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(04/23/15 4:30am)
We're all curators, aren’t we? Through filters, hashtags and a few clicks of buttons, websites and apps, such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter allow us to ‘curate’ our news, social feed and brand–image. When we move house we ‘curate’ our room furnishings and bookshelves. At parties,
(04/02/15 5:00am)
Business professional and business casual are terms you're familiar with if you’ve ever been to an info session, interview, internship or job anything—basically if you're past freshman year at Penn. The second word of each phrase is the indentifier, dictating whether a tie and/or blazer are necessary. The first mandates, more often than not, a loss of childhood.
(10/30/14 4:49am)
I love holidays—at Christmas I go overboard with cutting snowflakes and hanging lights, and on Valentine’s Day I write love letters to my housemates. But in the past, carving pumpkins has led to painful cuts and disappointment. I inevitably slice my hand at some point and I have to make an impromptu trip to CVS for band–aids. And then when I’m done, I’m almost never fully satisfied with the outcome—the face is never scary enough and the cuts are messy. With my ineptitude with a knife in mind, I chose to try “non–carve” pumpkin decorating this year. Armed with just a paintbrush I drew inspiration from one of my favorite artists, Yayoi Kusama. Summed up in one sentence, Yayoi Kusama is an 82–year–old badass Japanese artist who, among other things, organized public orgies in her youth and is famed for her obsession with polka dots. She's the kind of kook who's lived, voluntarily, in a mental hospital in Tokyo for the past 30 years.
(09/01/14 7:08pm)
Hill: These residents aren’t here by choice. They’ll likely be living on top of their roommates (and inevitably have different sleeping schedules) but will rep their floor–color combo like there’s no tomorrow. #hillpride will stay strong in their hearts/haunt them forever.
(04/03/14 12:36pm)
The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMA) is a costly trip. If it’s nice out you can walk, but otherwise it’s a pain to get to via SEPTA, so you’re forced to fork out $20 for a cab there and back. Upon arrival you pay $14 as a student to enter the exhibitions. Should an institution that aims to be a civic space really cost us $34 per visit? I grew up in the United Kingdom where admissions to national museums are free, so handing over the bills always makes me cringe. Plus, in a year I’ll be paying an additional $6 as an “Adult.” Maybe I should move to D.C. where the Smithsonian museums are free.
(04/02/14 1:01pm)
Buffalo Exchange carries less vintage items and more secondhand modern cloth- ing. While you may find some good deals, it really is hit–or–miss here. Most of the clothes are things you passed up at H&M and J. Crew a year or two ago. Be sure to check for holes or tears before you purchase. Fortunately, they have a great selection of Halloween outfits come October. If you’re willing to wait in a long line, you can sell your gently–used clothes for 50% of the original cost.
(03/20/14 11:59am)
Up until a few weeks ago, the walk past Distrito towards the SEPTA station on 40th and Market seemed pretty bleak. Even today, just one block away from the “Penn bubble,” buildings stand vacant and the familiar groups of backpack–clad students have dispersed. Nevertheless, a new program, run through the Rotunda, is attempting to liven the area by using the empty storefronts as gallery spaces. The project is intended to engage pedestrians on their daily commute and to infuse art into usable spaces.
(02/27/14 2:15pm)
Philadelphia is the birthplace of graffiti in the United States. As a teenager in the sixties, Darryl McCray, known as “Cornbread,” began using the city as his canvas. He tagged billboards, trains, buildings, a live elephant at the Philadelphia Zoo and the side of the Jackson 5’s private jet. Before him, the word “graffiti” didn’t even exist. He tagged to establish himself in the city—to establish a sense of ownership and place. The works promoted discussions relating to expression and the right to the city. He inspired countless others and kick–started an explosive international art movement.
(02/20/14 1:20pm)
Following the success of the “Triple Point” exhibition at the Venice Biennale, Sarah Sze is exhibiting three site-specific installations at The Fabric Workshop and Museum. The intricate and immense works explore landscapes – natural, man-made, and imagined. While each installation is distinct, there are threads of familiarity woven between them.
(02/14/14 2:37pm)
On Wednesday I took advantage of the Pay–What–You–Wish evening at the Philadelphia Museum of Art (a.k.a. $1 or $2 entrance instead of the usual $14 student price) to see the Michael Snow “Photo–Centric” exhibition. Never heard of Michael Snow? Don’t worry, neither had I. In fact, when the show curator Adelina Vlas came to the PMA in 2007 from the National Gallery of Canada, the question of Snow’s anonymity in the U.S. was a popular one. “I didn’t realize that was the case, so Michael and I sort of walked together into the Philadelphia Museum of Art,” she recollected.
Michael Snow, 84, is a Toronto–based filmmaker, musician, painter, sculptor and photographer (a man of many talents). While the show was dedicated solely to his photography, his other expertise showed through in the images. The works engage the viewer in quasi–narrative sequences. One becomes an active participant in the composed worlds within the photographs. “Atlantic” (1967) features a series of black–and–white photos of waves behind a metal grid–like construction. The metal boxes reflect light in such a way that it appears the waves are coming out of the photographs. The composition compels you into a peaceful trance as you walk slowly back and forth, watching the waves move. Meanwhile, for “Crouch, Leap, Land” (1970) the audience must squat underneath the hanging artwork to look up at images of a jumping nude.
Staging and composition are recurring themes in Snow’s work, which is unsurprising given his filmmaking background. In an essay reprinted in the exhibition catalogue, Snow writes, “I have added the camera and its products to the traditional tools of the painter/sculptor. My photographic works are an art of the studio, not of daily life.” In “Powers of Two” (2003), a mural–sized photographic transparency hanging from the ceiling, a woman stares defiantly at the audience from beneath her lover. Viewer instantly becomes voyeur. The audience’s gaze is locked with the woman's, as though they too are in the room. The piece draws into question the distinctions between public and private, as well as the meaning of intimacy.
The experimental processes that Snow has worked with are truly inspiring and exciting. The exhibition makes you wonder why you haven’t heard the name Michael Snow before.
Remember, you heard it here first.
(01/30/14 2:00pm)
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(01/23/14 2:30pm)
From credit cards to bike chains to moss, ECO + FASHION at the Art Gallery at City Hall pushes the limits of what materials can be used in fashion. The pieces, designed by 18 Philadelphia–based artists, address the issues of sustainability and environmentalism in wearable (and not–so–wearable) art. Organized through the Art in City Hall program, the works will be on display through February 28th, 2014.
(02/21/13 10:00am)
“Seated Woman” is a bronze sculpture, by Herbert Seiler, of—surprise, surprise!—a seated woman, outside Fagin Hall. Where is Fagin Hall? If you aren't a nurse you might not have ventured to this part of campus before. If that is the case, then you're missing this misses. The stylized, abstract figure is both attentive and relaxed. Her distorted proportions and carved curves offer a romanticized perception of the female form. Meanwhile, her inquisitive gaze grabs your attention. The sculpture is one of Seiler’s many seated women that are featured all across the country and the world. A sculptor from Czechoslovakia who spent an extended period of his life in Greece, Austria and Ethiopia, Seiler’s global traveling greatly influenced his work. Accordingly, he used a vast range of materials, from iron to postage stamps and had depicted a large array of subjects, from tribal groups to floral still lives.
(11/15/12 10:25am)
iPhone Photography
When: Saturday, Nov. 17 3 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Where: Philadelphia Photo Arts Center
(philaphotoarts.org)
Tuition: $60
(10/11/12 9:06am)
Van Pelt is filled with paper…duh. Book pages, file paper, printer paper, note cards, newspapers — the place is one big paper cut waiting to happen. To add to the list, everyone's favorite library is now hosting an exhibition on the paper artwork of Lesley Haas. When you walk down the hall to Weigle, stop and take a peek in the glass cases on either side of you. In a mixture of two– and three–dimensional pieces, Haas reveals just how limitless paper can be — did you know you could make sculptures of bottles, shoes and dresses out of pulp? She experiments with different types of paper, including handmade sheets containing plants and seeds, as well as scraps of letter, stamps and photographs. The outcomes are beautiful textural collages that evoke a distinct nostalgia for the days of scrapbooking and letter–writing. By the time you reach your booth in Weigle, you’ll be making plans for all those old exams and used notebooks you’ve stored over the years for no apparent reason. Haas’s extraordinary creations have graced the rooms of many major art spaces, such as the Museum of Arts and Design in New York and the Smithsonian International Gallery in Washington, D.C., and now our very own VP. The next time you want a study break (which, let’s face it, is every five minutes) check out the exhibition. We promise you it's more interesting than your Econ homework.