wait, loves~      But anyway! Back to the AtLA crossover...which I'm still not 100% satisfied with. Sasuke just makes so much more sense to fit Azula's role, but...I want him to be Zuko. And Itachi just does NOT fit her role AT ALL, so...hence me not being 100% sure what to do with the epic sibling battle. Whoops, lol - but that's not the focus! Turtleducks are by far (imo) the cutest AtLA fusion animal. Just...I love them. And now Hinata does too.      Anywho, I still need to do today's prompt - that'll be later! For now I've gotta run and get other stuff done, but thanks for reading!

[caveartfair]

$1.4 Billion New York Auction Week Wraps Up—and the 9 Other Biggest News Stories This Week

Catch up on the latest art news with our roundup of the 10 stories you need to know this week.

01  An auction week totalling over $1.4 billion in sales kicked off in New York with evening Impressionist and Modern sales at Christie’s and Sotheby’s.

(Artsy)

Monday night’s sale at Christie’s finished with a within-estimate total of $289.1 million, thanks in large part to strong showings from two star lots. The result marks the auction house’s best sale in the category since 2010. The results were a 17% rise from November’s Christie’s New York evening sale, which totaled $246.3 million, and a 104% rise from the prior May, a sign that buyers’ appetites for the choicest works are undiminished. At Sotheby’s, the loss of Egon Schiele’s Danaë (1909), apparently within hours of the sale’s start, put the auction house on the back foot on Tuesday. The painting was estimated to sell for between $30 million and $40 million (roughly one-sixth of the night’s total sale estimate). Still, the evening closed with $173.8 million in total sales, falling squarely within a presale estimate of between $147 million and $210.4 million that was revised downward, following the withdrawals of the Schiele and a work by Camille Pissarro. The results represented a modest 10% uptick from the house’s November haul of $157.7 million, but fell significantly short of the Christie’s sale the prior evening, suggesting the auction market hasn’t fully landed on solid ground after a 2016 marked by uncertainty and caution on the part of sellers.

02  The week’s contemporary evening sales concluded Thursday with strong results from all three auction houses.

(Artsy, Phillips)

Sotheby’s garnered headlines with the $110.4 million sale of Jean-Michel Basquiat’s Untitled (1982), which sold to Japanese e-commerce billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, who had previously set a Basquiat record when he bought one of his paintings last year for $57.3 million. Almost immediately after winning the painting, Maezawa posted a photo on Instagram of himself taken with his prize during a previous trip to see it in New York. The blockbuster sale, which broke the auction record for Basquiat’s work as well as topping Andy Warhol’s standing record for work by an American artist, brought the total for the evening to $319.1 million, including the buyer’s premiums, for 51 lots. Sales had been estimated at $211 million to $277.1 million; the total without the buyer’s fees was just shy of the high estimate, at $276.9 million. Wednesday night’s $448 million Post-War and Contemporary sale at Christie’s had a higher total on 71 lots, but the evening lacked the drama of Thursday night’s 10-minute bidding war over the Basquiat. The result without the buyer’s premiums came to $391.3 million, falling within the estimated $339.2 million to $462.8 million range. Both sales had high sell-through rates and the majority of works falling within or exceeding estimates, a sign that the market may be finding its level. And Phillips rounded out the trio with a sale Thursday night that brought in $110.3 million (with buyer’s premium) with a 100% sell-through rate of the 37 lots (though three were withdrawn). The total is more than double what the same sale brought in last year, with this year’s top lot, a Peter Doig landscape selling for $28.8 million—making him the most expensive living British artist.

03  German artist and choreographer Anne Imhof has been awarded the Golden Lion, the Venice Biennale’s top prize.

(via the New York Times)

Titled “Faust,” Imhof’s show is on view at the German pavilion, one of 85 national pavilions across the Venice Biennale. It features a dozen performers, dressed in black athletic gear and walking through, over, and under the crowd of viewers via glass platforms while a grating, metallic musical score plays in the background. “I thought the sadistic state of hyper-visibility inside was brilliantly conceived,” Tate Modern senior curator Catherine Wood told the New York Times of the work, which won the Golden Lion for national participation. A second Golden Lion, for the best artist in the Christine Macel-curated central exhibition, was awarded to another German, Franz Erhard Walther, for his sculptural textile works that invite audience interaction. Carolee Schneemann won the Golden Lion for lifetime achievement earlier in April, with all three of this year’s Golden Lions going to artists who work with performance. London-born, Egypt-based Hassan Khan was awarded the Silver Lion, which recognized him as the most promising young artist in the Biennale’s central show, for his sound installation.

04  New York City has released a report detailing the results of roughly seven months of public engagement conducted in the lead-up to the city’s forthcoming cultural plan.

(Artsy)

New York City’s Department of Cultural Affairs (DCLA) engaged 188,000 New Yorkers—via focus groups, phone surveys, and hundreds of community events—in order to compile its brief, released Monday. The report, titled “What We Heard,” provides a glimpse as to what will likely be included in the cultural plan (due to be released in early July), spanning commitments to equitably distributed funding, better disabled access, and affordable living for artists. “What We Heard” includes insight into New Yorkers’ cultural habits and perceptions and lays out a list of policy proposals. The findings reveal the robust health and value of the arts in New York, while also showing that issues of inequality and affordability are indeed felt in the cultural sector—an imbalance the cultural plan hopes to mitigate.

05  The trust of Elizabeth Taylor is suing Christie’s, claiming that the auction house improperly canceled the sale of one of the late actress’s diamonds.

(via DNAinfo)

Christie’s sold the diamond, consigned by Taylor’s trust, for $8.8 million in 2011. The auction house promoted the gemstone’s supposed history for the sale, stating it was once owned by the Indian emperor who built the Taj Mahal. However, there are doubts Indian royalty ever owned the work. After discovering this uncertain provenance, the buyer of the piece demanded that Christie’s cancel the sale and repay him—which the auction house did. But Taylor’s trust is calling the reversal “unwarranted” and has refused to return the millions to Christie’s, arguing that the object was listed simply as an “Indian diamond” in the catalogue (although representatives for the auction house did elsewhere claim a royal history). In the suit, the trust further alleges that the proceeds of several separate sales have not been transferred and notes that they are seeking the missing money or return of the objects.

06  The row over a Harper’s Bazaar jacket-decorating party continues with news of three additional allegedly stolen patch designs.

(via Jezebel)

On May 7th, a spokesperson for bi-annual erotic zine Leste accused organizers of a Harper’s Bazaar jacket-decorating party of co-opting a design by their editor Sara Sutterlin without permission or initial compensation, Jezebel reported at the time. Now, three other artists say their designs were also made into patches without permission. Emma McIlroy, of the fashion brand Wildfang, offered to sell Harper’s several designs, including a pin emblazoned with the words “WILD FEMINIST” (the magazine declined this design, though paid for others). Photos of the event, however, show that the design appeared in the party as a patch, a product McIlroy does not offer. A Harper’s marketing associate informed McIlroy that the patch had been “created inadvertently by an intern” and offered compensation. McIlroy declined, asking instead that a public apology be made on social media, a demand Harper’s representatives say they are unable to fulfill. Two more artists—Lotte Andersen and Madison Kramer—have come forward, accusing Harper’s of stealing their designs. Neither Harper’s nor its publisher Hearst have yet responded to these latest accusations.

07  Abby Bangser, currently Frieze’s artistic director for the Americas and Asia, is leaving the fair to join the Dia Art Foundation.

(via Dia Art Foundation)

Bangser will serve in the newly created leadership role of Deputy Director of Strategic Initiatives when she takes up the post in July. According to a statement, Bangser will “advance the strategic priorities of the institution and serve as the main liaison for Dia’s sites around the United States and beyond.” The departure from Frieze, where Bangser liaised with galleries and collectors, comes as the New York edition of the fair saw staid returns earlier this month, though there is no indication Bangser’s transition is a direct result. Many of the galleries under Frieze’s white tent on Randall’s Island who saw significant returns this year had, in fact, pre-sold much of their booths. For galleries relying on sustained foot traffic to generate sales, the relatively out-of-the way fair has always proved challenging—and matters were not helped this year when fierce rains forced the fair’s early closure on the Friday of its four-day run.

08  Publisher Françoise Nyssen has been appointed as France’s new culture minister.

(via Le Monde)

Nyssen, of the Arles-based publishing house Actes Sud, will become the first publisher to occupy the post. Her appointment was announced earlier this week by France’s recently elected President Emmanuel Macron. Through Actes Sun, Nyssen—a Commander in the Order of Arts and Letters—has published novels by Stieg Larsson and Nobel Prize-winner Svetlana Alexievich, as well as books on artists such as Sophie Calle and Giuseppe Penone. With her husband, she established the cultural organization Association du Méjan and the École Domaine du Possible, a school for children neglected by the French educational system. Reception to Nyssen’s appointment has been generally optimistic, especially among artists she has worked with in the past. “I hope she’ll have the means to create a visionary cultural policy that gives a social link in a divided and bruised country,” said French conceptual artist Laurent Grasso, who believes Nyssen will help create a stronger policy dialogue with artists.

09  Twelve art museums will receive $1.87 million in grants from the Knight Foundation, in order to develop immersive visitor experiences through technology.

(via Artforum and The Art Newspaper)

The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation made the announcement Thursday. The institutions—including the Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, the Akron Art Museum, the New Museum, and the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami—were selected from a pool of more than 100 applicants. From chatbots to 3D printing, each project works to incorporate digital tools into the museum experience. “People want those experiences to be personalized, interactive and shareable, just as they experience their daily lives,” said the foundation’s president, Alberto Ibargüen. The Detroit Institute of Arts, for example, will receive $150,000 to further develop an augmented reality tour of their collection—allowing visitors to explore the way their eyes process color in Georges Seurat’s paintings or the symbolism of Diego Rivera’s monumental mural at the institution.

10  Ahead of the U.K.’s general election on June 8th, the Labour Party has promised to invest £1 billion in arts and culture funding as part of its platform.

(via The Art Newspaper)

Released Tuesday, the manifesto would allow for £200 million annually over five years to go towards upgrading “cultural and creative infrastructure.” Specific cultural policies outlined in the 128-page document include a widening of access to the Government Art Collection, which curates artworks in major U.K. government buildings, and an additional £160 million diverted to primary school arts education.Recent polls put Labour at a 17-point deficit to Prime Minister Theresa May’s leading Conservative Party, which also released its manifesto this week. Matt Hancock, the U.K. minister for digital and culture, criticized Labour’s bold pledges and promising to ensure Brexit negotiations under the Conservatives would provide “the best possible Brexit deal” for the arts.

—Artsy Editors

Cover image: Courtesy of Sotheby’s.

from Artsy News