Paul Rudolph House Listed As an NFT, and Other News

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The Edersheim Residence, a New York house by Paul Rudolph, hits the market as an NFT.

Paul Rudolph’s architectural legacy has been under threat lately: Two of his mid-century modern houses have been demolished this past year alone. So when the Paul Rudolph Heritage Foundation learned that the architect’s Edersheim Residence in Larchmont, New York, was listed as the first “Art as Architecture NFT” on the marketplace OpenSea, they were relieved that more public attention would be given to his work. It should be noted that whoever wins the auction will only receive the house, not the intellectual property or the photo rights, making it simply another online real estate transaction. At press time, the house is sitting at its minimum price of 1 Ether ($2,409). 

French wine tasters are fearing their livelihoods after the harrowing effects of Covid-19. 

Dulling of the senses is just one of many of the ailments that come part and parcel with the coronavirus. But for France’s esteemed wine tasters, that particular side effect is not only not being able to recognize the exotic fruits and fresh citrus notes that leapt out of the Pyrenean white wine. Like so many that came down with the virus, wine-taster Sophie Pallas lost her sense of taste and smell, a herculean catastrophe for a master wine taster that has forced her to slowly retrain her nose and palate.

New York museums get the green light to increase capacity to 50 percent on April 26.

With 44 percent of its population having received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine and the seven-day positivity rate 2.85 percent, the lowest since November 13 of last year, New York is increasing museum capacity restrictions to 50 percent starting April 26. (They had been at 25 percent since August 2020.) The pandemic has been particularly hard on the city’s cultural institutions, causing the elimination of two-thirds of all arts and recreation jobs.

LVMH breaks ground on a $154 million beauty and cosmetics packaging hub in Shanghai.

In Shanghai, French luxury giant LVMH has broken ground on what will be its largest e-commerce sales and storage hub for cosmetics in the Asia-Pacific region. On track to open by the end of next year, the Asia-Pacific headquarters will be the industrial hub for e-commerce packaging and distribution for cosmetics and perfume products. Expected to cost nearly $154 million, the facility will span nearly 23 acres. 

After backlash, Burning Man weighs mandatory vaccination to attend this year’s festival.

On the heels of Burning Man’s cancellation in 2020 due to Covid-19, festival organizers are mulling whether to hold this year’s event in September and if so, whether to require attendees to be vaccinated. After initially saying they would be mandatory, CEO Marian Goodell is walking back her statement in response to backlash from the loyal community of burners who cite the founding principle of “radical inclusivity” as antithetical to the dictum. Goodell acknowledged the unequal access to the vaccine in some countries and the restrictions on children. Nearly 80,000 people attend the festival in Nevada’s Black Rock Desert each year. 

Kamala Sankaram will host an opera “for and about trees” at a New York park this summer.

The nonprofit arts organization Creative Time has launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund The Last Stand, an experimental opera “for and about trees” by the composer and performer Kamala Sankaram. The opera “tells the story of a tree’s lifespan from acorn to its last stand—a bust of life-giving energy that a tree disperses as it dies,” according to Creative Time. The piece, which runs between eight and ten hours, features recorded and archival audio of “sounds that trees are familiar with.” The campaign seeks to raise $25,000 to ensure the performance is entirely carbon neutral. The opera will open at Prospect Park in July and will be free and open to the public.

Today’s attractive distractions:

Scientists revive a prehistoric plant using DNA from Siberian permafrost.

Ekow Nimako meticulously builds an afrofuturistic cityscape using LEGOs.

Google Earth’s “Time Travel” feature shows the dramatic evolution of cities.

An artist goes viral for posting daily pictures of creatively bruised bananas.