Some 97% of the Dutch now have access to the internet, 92% have a mobile phone or smart phone (a rise of 36% on 2012) and 79% shop online. Some 53% of the population now say they have no religious affiliation, a rise of eight percentage points on 2010.

A decade in statistics: How the Netherlands changed in 10 years

The artists of today are busily looking for something that will once again interest the people of today, distracted as they are by a multitude of visual stimuli all clamouring for their attention. If you go to an art exhibition today you may see very simple objects that are so huge that they fill the whole room, some based on statics and others on kinetics. You will find stainless steel used in conjunction with seagull droppings, laminated plastics of every conceivable kind, rigid or inflatable transparent plastic, bits of scrap metal soldered together, and live animals. The artist wants to make the viewer participate at all costs. He is looking for a point of contact, and he wants to sell his works of art in the chain stores just like any other commercial article, stripped of its mystery and at a reasonable price.

Design as Art by Bruno Munari

New theory: in a service environment (hotels, restaurants, even retail) instead of worrying about the unknown, assertive people ask questions and demand to have things the way they want. They order coffee left at the door in the morning instead of questing for it in the morning or being satisfied with in-room coffee. What’s key to imitate is that they’re polite, smile, and are gently but clearly assertive.

“I like the idea of the aphorism as an expression of desire rather than a small machine for defining things, abstract or concrete.”

— Essayism: On Form, Feeling, and Nonfiction by Brian Dillon
http://a.co/2L7S6ok

“the length of a work is irrelevant, and the fear that not enough is on paper, childish.”

— Essayism: On Form, Feeling, and Nonfiction by Brian Dillon
http://a.co/dgmfMub

There’s actually little tolerance for failure. But there’s less for never changing.