Link About It: This Week’s Picks
Britain’s first female tattoo artist, Gaymojis, how your dog might be a liar and more in our look around the web
1. Underrepresented Voices on Show at Zinister Zine Fair
Opening today at the Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance, as part of the BAAD! Ass Women 2017 festival, the Zinister Zine Fair focuses on self-published works by people of color and/or those who are a part of the LGBTQ+ community. More than just a zine sale, there will be an open-mic component and even a zine-making area where visitors can get creative. Find out more at Hyperallergic.
2. Grindr’s 500+ Gaymojis
With references to online dating culture and the queer community lexicon, Grindr’s new set of 500+ emojis fills a clear visual communication void with clever new options. From a rainbow heart to men raining from a cloud, there are fun, bright options—some of which are shorthand for fantasies and desires. All of them fit within six categories: Mood, Profile, Body, Dating + Sex, Objects, and Holiday. Grindr users have free in-app access on iOS devices, with Android coming soon, but both platforms have a freestanding gaymoji app (where 100 are free and $4 gets you all of them).
3. How Old Cosmetics Can Help Wildlife
Rather than tossing used mascara wands in the recycling, send them (or encourage others to send them) to the Appalachian Wildlife Refuge—an all-volunteer organization that rehabilitates animals who have been injured or orphaned. Mascara wands can be used to “remove fly eggs and larva from the fur of animals” since they are small and their bristles are close together. Old (but clean) wands can be mailed directly to the organization, but they also have an Amazon wish list online—so if you’re in the mood to do a little good for cute creatures, take a peek online.
4. The Most Extraordinary Museums in the World
Those who frequent galleries and museums are probably aware of “art fatigue,” but the sense of exhaustion and guilt-ridden boredom surely isn’t possible at more uncommon institutions. National Geographic selected 10 museums from around the world that are truly out of the ordinary—and will make you want to book flights pronto. There’s Cancun’s underwater museum of contemporary art, an institution dedicated to instant ramen, and one focused on the study of phallology—that being penises.
5. Britain’s First Female Tattoo Artist
As part of the “Tattoo: British Tattoo Art Revealed” exhibition—which explores not just design but the social history of tattoo and its culture—is the fascinating story of Jessie Knight, Britain’s first female tattoo artist. Born in 1904, Knight was a rebel and a pioneer who was also a sharpshooter dummy and stuntwoman in the circus before turning to ink. Renowned for her artistry, she was robbed and slandered, but was still awarded second place at the Champion Tattoo Artist of All England. Despite her remarkable career (and personal life, in which she apparently shot her husband because he kicked her dog) she retired in her 60s—with a boyfriend some 30 years her junior, no less.
6. Andy Rementer’s New Zine: Good Morning
One of Cool Hunting’s favorite artists, Andy Rementer, has released a new zine full of classic colorful illustrations in his signature style, though, with substantial use of dark shadows—an effect he has been playing with more recently. Printed in an edition of 200, the 32-page zine is $10 and spilling over with interesting characters. Rementer spoke with It’s Nice That about the publication and says, “The nature of the images are themes I often return to: characters, cities, moments, objects and nostalgia.” Read more at It’s Nice That.
7. Washington, DC’s Language Museum: Planet Word
Word buffs have something exciting to add to their calendar. In the winter of 2019, Planet Word will open in Washington, DC as an interactive museum dedicated to language. Founded by literacy and education advocate Ann Friedman, the destination will encourage visitors to explore rhetorical analysis, dig deeper into the meaning and impact of words and leave seeking out further reading. The site will also host a working language research lab, where visitors can offer their voices for dialect studies. As time goes by, fewer and fewer Americans read literature for pleasure—hopefully a place like Planet Word will help make a shift.
8. Your Dog Will Tell Lies For Treats
A recent study has potentially proven that dogs—while being our best friends—might be big, fat liars. Marianne Heberlein (who studies dog cognition at the University of Zurich) was watching her own pets when she got the idea: she saw one dog pretend to look at something outside, to trick the other pooch into moving from the best sleeping spot in the house. That clever dog led Heberlein to find out if our pooches would trick their humans too—if it meant they’d get a treat. Turns out, they will. Head to New Scientist to find out more about the experiment.
Link About It is our filtered look at the web, shared daily in Link and on social media, and rounded up every Saturday morning.
