Kevin Buist
@kevinbuist.com
Art critic, filmmaker, communicator.
https://kevinbuist.com/
https://kevinbuist.com/
Pinned
Kevin Buist
@kevinbuist.com
· Nov 3
Flipping Coins
Kevin Buist reflects on Mitchell F. Chan’s “Zantar” games, crypto, and the attention economy
www.artforum.com
For @artforum.com I wrote about @chan.gallery's series of "Zantar" video game artworks, which I saw and played at Nguyen Wahed in New York in May. These works are funny, sad, and a biting critique of crypto, the attention economy, and gamified finance. www.artforum.com/columns/mitc...
Barbara Kruger for the win, again.
February 5, 2026 at 1:41 AM
Barbara Kruger for the win, again.
Their job is storytelling, and a change of heart makes for a good story. ‘Evil slob remains evil slob’ does not have a narrative arch.
Do the people at CNN really believe Trump has had a change of heart, adopted a sincere new tone, and is adjusting policy accordingly?
I doubt it, but who knows.
I’m not accusing them of believing him or falling for it, I’m accusing them of not caring. They act like truth isn’t part of their job.
I doubt it, but who knows.
I’m not accusing them of believing him or falling for it, I’m accusing them of not caring. They act like truth isn’t part of their job.
February 4, 2026 at 11:59 PM
Their job is storytelling, and a change of heart makes for a good story. ‘Evil slob remains evil slob’ does not have a narrative arch.
Reposted by Kevin Buist
We gotta come up with a better system than “everything rests on whether these twelve billionnaires are nice”
February 4, 2026 at 7:41 PM
We gotta come up with a better system than “everything rests on whether these twelve billionnaires are nice”
Reposted by Kevin Buist
WHAT'S up me hearties it be thy boy Ahab, with the biggest ounce of gold giveaway ever hath ye seen on the channel. Swerve not thy fixed purpose to attend this one, guys! But first I must tell ye the tale of SQUARESPACE, who be thy sponsor today
February 4, 2026 at 6:25 PM
WHAT'S up me hearties it be thy boy Ahab, with the biggest ounce of gold giveaway ever hath ye seen on the channel. Swerve not thy fixed purpose to attend this one, guys! But first I must tell ye the tale of SQUARESPACE, who be thy sponsor today
Reposted by Kevin Buist
Working theory: If one had a chance to improve society by injecting just one piece of knowledge into every human — so that they truly UNDERSTOOD it, not just knew it on a surface level — "the difference between a million and a billion" would be pretty high in terms of return on investment
again we do not really do a good job of explaining how wealthy people like Jeff Bezos are
his net worth is $253.2 billion.
so he could take one million dollars, and just light it on fire
and then do it again tomorrow
and again the day after that
and then do it every day for 693 years and 8 months
his net worth is $253.2 billion.
so he could take one million dollars, and just light it on fire
and then do it again tomorrow
and again the day after that
and then do it every day for 693 years and 8 months
February 4, 2026 at 6:44 PM
Working theory: If one had a chance to improve society by injecting just one piece of knowledge into every human — so that they truly UNDERSTOOD it, not just knew it on a surface level — "the difference between a million and a billion" would be pretty high in terms of return on investment
Reposted by Kevin Buist
You know how The Death of Stalin condenses a few months of events into a week or so for the sake of pacing? If you made a movie where this happened days after Bezos spent $75 million on a fancam of the First Lady people would assume that's what you were doing.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Washington Post says one-third of its staff across all departments, not just the newsroom, is being laid off.
February 4, 2026 at 3:11 PM
You know how The Death of Stalin condenses a few months of events into a week or so for the sake of pacing? If you made a movie where this happened days after Bezos spent $75 million on a fancam of the First Lady people would assume that's what you were doing.
Reposted by Kevin Buist
one thing the trump era has made clear, i think, is that the american people themselves are far more committed to the values of our founding documents than our elites
February 4, 2026 at 4:07 AM
one thing the trump era has made clear, i think, is that the american people themselves are far more committed to the values of our founding documents than our elites
Reposted by Kevin Buist
Reposted by Kevin Buist
Marimar Martinez, shot by federal agents in Chicago, testifying in Washington today:
Martinez ends her testimony with this:
"If there's not justice for the people, let there be no peace for the government."
"If there's not justice for the people, let there be no peace for the government."
February 3, 2026 at 9:52 PM
Marimar Martinez, shot by federal agents in Chicago, testifying in Washington today:
Reposted by Kevin Buist
Perhaps the Department of Justice will just implode?
This is unreal. An AUSA talking like that in open court is about as close as you can come to a total breakdown. Never heard of anything like it.
February 3, 2026 at 9:11 PM
Perhaps the Department of Justice will just implode?
Vast wealth is a curse. But vast wealth can also be used to stage a very impressive PR campaign to convince everyone that it's not a curse.
February 3, 2026 at 8:55 PM
Vast wealth is a curse. But vast wealth can also be used to stage a very impressive PR campaign to convince everyone that it's not a curse.
Yup.
You can look at the Epstein files and conclude that only bad people have billions of dollars, but I think it’s also possible that having billions of dollars cauterizes your humanity
February 3, 2026 at 8:53 PM
Yup.
Reposted by Kevin Buist
There's a point, well below a billion dollars, where the amount of money you have lets you rid yourself of anyone who can be a check on your worst impulses, and replace them with people who tell you those worst impulses are somehow valorous. Rare is the billionaire with someone to tell them "no."
You can look at the Epstein files and conclude that only bad people have billions of dollars, but I think it’s also possible that having billions of dollars cauterizes your humanity
February 3, 2026 at 7:42 PM
There's a point, well below a billion dollars, where the amount of money you have lets you rid yourself of anyone who can be a check on your worst impulses, and replace them with people who tell you those worst impulses are somehow valorous. Rare is the billionaire with someone to tell them "no."
"...rocket system that will launch the astronauts on an unprecedented path around the moon."
Actually, I think flying around the moon is very precedented. www.cnn.com/2026/02/03/s...
Actually, I think flying around the moon is very precedented. www.cnn.com/2026/02/03/s...
NASA delays historic moon mission launch | CNN
NASA is now targeting March for the earliest possible launch of its historic Artemis II lunar mission, which will send four astronauts into deep space for the first time since the Apollo program ended...
www.cnn.com
February 3, 2026 at 8:50 PM
"...rocket system that will launch the astronauts on an unprecedented path around the moon."
Actually, I think flying around the moon is very precedented. www.cnn.com/2026/02/03/s...
Actually, I think flying around the moon is very precedented. www.cnn.com/2026/02/03/s...
Reposted by Kevin Buist
a lot of people make themselves miserable online solely from their need for antagonistic strangers to agree with them but good god what could be less important
February 3, 2026 at 8:31 PM
a lot of people make themselves miserable online solely from their need for antagonistic strangers to agree with them but good god what could be less important
Reposted by Kevin Buist
You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.
February 3, 2026 at 5:30 PM
You cannot buy the revolution. You cannot make the revolution. You can only be the revolution. It is in your spirit, or it is nowhere.
"We can only conclude that “Melania” portrays Melania in exactly the way she wants to be seen: as rigid, formal, solitary, dourly materialistic; surrounded by lackeys drafted into the closest thing to intimacy that she seems able to access" www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...
“Melania” Is a Forty-Million-Dollar Journey Into the Void
The First Lady’s lavish new documentary portrays world events as B-roll between wardrobe changes.
www.newyorker.com
February 3, 2026 at 5:52 PM
"We can only conclude that “Melania” portrays Melania in exactly the way she wants to be seen: as rigid, formal, solitary, dourly materialistic; surrounded by lackeys drafted into the closest thing to intimacy that she seems able to access" www.newyorker.com/culture/crit...
Reposted by Kevin Buist
Abolish ICE.
There’s no reforming it.
There’s no compromise.
There’s only one way to rein in ICE’s terror campaign. Abolish it.
There’s no reforming it.
There’s no compromise.
There’s only one way to rein in ICE’s terror campaign. Abolish it.
February 2, 2026 at 11:27 PM
Abolish ICE.
There’s no reforming it.
There’s no compromise.
There’s only one way to rein in ICE’s terror campaign. Abolish it.
There’s no reforming it.
There’s no compromise.
There’s only one way to rein in ICE’s terror campaign. Abolish it.
Reposted by Kevin Buist
This watermark graffiti by street artist Mathieu Tremblin is, like, the best thing ever.
January 29, 2026 at 8:47 PM
This watermark graffiti by street artist Mathieu Tremblin is, like, the best thing ever.
Best SNL skit I’ve seen in a while. youtu.be/-wQhY5CMMl4
Mom Confession - SNL
YouTube video by Saturday Night Live
youtu.be
February 2, 2026 at 9:53 PM
Best SNL skit I’ve seen in a while. youtu.be/-wQhY5CMMl4
SKATER RAPPER BLP KOSHER JOINS FORCES WITH TECH DECK FOR EXCLUSIVE FINGERBOARD COLLAB
February 2, 2026 at 9:46 PM
SKATER RAPPER BLP KOSHER JOINS FORCES WITH TECH DECK FOR EXCLUSIVE FINGERBOARD COLLAB
It's wild that every crisis we're facing right now is self-inflicted by Trump and his idiot advisors.
February 2, 2026 at 7:37 PM
It's wild that every crisis we're facing right now is self-inflicted by Trump and his idiot advisors.