Why Effective Altruists Fear Art

Watch: Tanoa Sasraku's 'Whop, Cawbaby'; performance art in a doomed world; can we return to our pre-social media innocence? |

View this email in your browser Do-Gooders In recent months, the 'effective altruism' movement – whose proponents believe in rationally calculating how to achieve the most good in the world, and then acting on this calculation – has achieved ever greater cut-through in public discourse. Though its leading lights are a mixed bag: Oxford philosopher William MacAskill (feted by The New Yorker and The Daily Show), Elon Musk (whose torching of Twitter continues apace) and Sam Bankman-Fried (whose crypto empire spectacularly imploded last month). 'One of the interesting things about effective altruists is that, while they seem to spend a lot of their time trying to impress dumb rich guys, they do not – unlike a lot of people who spend their time trying to impress the wealthy and stupid – seem to have anything to do with the artworld,' writes Tom Whyman. Could it be that there's something about art that frightens them? Elsewhere: we screen Tanoa Sasraku's Whop, Cawbaby (2018), a tale of ecology and empire set within the bleak landscapes of Dartmoor; Mariacarla Molè argues for the place for performance art in this doomed world; Rob Horning considers Mastodon's attempt to foster another online community; and ruangrupa tops the 2022 edition of ArtReview's Power 100 (check out the list in full here). En Liang Khong, Director of Digital An Ideal of Optimality What does an Effective Altruist commitment to longtermism actually achieve? After all, Tom Whyman writes, 'we just don't really know what the challenges people might experience in the future are going to be'. read now Tanoa Sasraku, 'Whop, Cawbaby' In the latest edition of Art Lovers Movie Club, the story of an ecological cycle – occurring on the vast, bleak landscape of Dartmoor – questions notions of belonging, patriotism and the role the national flag of an imperial power plays in both past and present. stream now Return to Innocence In the wake of Twitter's erratic (though stalling) demise, Mastodon has emerged as a possible new home for online community. But, as Rob Horning asks when exploring its decentralized terrain, can it really change anything? read now Now More Than Ever Mariacarla Molè considers a swathe of performance artworks that seem to be responding to a prevailing mood that the end of the world is nigh. Has this time of darkness made our eyes more sensitive? read now ArtReview Power 100 Out Now ruangrupa, Jakarta-based artist collective and artistic directors of Documenta 15, take number 1 position in the 21st edition of the Power 100 list, the annual ranking of the contemporary artworld's most influential people and movements. read now Introducing the Power 100 This year, the compilers of the Power 100 noted that power no longer only accrues to those securely at the top of their respective hierarchies, but also to those who disrupt the usual way of doing things. read now The Power Players In a year in which many parts of the artworld – art fairs, whirlwind auctions and new megagallery franchise openings – seemed simply to return to a prepandemic normal, we take a look at some of the forces that have shaped this year's Power 100 list. read now Talk: Art in the Age of the Planetary Join the panel discussion in collaboration with Berggruen Arts, chaired by ArtReview's Mark Rappolt – with guest speakers Agnieszka Kurant and Nigel Warburton – on Thursday 15 December 2022 at Casa dei Tre Oci, Venice. RSVP Not subscribed yet? Sign up to ArtReview's newsletters © 2022 ArtReview Ltd. All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you opted in at www.artreview.com or the previous digital magazine website Our mailing address is: ArtReview Ltd. 1 Honduras Street London, England EC1Y 0TH United Kingdom Add us to your address book Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.