– Not So Pretty in Pink: Is art vandalism on the rise? In thelatest instance of an art attack — or detournment, as the case may be —pranksters spray painted a copy of Rodin's "The Thinker" (oneof 22 made) in Buenos Aires, giving the intellectual icon pink skin,green hair, and a shoulder tat. The result, which looked either flayedor like some kind of punkified super hero, was then cleaned off bygovernment officials with a water blaster, leading conservators to fearthat the cleaning may have resulted in "irreversible damage" to thesculpture's patination. [AFP]   

– Jim Carrey, Street Artist?: When Jim Carrey was spotted spray paintinga pink-and-blue floral design on a building in New York's West Villagerecently, people initially thought he was impulsively bombing his home.It turns out it was his art studio. "Incase u believe wht u read inpapers in blogs i did't tag my house. It's my art studio, a simplespace where i can unleash my #Boing," the actor tweeted. Is a collaboration with Soderbergh next? [ThirdAge]   

– Christie's Alerts German Mogul's Heirs About Link to Renior: The sale of a Renior painting, brought to Christie's after the death of its owners, is on hold awaiting a possible claim by the heirs of German textile mogul Richard Semmel(once known as "the leading man for underwear in Berlin"), who fledGermany in 1933. The executors of the estate that put the painting upfor auction have filed a federal lawsuit asking for official rights,but Christie's is holding on tight awaiting resolution. It was, infact, Christie's that first alerted the heirs of their possible link tothe painting, but the heirs have yet to make a legal claim to it. [Tribune] 

– David Hockney Moves Into Film: Seven years' worth of David Hockney's work will be exhibited at the Royal Academy nextyear, including, for the first time, film. Using nine cameras, theBritish artist created large moving landscapes of the east Yorkshirecountryside. Hockney is not too modest about his foray into the newmedium: "It has occurred to me that it could save cinema," he said."I'm going to show these to friends in Hollywood in a few weeks."Hockney, who is quick to adopt new technology — he was among the firstartists to take up the iPad, and those works will be included at theRoyal Academy show — had some words of advice for Hollywood, too. Filmsin 3D are "a big error, a mistake" that is only good for pornography (!),he said. [Guardian]  

– Seaport Museum Takeover Planned: The Museum of the City of New York will take over the beleaguered Seaport Museum New York using a $2 million grant from the corporation in charge of developing Lower Manhattan. The museum, devoted to New York's maritime history, also operates 11 deteriorating vessels, which the City Museum will operate as well: "I think we can find our legs regarding the ships in fairly short order," said City Museum director Susan Henshaw Jones. "It's true we've never managed anything other than buildings, but we understand management." The $2 million grant was provided by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, part of $20 million in grants to 38 nonprofit and cultural organizations. [NYT] 

– ShContemporary Opens: Shanghai's fifth-annual art fair, which is seeking to reinvent itself under the new direction of former Italian fashion magazine editor Massimo Torrigiani, opens today. ShContemporary has struggled to define itself in recent years against strong competition from the international Art HK. This year it has aggressively pursued local and domestic galleries such as Beijing Art Now, Beijing Commune, and ShanghArt. [WSJ]  

– Christie's Appoints New Specialist in Asia: Zineng Wang will be Christie's new specialist in Asian 20th century and contemporary art. Based in Singapore, he will be responsible for the Southeast Asia region and also for the Southeast Asian art category. Zineng's appointment follows several high-profile new hires at Christie's Asia branch, an indication of the house's heavy investment in the region. [Press Release]

– Battleship Iowa Becomes Museum: The historic battleship Iowa will become a floating museum in Southern California. The last of four Iowa-class battleships to be detonated (another was the Missouri at Pearl Harbor), the Iowa was donated to the Pacific Battleship Center by the Navy and will be docked at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro. [Navy Times] 

– Fortune-Telling: Andrew Russeth is quick to spot an art-world boom 2.0, heralded by ever-increasing prices, ever-expanding galleries, and an ever-increasing supply of art ready to be consumed. The only question left is, who will win the battle to the top of the heap: Gagosian or Pace? No room for the little people in this narrative. [Observer]

– Gallery Participants in Pacific Standard Time Announced: The West Coast art omnium gatherum known as Pacific Standard Time has announced the full roster of galleries that will be joining forces with the Getty and other museums when the festivities kick off in October. The long list includes big names like Gagosian and Blum & Poe as well as smaller and first-year galleries, such as Tim Nye's new project Nye + Brown. [ITA]

– VIDEO OF THE DAY: Check out a video of soon-to-be filmmaker David Hockney toying with his well-loved iPad following his most recent show at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. His iPad drawings will be featured at his upcoming Royal Academy show in January. [AFP]