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(01/25/22 3:22pm)
Aesthetics, aesthetics, aesthetics. It's one of the first words that comes to mind when we talk about what makes HBO's Euphoria unique. That, alongside "glitter," "skimpy outfits," "graphic eyeliner," "drugs," and "partying." Anyone wearing an I.AM.GIA set, rhinestone makeup, or fun hairstyles is now said to have a Euphoria aesthetic. We toss the word around, loosely understanding it as embodying the style of a given piece of media or work of art, but formally, aesthetics is actually a philosophical discipline: the study of beauty and taste.
(01/24/22 5:54am)
This past year had us considering a potential addition to the list of long–haul COVID–19 symptoms: existential despair. In yet another year marked by isolation, all of us felt the temptation to curl up in bed and disappear at some point. Luckily, in our darkest moments, we had books to keep us company.
(01/17/22 7:00pm)
Terry McMillan achieved national attention with her third book, Waiting to Exhale, in 1992. It was a huge success, remaining on The New York Times bestseller list for several months. When crafting up her characters—four single Black women in Arizona in the '80s—McMillan couldn’t have foreseen social media or a global pandemic, let alone manifestation TikTok. Even so, McMillan’s novel reveals how social expectations placed on Black women prevent them from taking part in the relationships that they are taught to aspire to. Andin the 30 years since the novel's release, these societal expectations and aspirational relationships have only gotten harder to reach.
(12/05/21 6:23pm)
In their spectacular fall semester show “Vogue,” Arts House Dance Company proved just how well they can strike a balance between high fashion and high passion. The show, which took place at the Iron Gate Theater on Nov. 12 and 13, consisted of 12 different dances—each choreographed and performed by different combinations of the 19 member company. For upperclassmen, the show marked the first time they were able to perform together onstage for an audience since fall 2019, and for sophomores and first years, it was their first time ever. The company tapped into its impressive arsenal, utilizing a myriad of styles, techniques, and tempos and receiving a well–deserved standing ovation by the end of the night.
(11/18/21 5:00am)
“I like how you can transcend the bounds of your own consciousness by stepping into someone else's perspective,” Emma Blum* (C ‘23) says, her eyes sparkling with passion as she explains her love for writing. She describes her young self as a “nerdy kid,” always reading and writing while her friends played handball during recess. While her creative inspirations have evolved from J.K. Rowling and John Green to George Saunders and Hanya Yanagihara with age, Emma’s love for prose hasn’t wavered. Nowadays, an English major with an impressive list of awards and accolades in her back pocket, she has clearly matured as a writer, but it's obvious she's still the same nerdy kid at heart.
(11/18/21 10:00pm)
Students are huddling in Stommons, heaters are on full blast in all the dorms, and Locust is swarming with Canada Goose—it’s official: Winter is upon us. If you’re yearning for a little cheer in the long, cold weeks ahead, look no further than Philly’s local art establishments. Take a peek inside the back catalogue for our favorite seasonal picks from the Barnes, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, and our very own Penn Museum.
(11/17/21 2:00pm)
On October 28, 2021, The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts debuted its new retrospective of American feminist painter Joan Semmel, entitled Joan Semmel: Skin in the Game. The first such display of Semmel's work in her six–decade career, the exhibit openly brandishes an erotic abstraction that offers a candid look at the female body, disputing the male gaze.
(11/14/21 8:20pm)
Judging by his vivid, meticulously–shot photos, you’d never guess that Luca Fontes came to photography by happenstance. Yet, the College senior with a Fine Arts and Communications major only caught the bug for his chosen medium in his senior year of high school. He did “a little bit of amateur photography” as a teenager, but everything changed when he enrolled in a digital photo class. “That [was] the first time I started to think of the concepts behind photographs, to think of projects,” Luca says. Since then, it’s been up, up, and away for the Brazilian–born photographer.
(11/16/21 7:00pm)
Twitter, the glorious hellscape of shitposts, gifs, and fights picked by internet strangers, now has a new niche for art history nerds: one with an undead twist. Rising from their graves to join the ranks of top Tweeters around the globe, fine art icons like Van Gogh, Sandro Botticelli, and hundreds more have filled the platform with their impressive works. Created by Andrei Taraschuk, “art bots" are giving Twitter users the chance to follow artists and enjoy their works during daily scrolls. These "art bots" bring art out of the museum and give it a place on social media, spotlighting painters who may have lived centuries before Twitter existed.
(11/30/21 4:13am)
On March 11 of this year, Christie’s sold a piece of artwork for $69 million. But something about this sale was special, aside from the funny number on the price tag. Botticellis, Rembrandts, and Matisses have been emptying even the fattest of wallets since the genesis of the modern art market, selling for even higher prices. These paintings differ greatly across movements and styles, yet they still have something in common that's often overlooked—they are all tangible works made from brushes, paint, and a canvas and that can hang on a wall. That’s what makes Christie’s March sale stand out. Created by digital artist Beeple, “EVERYDAYS: THE FIRST 5000 DAYS,” is a mere JPG file, and it is just one of the many forms of digital art going for millions as the NFT, or non–fungible token, market skyrockets.
(11/02/21 1:47am)
What makes Chinese different from any other language? On the surface, the most prominent difference is how it looks: Chinese employs what appear to be elaborate, blocky symbols that give no place of entry for the untrained eye. The English and Chinese languages both use sequences of characters to make sounds and meaning, but what sets Chinese characters apart is not only their seeming complexity, but also their ability to convey an elaborate history and culture behind the strokes.
(10/25/21 1:04pm)
Philadelphians often opt for a museum visit to satisfy a craving for artistic stimulation. But taking a walk around the city’s streets yields a new way to revel in creative expression—one that is just as fulfilling and even more tied to our local communities. Philadelphia is called the mural capital of the world, with over 3,600 unique art–filled walls and building facades sprinkled throughout the city. Spearheaded by Mural Arts Philadelphia, these public art installations are intended to engage artists and communities through ingenuity.
(10/31/21 11:47pm)
Every word of Woman Hollering Creek, Sandra Cisneros’s award–winning collection of short stories published in 1991, was written with the truth in mind. Sure, Cisneros jumps between narrators and outlandish scenarios with practiced ease, but there are real–life memories behind all the heartache and longing of her stories. In all her fiction, Cisneros drives toward “the real truth, especially the truth I’m not aware of.” Woman Hollering Creek is no exception, being born of a balancing act between the conscious and the unconscious—between reality and memory.
(10/31/21 6:01pm)
John Mulaney is 'right outta rehab' and it’s no surprise that his vibe has undergone a major readjustment.
(10/16/21 3:09am)
Melting glaciers, rising sea levels, and intense heat waves: The list of perils brought on by climate change go on and on, all well–documented by researchers. Global climate change plagues the future of our world, but it also has begun to threaten our record of the past.
(10/18/21 5:49am)
As every Penn student knows, the rat race can be exhausting. It’s easy to get wrapped up in the endless cycle of club applications, internships, and homework. If you’ve ever been seized by a sudden desire to let your hair down, know you’re not alone. London-based artist Amanda Ba has tapped into our shared impulse to run with the wolves—or dogs, in this case. Hailing from New York City (by way of Hefei, China), Ba’s paintings collapse the distinction between the human and animal.
(10/10/21 8:49pm)
Upon entering the Jasper Johns retrospective Mind/Mirror, viewers will come face to face with an American flag. This is a timely choice; a recent New York Times Op–Ed challenged six artists to offer their own alternatives or reinterpretations of the flag. Some of their redesigns were idealistic and others disenchanted. American flags also show up repeatedly throughout Mind/Mirror. While they're sometimes doubled or inverted, they are always identifiable. That said, visitors won’t find any easy answers about “what it all means.” The closest thing to a concrete takeaway that this retrospective has to offer is this: Jasper Johns has never viewed any symbol as sacrosanct.
(10/04/21 2:30pm)
The Barnes Foundation’s new retrospective of Suzanne Valadon, the first of its kind in North America, opens not with one of the artist’s many works—but with a painting of Valadon herself. In Gustav Wertheimer’s imposing The Kiss of the Siren (1882), we catch a glimpse of Valadon as a muse. Under Wertheimer’s hand, we see the petite, brunette Valadon doctored into a leggy, fairytale blonde. However, this is not the only deceiving representation of the model turned artist; opposite Wertheimer’s painting, we see portraits from artists including Toulouse–Lautrec. For the most part, these renditions portray the young model as exuberant and eager—but they belie the physical demands of her job, not to mention her precarious station.
(10/04/21 2:22pm)
From a very young age, Isabel Hu (C '23) was always drawing—sometimes on scrap paper, sometimes in an art book, and a little too frequently on her family’s couch. Nowadays, Isabel frequently finds herself stopping to look for the visually intriguing elements in her daily life, often snapping pictures to reference in future works of art.
(09/21/21 8:57pm)
In the digital age, the line between the tangible and virtual has become increasingly blurred. Content creators exist primarily online, and the title of "artist" has taken on a variety of meanings and mediums accordingly. However, as we become accustomed to the process of modern art production, we may ask ourselves: Is there a way to revitalize the past?