fine mess

Margolis sounds interesting-thanks! Personally, when it comes to art mags I'm looking to see what everyone is up to (as much as possible) and who's making the most challenging work so Artforum is my choice. I once cancelled my subscription because they ignored Chicago, but their coverage seems to have picked up a lot since then (some years ago). Plus, with all the full page ads, Artforum is an attractive thing to look at. Magazines like Art News and Art in America are pretty lukewarm in comparison. I used to like Frieze and Modern Painters but haven't looked at those for a long time.

Rorty-Rorty: I also subscribe to Artforum, but I admit I don't always slog through the writing. I read Harpers, New Yorker, and Cabinet though my subscriptions are all running out. I think It's a good idea to be generally informed as well as know what's going on in your field. I forgot to mention any old school aesthetic philosophers. If you've never taken any courses on aesthetics, prepare to start with Plato and move on up to Continental Postmodernists.

Depending on the program, it'd be wise to become familiar with: Walter Benjamin The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction Theodor Adorno Michel Foucault Susan Sontag Maybe Slavoj Zizek this book on Robert Irwin http://lawrencewesch...-thing-one-sees You can check out books by Jerry Saltz, Roberta Smith, Dave Hickey. Some folks still want you to read Clement Greenberg..., There are a lot of people writing about new genres, social media, visual culture. It can get overwhelming. If you want a head start, you might peek at your fav University's reading list.