This is the end, isn’t ‘it?
When I got started in my career I called myself a _web designer_. I was fresh out of my MFA program and teaching part-time in an Interior Architecture department. I felt closer to design than technology at the time.
Michael Barrett @ Abouthalf.com
Michael Barrett @ Abouthalf.com
Latest posts
David Hockney at the Portland Art Museum
Seeing the David Hockney retrospective at the Portland Art Museum felt personal. His lifelong embrace of technology as an artistic tool mirrors my own scrappy history with photocopiers and inkjet prints, and vindicates every argument I ever had about whether any of it counted as art.
8 Pieces
Highlighting my favorite 8 pieces at the 2026 Oregon Contemporary Artists’ Biennial
Brace face
Adventures in adult braces
Watch it
Too many bloops. Too many blips. Not enough juice. Time to retire the Apple Watch for a regular old watch.
Make an app
The story of why and how I made a nostalgic RSS news reader app.
Make a book
Turning a collection of Instagram posts into a handmade book.
90 Notes to Self
A conceptual art photo journal for Instagram
What even is a website?
A short love-letter to INTDEV’s website followed by some thinking about what a website needs to be.
Minimalism Club and some rambling thoughts about AI
Minimalism.club is a silly little conceptual art joke of a website that I released into the world over the weekend. The central premise is that it’s sort of funny that minimalism requires books, a documentary, a podcast, and many YouTube channels. Why not a club too?
Cloudy Mexico
Rain followed us to Guadalajara. The city is mid-transformation. Construction and fresh concrete everywhere. The World Cup is reshaping the streets while protesters block the highways
New work: The crows return to Venice in autumn
Meditating on time passing with crows.
Bean Boy
My 4-year veggie anniversary passed last summer and I didn't even notice.
Three shirts
On becoming a Brooks Brothers customer; a justification of my bougieness
The crows return to Venice in autumn
A crow and his twin observe a post-it-note sunset over the open mouth of the grand canal. Spring foliage is a background memory.
Oh no, I broke my poodle
My poodle remains stoic when faced with what must be terrible pain
Marking the days – an artwork for Instagram
For the last quarter of the year, I’m turning my Instagram into a calendar.
48 hours in Pittsburgh
Tagging along on a work trip to beautiful downtown Pittsburgh, just long enough to visit the Andy Warhol Museum
Virginia Jaramillo at the Bechtler
Notes on Charlotte, Waffle House in the rain, and Virginia Jaramillo’s retrospective at the Bechtler.
Instagram in 2025
How I'm using Instagram in 2025. Making the most of a hostile platform.
Visiting Monet at PAM
Visiting Monet's Waterlilies at the Portland Museum of Art
Tomatoes are not in season
A young man emerges from a calendar to let you know his sweater and cap are available in two spring-forward colors and also that it is too early for tomatoes.
April Art
Reviewing two art exhibitions, one by Laura Beth Reese at Blue Sky and one by Ben Buswell at Oregon Contemporary.
Notes on Memphis
A long weekend in Memphis. Music, grits, ducks, and Elvis await.
The last big grid
Back in January, Instagram changed the format of their profile pages from a 3-wide grid of squares to a 3-wide grid of 4 x 5 rectangles. This change probably reflects Instagram’s continued effort to become a generic TikTok clone for boomers. The 4 x 5 grid of rectangles is better than squares for displaying video previews.
Tamara de Lempicka at the De Young
Sneaking off to San Francisco to see the Tamara de Lempicka retrospective at the De Young museum.
A new year, a new microwave
Home ownership is a journey.
La Biennale
“Ah, la Biennale…” he responded as if that explained everything.
Nightcap
"Nightcap" began with a snapshot of my kitchen window, taken from outside at just past dusk when the sky was dark, but weirdly illuminated by city lights. The exterior lights cast a strange yellow light on the grey walls of our house. I was thinking about windows and reflections, so I created a grid of bright sunny sunrise colors which I promptly buried behind iconic clouds. A wedge of lime…
Street art in Florence
She’s from Florence. You don’t know her.
Helen Frankenthaler at Palazzo Strozzi
Helen Frankenthaler at Palazzo Strozzi
Bumbling
Bumbling
Florence by Train
Florence by Train
Welcome to Venice
Welcome to Venice
Departing and Arriving
Leaving Portland was easy. Drop off the poodle, get a Lyft to the airport. Go.
October Photos
Lingering remenants of summer in golden afternoon sun.
Mr. Smith tries some electric ski goggles
Electric Ski Goggles
I remember Clyfford
I remember Clyfford
Romantic Mexico
Romantic Mexico
Visiting Orozco
Visiting Orozco
Escaping the rain and the dark
Escaping the rain and the dark
Eggs Benedict
I think Eggs Benedict is one of the best low-brow fancy meals. Poaching eggs and making hollandaise both require better than average cooking skill. It’s just hard enough to do right that you can really impress your friends if you can pull it off.
Snow thoughts
Snowy weather in Portland reminds me of my hometown
Replacing Substack with Astro and Buttondown in 12 easy steps
Replacing Substack with Astro and Buttondown in 12 easy steps
New Year's Eve Getaway
The internet is closing in on Glenwood, Washington.
You can't un-know something
You can't un-know something
Low stakes, magical drama
Reading Murakami
Old Mountain
Visiting Machu Picchu
The road to Machu Picchu
Chinchero, Moray, the Sacred Valley
Two nights in Cusco
Gasping for air in the thousand-year-old Inca capital.