Against a patchwork wall of hammered copper, a black veil appears to billow in mesmerizing motion. The fabric-like layer writhes and twists against the glimmering backdrop, revealing its diaphanous texture as it unfolds to translucence. Like a curtain flapping in an open window, the digital projection floats across the metallic surface of one of teamLab’s latest works.

Part of teamLab: Everything Exists in Infinite Continuity at the Smart Museum of Art, “Sea of Darkness, Memory Shining from the Depths” is one of several new commissions from the international art collective. Founded by Toshiyuki Inoko in 2001, teamLab consists of hundreds of artists, animators, musicians, mathematicians, developers, engineers, and more who tap into the provocative intersection of art, science, and technology.

The collective has long been interested in the limits of human perception and imagination. Through interactive and immersive installations, they invite viewers into a world where boundaries are suspended and continuity in space and time are key. teamLab was one of the earliest adopters of incorporating digital technologies into experiential works, and they continue to use basic software and programs most people have access to.

Today, encountering such elegant, yet technologically simple digital works is rare as we witness the exponential rise of AI and a collective outsourcing of much of our lives. In contrast to the tech evangelists and the luddites, teamLab’s approach is decidedly human without eschewing the digital. Works like “Order in Chaos” respond to physical touch, shooting a cacophony of vibrant lines across the floor, walls, and a grid of screens in the gallery. Riotous in energy, the piece “is an attempt to expand painting from a completed image, or a perspective illusion of space, into a spatiotemporal pictorial space that is continuous with the real space,” the collective says.

Bridging divides between time and location also emerges in “Continuous Life and Death at the Now of Eternity II,” which corresponds to its current exhibition’s environment. While on view in Chicago, for example, the floral piece brightens as the sun rises and darkens when it sets. As fall turns to winter, so will the ecosystem on the screen.

Closing the exhibition is one of teamLab’s most ingenious pieces, “The World of Irreversible Change.” Depicting a serene animated community as it goes about its day, the paneled digital work is programmed to respond to human touch by triggering a year-long, irreversible state of war and bloodshed between the inhabitants if the piece is tapped too many times. Several editions of “The World of Irreversible Change” were created, although the iteration on view at the Smart Museum is the only to exist in its original, pristine condition (it’s understandably cordoned off for preservation).

As Inoko tells us during a walkthrough of the exhibition, when the battle breaks out, the community can never return to its quieter days of peace. Eventually, all the people die, and the once thriving metropolis turns desolate. After a few years, shrubs begin to pop up and later still, bird song rings through the skies. But humanity never returns, a poetic if not cautionary tale for our era.

teamLab: Everything Exists in Infinite Continuity is on view through February 21 at the Smart Museum of Art. Explore more of teamLab’s works on its website and YouTube.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $7 per month. The article In Chicago, teamLab Expands Our Perceptions Through Boundary-Breaking Installations appeared first on Colossal.

PARIJS (ANP/DPA) - De Franse premier Sébastien Lecornu houdt donderdag een crisisberaad met zijn ministers over de escalerende onderwijsprotesten in Frankrijk.

Scholieren protesteren sinds vorige week onder meer tegen overvolle klaslokalen, een tekort aan docenten en vervallen gebouwen. Op verschillende plekken in het land is de situatie geëscaleerd. Zo is de hal van een middelbare school in Nantes in brand gevlogen, is te zien bij Le Parisien. Ook vuilnisbakken staan bij verschillende scholen in brand.

Alleen al op woensdag arresteerde de politie meer dan 600 mensen. De arrestanten worden verdacht van brandstichting en aanvallen op politieagenten. In sommige gevallen heeft de politie traangas gebruikt tegen de demonstranten.

Ook op universiteiten vinden inmiddels protesten plaats. Op ongeveer dertig campussen zijn blokkades gemeld, volgens de studentenvakbond Union Étudiante.

HILVERSUM (ANP) - De uitzending van De slimste mens van donderdagavond begint met een kort eerbetoon aan jurylid Paulien Cornelisse. Zij overleed woensdag aan kanker. Presentator Herman van der Zandt zal het woord tot de kijker richten, laat een woordvoerder van KRO-NCRV weten.

De slimste mens werd woensdag in overleg met de familie van Cornelisse niet uitgezonden, omdat KRO-NCRV het passend vond om stil te staan bij haar overlijden "en ruimte te geven aan het verdriet en gemis". Die aflevering wordt nu donderdag uitgezonden. Vrijdag is er een dubbele aflevering, zodat het schema weer kloppend is.

Cornelisse is nog te zien als jurylid in de populaire kennisquiz. Ze nam die functie vorig jaar over van Maarten van Rossem.

Cabaretière Claudia de Breij heeft een optreden donderdag afgezegd. Ze zou in Den Bosch een try-out van haar oudejaarsconference houden, maar ze zegt dat ze het niet aankan na het overlijden van Cornelisse. "Ik trek het niet. Die kleedkamer was zo van ons samen", schreef De Breij op Instagram.

ZEDDAM (ANP) - Een trap van honderd treden is de grote blikvanger in het parcours van de Europese kampioenschappen veldrijden begin november in Zeddam. Een 60 meter lange fietsbrug is een ander opvallend onderdeel in het rondje van bijna 3 kilometer, meldt de organisatie in een persbericht.

Zeddam was in 2006 al eens decor van de WK veldrijden in de Gelderse gemeente. Marianne Vos veroverde er haar eerste van acht wereldtitels, Erwin Vervecken won er zijn tweede van drie titels. De Belg tekende het parcours voor de komende EK.

De trap was al vaker opgenomen in voorgaande crosses in Zeddam en was berucht, maar ontbrak destijds op het WK-parcours, omdat de passage te smal was. Vervecken heeft hem breder gemaakt, zodat de renners elkaar kunnen inhalen. "Ik ben blij dat die eyecatcher erin terug kan na renovatie", aldus de oud-wereldkampioen.

De organisatie rekent op 8000 toeschouwers in het weekend van 7 en 8 november.

ROTTERDAM (ANP) - De mbo-scholen Albeda en Zadkine, die samen ongeveer 38.000 leerlingen opleiden, willen fuseren tot een mbo-instelling voor de regio Rotterdam-Rijnmond. Als een van de redenen voor het fusieplan noemen beide scholen de snel veranderende arbeidsmarkt.

"De vraag naar goed opgeleide vakmensen groeit en het onderwijs staat voor grote opgaven. Juist daarom willen we samen verder bouwen aan onderwijs dat aansluit bij de ontwikkeling van studenten, de arbeidsmarkt en de samenleving. Met ruimte voor maatwerk, innovatie en een sterke verbinding met het werkveld."

"De afgelopen periode onderzochten wij verschillende vormen van samenwerking. Uit deze verkenning is naar voren gekomen dat wij meer kunnen betekenen door samen verder te gaan, voor studenten, medewerkers en de regio", aldus de scholen.

De voorgenomen fusie, op zijn vroegst in schooljaar 2028-2029, brengt volgens de partijen nog geen veranderingen met zich mee voor studenten, medewerkers, bedrijven en andere partners.

PARIJS (ANP/RTR) - Een Frans marineschip heeft vorige week ongeveer tien schepen door de Bab al-Mandeb begeleid, aldus een legerwoordvoerder. De Jemenitische Houthi's kregen vorige maand het volledige kustgebied aan de belangrijke zeestraat onder controle.

Het Franse schip maakt deel uit van de missie van de Europese Unie in de Rode Zee, genaamd Aspides. Die heeft als doel de scheepvaart te beschermen tegen aanvallen van de Houthi's. De EU verhoogde twee weken geleden het waarschuwingsniveau voor de maritieme missie na de toegenomen dreiging van de Houthi's.

De door Iran gesteunde groep heeft al jaren delen van Jemen onder controle en blokkeert havens van Saudi-Arabië. Riyad steunt in Jemen de internationaal erkende regering en leidt een coalitie tegen de Houthi's.

Nederland liep ooit voorop in het vrouwenvoetbal, maar inmiddels zit het in de middenmoot. Dat komt door een gebrek aan echte aandacht en middelen, zegt Anton Jansen.

Seven hundred offenders from dozens of prisons in England and Wales expected to be freed on Thursday

• Enver Solomon: Releasing prisoners won’t solve the crisis in English and Welsh jails. Here’s what will

• UK politics live – latest updates

Prisoners have thanked Andy Burnham as they celebrated walking free from jail early.

The first wave of releases began on Thursday, with 700 offenders expected to be freed across England and Wales under the government’s plan to ease prison overcrowding.

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• Striker accused of head-butting and punching man

• Elected for crown court trial in front of judge and jury

Ivan Toney has pleaded not guilty to assault after being accused of head-butting and punching a member of the public at a Soho nightclub. The England striker appeared at Westminster magistrates court on Thursday, entering a plea of not guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

The court heard that on 6 December last year, words were exchanged between the 30-year-old striker and Saber Da Silva at 100 Wardour Street, a live music venue. The prosecutor, Tom Heslop, said it was not known what was said between the two men, but the exchange resulted in them “squaring up” to one another before Toney “lunged forward and head-butted the complainant, followed by a few punches”. The altercation left Da Silva with injuries to his nose and fingers, it was alleged.

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Writers and Guardian readers discuss the titles they have read over the last month. Join the conversation in the comments

I was sideswiped by Giada Scodellaro’s Ruins, Child. A brilliant, strange book that challenged me in the most exhilarating way, with its fractured language and dream-cinema visions, the sense it bestowed of walking through a corridor full of echoes. Echoes of a less elliptical but no-less political kind haunt Jordy Rosenberg’s astounding Night Night Fawn. I guess you could call it a family novel? But it’s at least as much about fascism as it is about the family – as well as about unsettling linkages between the two. And for horrors and rage in a nonfiction register, Jonas Marvin’s The Breaking of the English Working Class is an indispensable – and beautifully written – essay on decades of structural, economic and psychic violence. The feeling it provoked in me brought to mind John Berger’s phrase “undefeated despair”.

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Baked pasta, gnocchi, chicken, meatballs and greens – all perfectly served straight from the oven

• Sign up here for our weekly food newsletter, Feast

As I have mentioned before, we live directly above a takeaway pizzeria and tavola calda (a canteen-like spot that translates as “hot table”). My desk is by the window, so the writing and editing of my next book (a collection of regional recipes that is only two years late) has been accompanied by the smell of whatever is cooking in their kitchen downstairs, before being arranged, in big roasting trays, behind a glass counter. Occasionally, I have to shut the window, but mostly the steady stream of pizza, baked pasta, braised meat, meatballs, roast potatoes and green vegetables shining with olive oil inspires me. And that is the inspiration for this newsletter: ideas for easygoing dishes that are best served straight from their rectangular roasting tins.

As I write this, it is almost lunchtime, so, driven by my own hunger, I would like the first serving from a roasting tray to be Angela Hartnett’s macaroni cheese: al dente pasta mixed with béchamel and various cheeses, then baked until golden brown and bubbling at the edges. Just as welcome would be a plate of baked pasta inspired by one of my friend Cinzia’s dishes: meze maniche, rigatoni, penne or macaroni with a rich tomato sauce, basil, lots of mozzarella and pecorino. Or a slice of Meera Sodha’s vegan sweet potato, miso and wholemeal lasagne, which, she promises, takes 15 minutes to put together and uses good, flavourful, ready-made ingredients such as miso, sun-dried tomato paste and passata.

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A boarding-school escapade becomes a wonderfully acted coming-of-age comedy, as two best friends find their world threatened by desire and adulthood

Rose Tremain’s autobiographical short story, inspired by an escapade from her own boarding school days, has been transformed into an extremely funny, charming and tremendously well-acted comedy written by Miriam Battye and directed by Molly Manners, all about sex, class, friendship and the awful encroachment of adulthood. As well as everything else, it refuses the glib happy ending of the traditional coming-of-age movie.

Newcomers Marni Duggan and Galaxie Clear give cracking performances as Flic and Minna, two year-10 girls and best friends for ever at a private school. They are not outsiders or emo losers; both are good at the brutal sport of lacrosse. Intent on raising their profile in advance of an attempt at Oxbridge, they audition for a production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, which involves boys from a neighbouring school.

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Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Thomas Hawk posted a photo:

Caracas and Curacao

Budapest previously expelled 10 Russian diplomats for activities incompatible with their status, wording that is often used as a euphemism for spying.

​Een bijzondere dag eindigde in een tragedie voor de Amerikaanse ter dood veroordeelde Christa Pike: nadat de twee lethale injecties bij haar executie niet werkten, werd ze naar het ziekenhuis vervoerd waar het ziekenhuispersoneel succesvol voor haar leven vocht. Toen Pike bijkwam van de narcose en de injecties kreeg ze een flinke rekening gepresenteerd van ruim 300.000 dollar.

"Ik bleek hiervoor niet verzekerd en mijn gevangenis in Tennessee helaas ook niet, waardoor ik nu zelf voor de ziekenhuiskosten opdraai", treurt Pike. "Dit bedrag kan ik natuurlijk nooit betalen, dus dikke kans dat ik binnenkort achter slot en grendel moet."

Amerika-experts spreken van een typisch Amerikaanse situatie.

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England's secondary schools are reporting slightly fewer cybersecurity incidents and faster recovery when disaster strikes, according to a survey by exams regulator Ofqual. Twenty-seven percent of schools reported an incident during the 2025/26 academic year, down from 29 percent a year earlier and 34 percent in 2023/24. Ofqual surveyed 3,775 secondary teachers in England in July. For questions concerning whole schools, it counted one response from the most senior participating teacher at each institution, producing a sample of up to 2,162 schools. Phishing was the most commonly reported type of incident, followed by data protection breaches, hacking, and ransomware. Ransomware affected 2 percent of respondents. Staff data was the information most commonly compromised. Student data was affected in 13 percent of incidents, while student work was affected in one percent. Recovery times improved more clearly. Among schools reporting an incident, 66 percent said they recovered "immediately," up from 55 percent the previous academic year. A further 12 percent recovered within half a school term – roughly six or seven weeks – while one percent took longer than half a term and another one percent required at least a full term. The proportion of reported incidents causing what respondents considered "critical damage" also fell from ten to seven percent, Ofqual said. "Critical damage" was not defined. The regulator told The Register that respondents were free to interpret the question in whatever way they felt best. Ofqual could not explain what had driven the apparent improvement. When asked what cybersecurity improvements their school had made during the past year, 54 percent of teachers selected "I don't know." Among the 46 percent who identified at least one change, half said their school had introduced a cybersecurity policy, 22 percent cited new or tested backup procedures, and 20 percent said they had completed or updated an incident response plan. Teachers were divided over who bears primary responsibility for cybersecurity. Forty-six percent pointed to the IT team, while 40 percent said responsibility was shared among all staff. Just nine percent identified senior leadership. Ofqual argued that cybersecurity is a leadership responsibility rather than solely an IT problem. Mat Pullen, director of education at Jamf, said the attack frequency and recovery figures were promising, but the understanding of security responsibility was a concern. "Reducing incidents matters, but so does recovering faster," Pullen said. "Cyberattacks have closed schools for a week or longer in the past, further disrupting an education already hit by Covid and affecting the wider economy as parents take time off work. "Ultimately, cybersecurity is a shared responsibility of IT, teachers and senior leadership, and breaking down these silos keeps technology secure and lessons running." Around a third of teachers said they had received no cybersecurity training during the past year or were unsure whether they had, up from 28 percent a year earlier. A similar proportion said the training they received was not useful. Of those who received training, 65 percent said they made no changes as a result. Ofqual's findings look considerably rosier than the government's Cyber Security Breaches Survey, published in April. That research found that 49 percent of primary schools, 73 percent of secondary schools, 88 percent of further education colleges, and 98 percent of higher education institutions had identified a breach or attempted attack during the previous 12 months. The figures are not directly comparable. Ofqual asked secondary teachers about cybersecurity "incidents," while the government survey counted identified attacks and breaches regardless of whether they succeeded. The latter also covered education institutions across the UK rather than secondary schools in England alone. Even so, the broader survey illustrated how frequently schools are targeted. Twenty-seven percent of further and higher education institutions identified attacks at least weekly, and almost half of those reporting a breach suffered an adverse impact on their systems. Successful attacks can force schools to close while systems are restored. In June, several schools across England and Wales shut temporarily while technicians investigated a malware scare. The ICO said last year that students were responsible for more than half of cyberattacks attributed to a known actor in the UK education sector. ®