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(02/19/24 5:00am)
As students across Penn’s campus frantically scramble to fill out next year’s housing application, many find themselves shuddering at the thought of spending a year in the high rises while their friends enjoy lattes at the Gutmann coffee bar. These hardships, though, pale in comparison to the bleak reality of other city residents who find themselves unemployed, uninsured, and unhoused. The Mutter Museum’s new art exhibit, “Unhoused: Personal Stories and Public Health,” illuminates the complex biosocial underpinnings that drive the unhoused population and its persistence across Philly’s most densely populated regions.
(02/19/24 5:00am)
Adorned with collections of renowned works by artists like Rembrandt, Raphael, Velasquez, Titian, Bellini, Donatello, Monet, and Van Dyck, this architectural wonder once sheathed some of the most revered artistry from across the globe. Engulfed by 33 acres worth of decadent French gardens composed of grandiose marble fountainheads, the Corinthian columns chiseled from marble welcoming incoming company bear a striking resemblance to the Greek marvels resting atop the Acropolis. But, this is not the Louvre. This is not Versailles. This is not the Temple of Athena. This is Lynnewood Hall.
(02/02/24 2:45am)
That painful and mirthful moment when you look at someone you believe you know intimately, and their face seems inexplicably unfamiliar. You feel like you’ve never really looked at them long enough to notice your eyes' perception, to account for all their subtle nuances. You see them as though they are a stranger, even if they are the dearest thing in the world to you. You feel like only now do you actually understand what they look like. This is what Nan Goldin captures in each of her photographs, she exposes the subtle nuances, the raw human experience. She forces you to stare at things long enough to really see what they look like.
(02/07/24 5:00am)
In 1967, Darryl “Cornbread” McCray had a crush. Many modern teenagers would meander endlessly through a tedious talking stage that takes months to see through, but Cornbread had some gargantuan balls. Using a can of spray paint, he began tagging “CORNBREAD LOVES CYNTHIA” around the streets of Philadelphia as a vehicle for his intense feelings. McCray didn’t know it then, his public display of puppy love would be the predecessor for the modern graffiti movement of the likes of Basquiat and Banksy.
(02/14/24 5:00am)
How do you untangle your existence from someone you’ve built your life with? It’s especially difficult when, every time you pick up your phone, you look for their notification, hope they posted an Instagram story meant for you, or somehow snuck their way into your profile views. We’re always hoping to see our ex’s name on our screens, but do our expectations end there? Was our relationship dull enough that a story view makes our hearts drop? Or is this just the accepted contemporary alternative to grand gestures and delivered flowers? The hyperconnectivity between us and past relationships through the mediums of the digital age collapses the mystery, drama, and closure that exists in the turbulence of a romantic ending. Break–ups are boring—because it’s simply become too easy to check up on your ex.
(12/10/23 5:52pm)
The only thing Shakespeare liked more than naming characters “Antonio” was playing with gender—Portia names herself Balthazar in The Merchant of Venice, Viola names herself Cesario in Twelfth Night, and Rosalind names herself after Zeus’s mythical male consort, Ganymede, in As You Like It. The Globe’s recent production of As You Like It ratchets the show’s gender play and gay undertones up to a hundred with gender–blind casting, a feature that is not only the production’s gimmick, but blended in seamlessly with the themes of the play that I almost forgot not all productions of the show are cast in such a way. Though it has sadly ended its run, one of the most fun things I have done in my time in London was go to The Globe’s As You Like It, and it made me hope for not only more productions that centralize fun, but also more theatergoing experiences that centralize community.
(04/14/24 6:30pm)
Artificial intelligence—the pariah of many creatives, a signal of the end of an autonomous and engaged human race that will transform us all into the people from WALL–E. Or is it?
(12/07/23 4:11pm)
"To collect photographs," wrote Susan Sontag in her book On Photography, "is to collect the world." Photography has always fascinated me, particularly in one specific context: when photos adorn book covers. While the saying goes "Don't judge a book by its cover," I can't resist an enticing visual. Hanya Yanagihara's 2015 novel, A Little Life's cover, achieved just that for me. The book delves into the lives of four college friends as they navigate the turbulent waters of success and suffering in New York City.
(01/29/24 5:00am)
There’s no way around it. You live in a world where Drake songs can be recorded without Drake, paintings are born from DALL–E prompts, and ChatGPT will write an apology text to your girlfriend.
(11/15/23 5:00am)
“I feel perfectly at ease with everything feminine,” Marie Laurencin wrote in her Le Carnet des Nuits. “When I was small I loved silk threads, and I stole pearls and spools of colored thread which I hid carefully and would look at when I was alone. I would have liked to have had many children to comb their hair and dress with ribbons.”
(12/01/23 5:00am)
I walked into the Philadelphia Print Center in Rittenhouse Square to a welcoming crowd, off a small cobblestone street that made me feel like I had stumbled upon some small European gathering. When I went upstairs, I sat quietly as Alan Nakagawa chatted with the front row of the audience. I could tell he was grateful to be making connections, grounded in experiences, and anxious to talk about his career as an artist. This gratified excitement immediately helped me understand Nakagawa’s ability to find steady success in the ever–unpredictable art world.
(11/16/23 5:00am)
Time in South Korea moves fast. As quickly as Gangnam Style skyrocketed past the one billion view mark on YouTube, the Korean economy rallied from the trenches of a post-war depression into its current status as a G20 country. The nation has transformed into the highly urbanized culture and tech factory that we know today.
(10/31/23 3:13pm)
Jennifer Egan's (C '85) name has been in my mind for a long time. I remember it from bookshelves, New Yorker articles, and award lists. But it was only when I came to Penn and realized she was a Penn English graduate that I truly delved into my obsession with her literary work.
(10/23/23 4:00am)
When you hear “Frida Kahlo,” you picture her dark hair tied up with flowers, her skin a light brown, cheeks rosy, eyebrows full, eyes disinterested, and lips gently pursed, all adorned in a feminine Tehuana outfit. This is the image of Frida Kahlo that you see on tote bags, T–shirts, mugs, and magnets that the culture industry sells. From Frida Kahlo immersive experiences to “feminist” Frida Kahlo apparel, you can experience Kahlo’s likeness everywhere for a price. But this isn’t the Frida Kahlo that the artist revealed to us on canvas.
(11/07/23 10:52pm)
Cookbooks and Convos is all in its alliterative name: It's a month–long docket of events that took place in the last month and celebrated food writers, chefs, and so much more around dining tables across Philadelphia.
(10/09/23 12:00pm)
In the basement bar of a theater in SoHo, Manhattan, on the third Saturday this September, sits an audience of 20. Or just about that many. In the dim purple glow of kitschy wall sconces and dying track lights, they sip vodka tonics and beer.
(10/06/23 12:00am)
What does it mean to be kosher? How can our family recipes enter mainstream culinary canon? How much is a yahrzeit glass? Heck, what does it mean to be a Jew today?
(10/19/23 4:00pm)
The desire to stay relevant in our dynamic society is at the forefront of almost everyone’s mind, both personally and professionally. We are constantly re–inventing ourselves, looking to bring in “fresh blood” to stay current. In the art market, artists emerge rapidly. There’s always something new and interesting to be seen. So, how can it be that Gagosian, the largest and most well–regarded art gallery, is exhibiting deceased artist’s work at five of their 19 gallery spaces? Why does it keep trying to sell us something we’ve already seen before?
(09/29/23 11:00am)
Take a look at any bookshelf in a public library, think back to what you read at school, and look at a list of award–winning writers. How many books written by women do you see?
(09/21/23 9:35pm)
I grew up in a household where threads and crochet needles were omnipresent—nestled in the creases of the sofa, strewn across the kitchen table, and even making their way into the bedrooms. My mother is a natural crocheter. Over the years, I've carried her crochet legacy with me, even during my time at Penn. Her work has served multiple purposes in my life, from bikini tops on family vacations to protective crochet Kindle cases and cozy rugs for my dorm.
