The first thing you’ve got to do is walk it. Is it too much to assume you haven’t? No: even many who live on and around it (in those narrow precincts of solid streetwalls, Puerto Rican/lingering elderly Jewish/black/west African striver mixed-up neighborhoods for block after block for miles), even many of those who have never lived anywhere else, who scarcely know the city south of Franz Sigel Park, haven’t walked the full stem. That means starting at the very beginning, at the corner of East 138th St., under the shadow of the Metro North rail bridge. There’s nothing very grand about it…

Israeli-born designer Ron Arad took the podium Tuesday morning during the preview for his new solo exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art. Following introductory remarks from MoMA design curator Paola Antonelli, who declared him a pioneer and a central figure in contemporary design, Arad could say only this: “Thank you very much. I really have nothing to say. I hope you enjoy the show.”

That about sums it up. Arad’s influence on design practice over the last three decades has been tremendous; but at a time when the field is undergoing an agonizing process of revaluation, it’s difficult to…

Art historian David Carrier put it succinctly: “Art critics determine what art is valuable.” That, in the most reductive terms, is one view—the dimmest and grimmest—of how the art world works and the role that critics play in it. According to this assessment, critical imprimatur is nothing more or less than the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval; the artist and gallerist court the critic to get the good review, to which the collector and dealer in turn defer and buy the artist’s work at a premium. Done and done, everyone shakes hands and hits the pool.

Of course, it’s never…