Art 21 will debut a documentary that chronicles Anne Imhof’s DOOM process.
Tomorrow, Art21 will debut Anne Imhof: DOOM, a documentary short tracing the development of the artist’s immersive performance DOOM: House of Hope (2025). The film captures the work from early rehearsals to its three-hour realization at the Park Avenue Armory, where the space was transformed into a prom-like gymnasium populated with streamers, balloons, and Cadillac Escalades. Directed by Ian Forster for Art21’s Extended Play series, the film highlights Imhof’s layering of dance, music, skateboarding, and theatrical inversion of Romeo and Juliet, while contextualizing her exploration of youth culture, bodily autonomy, and social freedom. In addition to DOOM, the documentary touches on Imhof’s 2024 exhibition Wish You Were Gay, revealing the personal and artistic experiences that shaped her latest project.
Anthropic’s Claude chatbot now has the power to end “distressing” conversations.
Anthropic has updated its Claude Opus 4 and 4.1 chatbots to allow them to end interactions deemed potentially “distressing,” citing concern for the A.I.’s own welfare. Following this update, which was driven by uncertainty over the moral status of large language models, tests revealed that Claude consistently resisted harmful tasks, from generating material involving minors to instructions for large-scale violence, while completing benign requests like poems or disaster relief designs. Experts note that the move raises broader questions about A.I. sentience, ethical interaction, and how society perceives the agency of increasingly sophisticated chatbots.
Following its 2021 IPO and a turbulent public run, Soho House is going private again.
Soho House is returning to private ownership in a $2.7 billion deal led by MCR Hotels, ending a turbulent public period that saw the company lose nearly half its market value since its 2021 IPO. Founder Nick Jones and executive chairman Ron Burkle, through his firm Yucaipa, will maintain majority control, while shareholders will receive $9 per share, a roughly 18 percent premium. The transaction also brings actor-investor Ashton Kutcher onto the board and appoints hospitality executive Neil Thomson as CFO. Despite growth in membership and revenue, the high-end club struggled to turn a profit, prompting a special board committee to explore privatization less than three years after going public.
Miu Miu’s newest Gen Z-targeted fragrance could snag $175 million in retail sales.
Miu Miu is targeting Gen Z with its new fragrance, Miutine, fronted by Emma Corrin and launched under the brand’s first L’Oréal license. Designed to reflect a playful, irreverent femininity, the scent blends gardenia, jasmine, strawberry, and gourmand notes,. The campaign emphasizes self-expression and rule-breaking, with Corrin embodying the fragrance’s mischievous spirit in a film directed by Hailey Benton Gates. Industry sources estimate Miutine could reach roughly $175 million in retail sales during its first year, signaling a significant commercial push for the brand’s beauty division.
Art and architecture society National Academy of Design is gearing up to celebrate its bicentennial.
The National Academy of Design is marking its 200th anniversary with a yearlong slate of exhibitions, programs, and events that reflects on its history as one of the country’s oldest artist-led institutions while engaging with contemporary art and architecture. Founded in 1825, the Academy has shaped American artistic identity, from the Hudson River School to the present, through its community of elected National Academicians, whose work forms the core of its collection. The bicentennial celebrations will include public lectures, a convening of Academicians, and the 200th Anniversary Induction Ceremony, highlighting the Academy’s ongoing support for artists and architects through fellowships, prizes, and grants. These programs underscore the Academy’s commitment to fostering creative practice while using its bicentennial as a lens to examine cultural and historical legacies.
Today’s attractive distractions:
Look back at the enduring appeal of Oscar Niemeyer’s Brazilian residence.
Designers have left super-tiny microdoodles hidden on silicon chips.
Emerging artists are increasingly the next big thing at mega-galleries.
21 years after Motorola’s Razr first launched, we’ve now got a bedazzled one.
