#we’ve all seen her music videos! her poetry! her paintings!

[lipslikethegardensofbabylon]

Taylor Swift is an amazing songwriter wbk but she also has these little idiosyncrasies that are so *her* like the intentional whisper of ‘old habits die screaming’ and how she cuts off ‘how dare you say that it’s -‘, and how ‘so long London’ mimics the chime of Big Ben, and this goes back, mind you. the lyric ‘my stolen lullabies’ trails off like she was choked saying the last word (that lyric deserves it’s own essay but I digress), and she begins Last Kiss with 27 seconds of instrumentals for -reasons- and just. She’s not just a songwriter, she really is just incredibly talented and creative on all fronts, we just got lucky that she chose music as her baby.

[taylorswiftstyle]

"Fortnight" music video | April 19, 2024

Vivienne Westwood 'Frill Shirt' - €590.00

I’ve thought a lot about the colour palette of the world that Taylor has created with Poets and how it’s one of the most distinguishable things about the Tortured aesthetic we’ve seen so far. Enough so that it’s usurped her beloved (and endearingly noted ‘fuckass’) Olympus yellow candid filter with a drained out world to paint all of her latest social media posts with. To me there’s a lot to wade through there when it comes to black like grief or the poetry of Dickinson-esque shades of white and subsequently all the shades of grey the album itself covers. 

But what a delight it is to see a Vivienne Westwood piece on Taylor! I know many of us briefly thought both of the white gowns she’s worn recently were by her so it’s great to see her finally in her wares. This particular long shirt is from the mens line.  

[jonathantaylorthomas]

Taylor Swift's New Album 'Reputation': Everything We Know, Everything We Want

The Old Taylor can’t come to the phone? Long live the New Taylor. Reputation is one of this fall’s most tightly guarded secrets; Taylor Swift’s sixth album is her first in three years, her longest vacation ever. So far, each Swift LP has been a major musical departure. But this time, she isn’t letting any secrets slip, declining interviews and, somehow, avoiding paparazzi detection wherever she may be. All we have to go on is a quote from a source close to the project who tells Rolling Stone, “Reputation is lyrically sharper and more emotionally complex than 1989. This music has and will continue to speak for itself.”

So what do we know about Reputation? We know it has 15 songs; “…Ready For It?” will be the first track and “Look What You Made Me Do” will be the sixth. We know it drops on November 10th, which happens to be Richard Burton’s birthday. (What if that makes Reputation the Burton to Taylor’s Taylor? What if she is about to marry herself and embrace her muse as her soulmate?) It’s one day before the nine-year anniversary of Fearless, which came out in 2008 on November 11th, whereas she usually prefers to pounce in late October, as she did with Speak Now, Red and 1989. So here’s a rundown of all the clues to the burning mysteries around Reputation – what we know for sure, what we wonder, what we want, what we hope.

The sound. The first two singles are moody electro-pop: the Hot Topic quasi-goth blare of “Look What You Made Me Do” (produced by Jack Antonoff) and the hip-hop island breeze of “…Ready for It?” (produced by Max Martin, Shellback and Ali Payami). “Look What You Made Me Do” is Sal-Tay in supervillain mode; “…Ready for It?” is sultrier and far superior. Neither sounds like any of her previous work. But drastic swerves are what Swift does. All five of her previous LPs have developed a sound she could have milked for years – but she’s never made the same record twice, even when that’s what everybody wanted, from her record company to her fans.

Last time the world was hoping for Red II: Fifty Shades Redder, Red III: Revenge of the Scarf or Red IV: Maple Latte Massacre, but instead she made 1989, an album as far from Red as Speak Now was from Fearless. Nobody sane would have advised her, “You know what you should do next? Make an album that sounds nothing like Red, but exactly like Erasure or the Pet Shop Boys.” Yet Swift followed her own muse and turned out to be right – when it comes to high-risk moves that pay off, she’s gone five for five. So whatever she tries on Reputation, it won’t be what she did last time.

The romance. The line that jumps out from “…Ready For It?” is “He could be my jailer / Burton to this Taylor.” Not her usual kind of love story. Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor got married and divorced twice, which by 1970s standards made them the ultimate glamour couple – even Sonny and Cher only got to break up once. Their boozy jet-set affair lasted a total of (hmmm) 13 years, despite the fact that they basically loathed each other. Burton was fond of referring to Liz as “MGM’s Little Miss Mammary,” while she called him “the Frank Sinatra of Shakespeare.” By the time Liz was Swift’s age, she was on Husband Four; Burton was Five (and Six). So Liz and Dick weren’t exactly Romeo and Juliet – their Shakespearean duet was a 1967 film adaptation of The Taming of the Shrew. Fans have speculated the song is her ode to her beau of the past year, British actor Joe Alwyn – currently filming Mary Queen of Scots, where he plays the lover of Queen Elizabeth. Burton once got an Oscar nomination playing her father, King Henry VIII.

The playlist. Her Spotify playlist “Songs Taylor Loves” is loaded with sad weepy ballads – the side of her music missing from the two new singles. It’s also full of younger artists – from pals like Selena Gomez and Ed Sheeran to country upstarts like Maren Morris and Brett Young to indie brooders like the National and Bon Iver. But none of the legendary names Swift usually loves to invoke – the girl named after James Taylor isn’t bumping “Fire and Rain” these days. Is the playlist representative of her new music? Or is she digging these tearful ballads because she’s no longer writing them?

The cover. She’s wearing black lipstick, clearly a sign that Old Taylor is dead, given her affection for the red-lip classic thing. She gazes blearily through newspaper headlines spelling her name – math experts have counted her name on the cover 899 times. The cover’s weirdest detail: the Richard Hell-like torn sweatshirt, stitched up to create five triangular peaks, one for each previous album.

The magazines. The exclusive Target edition comes with two different 72-page magazines full of Swift’s poetry, watercolor paintings, handwritten lyrics and fashion photography. (Oh, pop stars – always secretly fantasizing about being editors of print magazines.) Judging from the cover of Reputation magazine, the typographical sensibility evokes the famously experimental (and often illegible) 1990s music mag Ray Gun.

The snakes. She’s teased the album with serpentine imagery – want to buy a $60 Gold Snake Ring? Either she’s a budding herpetologist or she’s reviving her Kimye feud. You remember – from last summer, before Kanye’s 5150 or his rock-bottom moment ass-kissing the new President. But it’s safe to surmise the feud factor will be the least intriguing aspect of Reputation, since her celebrity conflicts have been fruitless musically for all the artists involved. “Look What You Made Me Do” is much stronger than Katy Perry’s “Swish Swish” or Kanye’s “Famous,” but that’s hardly an achievement given how those remarkably wretched gaffes sandbagged the albums they were intended to launch. All evidence indicates that we’re in a post-beef era where nobody cares about pop-star feuds, since we’ve got more pressing problems. Swift sending Cardi B flowers to congratulate her on “Bodak Yellow” hitting Number One – even though it replaced “Look What You Made Me Do” – is much more in step with the 2017 zeitgeist than snake emojis, which are so last year. And you have to love how Cardi B made sure to document the flowers on Instagram, to thwart any would-be Cardor truthers.

The Drake factor. Be on guard for Drizzy content. Last year, while the rumor mill was full of reports of them hanging out and possibly working together, the two did linked Apple Music ads, one with Taylor lip-synching the Drake/Future collabo “Jumpman” and the other with Drake doing “Bad Blood.” Since Aubrey Graham is the only pop star on earth who can approach Tay’s feelings-per-minute ratio, the mind reels at how they might sound together – let’s just say they could go from zero to 100 real quick.

The shirt. The “Look What You Made Me Do” video ends with an attention-grabbing shot of Swift in a “Junior Jewels” t-shirt decorated with her friends’ names. Squadologists plotzed at the roll call, from Patrick Stewart (he’s on it twice? Make it so!) to Abigail (the “Fifteen” bestie whose wedding had Swift as a bridesmaid last month). Who’s lurking on the back of the shirt? And who’s a blank space? The most high-profile absence was Karlie Kloss, currently seen in a new Cole Haan ad campaign with well-that-escalated-quickly pal Christy Turlington. (In Elle a few weeks ago, K.K. gushed, “I am surrounded by extraordinary women – from my mom and sisters to role models like Christy Turlington, Melinda Gates, and Sheryl Sandberg, and many more.”) Will Reputation offer a state-of-the-squad update?

The exes. Just because Swift seems to be in a functional relationship, is that any reason she should keep a dignified silence about her Long List of Ex-Lovers? Dignified silence is not this lady’s style. Between Tom Hiddleston and Calvin Harris, she has some real content opportunities. In the new video, Zombie Tay digs a grave marked “Nils Sjoberg,” her ghostwriting pen name; there’s also an empty engagement-ring box. Perhaps she’s mocking Harris for both his career and love life, given that Nils Sjoberg is an anagram for “Jobless Ring”? Or maybe she’s accusing him of swiping her work, since it’s also an anagram for “Robs Jingles”? Or maybe – just maybe – anagrams are meaningless and dumb coincidences?

The tour. One thing Swift has made clear over the years – she’s not into looking back. In the spirit of Madonna or Bowie, when she tours, she focuses on the new songs, not the hits of yesteryear. It was a shocker when she left “All Too Well” off most stops of the 1989 tour, just as she left “Enchanted” and “Long Live” off the Red tour. But given the choice between reprising the oldies or showing off her new songs, she’ll go new every time. And that goes for her albums as well – she’s never been an artist who repeats herself. Don’t expect her to start now. “Honey, I rise up from the dead, I do it all the time”? Bring on the New Tay-stament.

[atcostmag]

Yes You Are’s Kianna Alarid on former band Tilly and the Wall, her Chicana identity and being featured on the Super Bowl

Through her alma-mater Tilly and the Wall, Kianna Alarid has seen it all. At one point, it felt like Kianna was on top of the world  with her songs plastered over ads (and even on the 2014 Super Bowl) as well as some high-profile features from starring on Sesame Street to dropping a track with Tiesto. But it wasn’t something that would last forever and as the indie-pop explosion Nebraska soon died out in favor of the more central Williamsburg scene, things started to slow and stagnate for Alarid. Searching the world but failing to find the right musical collaborator, combined with post-partum depression and a relapse from 8 years of sobriety, took a toll on Kianna. Starting anew and back on her feet, Alarid found herself in Kansas City, Missouri and formed her latest act Yes You Are. A rush of new energy and ideas came back to Kianna and now out of the woods it seems like things are looking up for Alarid again. After all, you gotta be doing something right if the 2017 Super Bowl wants to feature your music again. 

I last met Kianna back in 2008 during one of Tilly and the Wall’s last few shows, but it would be nearly 7 years later until we would catch up again, in a promo email. Since then we’ve been writing each other, and appreciating each others’ quirks on Instagram and Facebook, and a long time in the works we finally decided to get an interview down. We spoke candidly to Kianna about the last few years and what it all meant, that and other things among why the Kansas City Royals is the best team ever. 

Tell us about your beginnings and meeting your former band Tilly and the Wall.

When I was 15 I met Todd, Clark and Joel (The Faint,) but at that time I just knew them as Omaha's best skateboarders, along with my boyfriend at the time. I was very involved in the skate community and was always hanging out with them and found out that they were also musicians. I got very into the underground Omaha scene through them, listening to bands like Commander Venus, Norman Bailer and Simon Joyner. After a few years, my boyfriend and I broke up and I didn't see that crew for a while.

I started playing in my first real band when I was 18 with a few friends of mine. We were really into hardcore and metal at that time and wanted to write and play that kind of music. I only played bass at that time, I had never really sung, although I did rap during one song. I met a lot of people involved in that scene in Omaha and many of them had crossover relationships with people playing in the indie music scene. I started seeing my old friends around again who were no longer skating as much, and were way more focused on their new band The Faint and playing with bands like Bright Eyes and Cursive. I started hanging out with that crew way more when I turned 21 and started going to karaoke with a handful of them. We went all the time, sometimes 3 times a week. That's actually how I really started singing and came to realize I wasn't half bad.

 We were out at a bar one night when a few of them were taking about starting a new band, their old band was called Park Ave., and I basically invited myself to be a member of this hypothetical new band and they were like, right on! That band was called Magic Kiss and though it didn't last long, one of the members Jamie Williams and I became very close and we continued to hang out and write music together. She invited me over one day to meet these two weirdos, Nick and Derek, also musicians, who had just moved to town from Atlanta, Georgia. We all hit it off big time. We starting hanging out all the time, playing music and just having a blast together. We decided to become a real band soon after that and asked Jamie's old band mate Neely to join as well. That's how Tilly started, from my perspective.

Though you were born in Omaha, your family is from New Mexico and proudly wear the labels Chicano and Native American. Tell us what that identity means to you?

Both sides of my family are originally from very small towns and villages in New Mexico. I grew up identifying as "Chicano" which, according to my relatives meant "displaced" and wasn't used with the more commonly known definition of "Mexican-American". My family used the word more radically, to refer to a race of people specific to New Mexico, who were a genetic mix of the native people of that area, who had lived there for thousands of years, and the Spanish explorers who colonized the area in 1598. There was always a vibe of resistance surrounding the term and we had strong sense of culture relating to our indigenous roots. Kachinas, sand paintings, heavy turquoise jewelry.. these were all normal things in my world. I understand more now why "displaced" was used to describe our people, although possibly the word "outsider" could be interchanged. New Mexico is a very strange and magical place and has a very interesting culture, including a different sort of "singing" Hispanic accent and completely unique food. Not to mention all the UFOs and aliens.

At one point Omaha was to indie pop like Seattle was to grunge. What was it like to be in Nebraska during the height of the scene?

It was awesome! We were a very tight knit group of people and anyone you ask from that group will tell you, with shivers on their arms, about the night when everything changed. The Faint was set play this big venue we had always known to be a place for bigger, touring bands and everyone was excited to see how that would pan out. We all sat there, shocked and stunned as hundreds and hundreds of people kept arriving... people we didn't know or recognize. It had always just been us at the shows before... a lot of people, but you at least sort of recognized most of the crowd. This was different, it was just so many new faces. It was the first time anything like that happened and it just kept happening from there on out with Bright Eyes and Cursive and so on. At first we were just like, "Who are all these people coming to our friends' shows!?" Then it just blew up. It was so exciting to be there and help out and celebrate our friends' successes.

Of course, there’s the highs and lows of touring. What was it like battling with sobriety?

Addiction is a funny thing, it seems to easily go hand in hand with being an artist. It has been the downfall of so many incredible and gifted people throughout history. Drinking is such a normalized part of our society, so it seems pretty harmless in the beginning. I can see why its so destructive. Its a sneaky thing. I am a very intense person, so for me, it makes it a life or death choice. When you're faced with that reality, it makes it much more clear that you need to choose wisely. I want to live and I want to do my job for as long as possible, so I'm staying sober. To me, having drinks isn't worth missing my destiny.

 I like the fun and funkiness of Yes You Are. Tell us about how “Holy Ghost Explosion (HGX)” came about?

Well, I think all our songs are weird. We aren’t writing from a typical perspective and aren’t even doing this for any typical reasons. We have something to say but it can’t really be said.. so we dance with words in order to cause a certain phenomenon in a certain listener. Could it be you? “HGX” started as an nod to Timbaland and wound up as something else.. but still has that 808 vibe and a fun beat to get down to. Its a creeper and possibly its creepy too, depending on how you look at it.

“HGX” stands for “Holy Ghost Explosion”, which was the title of this viral YouTube video a while back of some Pentecostals really going WILD. Something about the name of the video stuck with us and we would up using it the song lyric. We had started referring to the song as “Holy Ghost Explosion” and then after some time, we just started saying “HGX” as that's how we would write it on set lists.

Honestly, I never would have taken you as a sports fan. Tell us about your newfound love for sports and more specifically, the  Kansas City Royals.

I grew up with jocks for parents and I just could not relate. They have always been die hard Cubs fans and baseball was always on our tv but i just couldn't get into it. It wasn't until I reluctantly watched the Royals play in the 2014 Wild Card game that I thought... "Wait, what is THIS? This is baseball? Holy sh*t!" I haven't really missed many games since that night. Learning the game and understanding it has been a huge revelation for me. I can’t really get into it here because it would take too long, but there is a poetry to the game of baseball that goes far deeper than meets the eye. I never would have guessed I’d become a sports fan but the 2014 KC Royals did some kinda alchemy in me and I’ve never been the same since. Its awesome. These games, these insanely high paid players… it all seems so insignificant on the surface, and possibly for some people it is. To those who have been touched by the metaphors of it all.. its very much something else. Its so beautiful. I even have a closer bond with my parents. I get it now.

Well, for a sports fan being on the Super Bowl not once but twice is certainly the honor. What was it like being on the Super Bowl not only with Tilly and the Wall but with Yes You Are?

We had no idea that our song was going to be on the Pepsi Super Bowl commercial. I was doing our taxes, tuned into the station that day and suddenly the song was on. I just sort of blanked out.. then my phone blew up. It was amazing to us, like a sign of some kind. We have believed in Yes You Are for so long and have just pushed steadily along through hard times and better times but for this amazing thing to be given to us… it certainly felt like a sign that something bigger and better is coming.

So it seems like you've done a lot in your career. What's next?

What’s next is putting out our debut album and getting our songs known throughout the universe and beyond!

Last question! I heard you're an MMA fan as well. What did you think of the Conor McGregor versus Mayweather spectacle? This is probably completely crazy but do you think you'd entertain the idea of fighting Floyd Mayweather if the chance came up?

No. Definitely no, I would not fight Floyd Mayweather! I guess I may entertain the thought of letting him beat me up for 100 million dollars though (laughs). I thought the whole McGregor/Mayweather thing was just that, a spectacle. I heard the fight was really good and I also heard they hugged like old, rich-ass friends afterward so, whatever (laughs). You know actually, I am a big fan of the Diaz brothers. They're such ninjas! Nate Diaz actually inspired me to start training Brazilian jiu jitsu at Kansas City BJJ but I stopped after a while because some of the chokes we were doing compromised my throat on more than one occasion. Those guys are killers (laughs). I had a sore throat for over a week and I just couldn't risk it. I miss it a lot though and I do remember my training and drills so... just saying.

Check out Yes You Are on Spotify below:

[uschickens]

Getting to know you meme

Okay. Okayokayokay. I said I was going to post more, actually engage more, so that requires, you know. Actually posting more. (Plus @momosandlemonsoda has graciously tagged me twice now, with no response from me, and that shall not stand!)

So. That meme thing going around.

Part I

name: Fannishly, I’m uschickens pretty much everywhere. Back in The Olden Times, I used Vix as my first name with uschickens, as in short for Vixen, as in a fox in the henhouse, which, like so many things with me, is so obscure as to only amuse myself.

star sign: Sagittarius, which seems a little ::skeptical headtilt:: at first, until you pair it with my Gemini rising and Virgo moon, and then it becomes a lot more we-know-but-hey-john-mulaney.gif

height: 5'5" (165.1cm)

time: 11:12pm

birthday: every handful of years, it coincides with Thanksgiving, so I get cake AND turkey.

nationality: american

fave bands/groups/solo artists: Like, currently listening to, or of all time, or or or??? This is a loaded question! Recently, Taemin’s Never Gonna Dance album hooked me hard. My other most-played playlists are called “last of the hardcore troubadours,” “frenzied banjos,” and “forest gods,” so I’m working the alt country/folk pop/whatever Florence and her Machine and Hozier have going on. Oh, and the Sleep No More soundtrack, so 1930s jazz, Hitchcockian strings, and edm all mashed together.

song stuck in your head: not even a song, just the one line from Taemin “we were just two kids/too young and dumb” over and over and over on repeat.

last movie you watched: I...have not watched a movie in a long, long time. Possibly a Knives Out rewatch? It Part Two? No, all my media consumption time lately has been devoted to...

last show you binged: All Things Tomb. I started watching reboot in, hmmm, late October? Early November? And with very few exceptions, various dmbj adaptions have been ALL I watched since then. It’s...kind of a problem. It goes in fits and starts, not a true binge since reboot, except for some blocking-out-the-outside-world plunges into Ultimate Note in early January. Reboot is the Tomb of My Heart, with Sha Hai a microscopically close second. Chen Minghao is my one! true! Pangzi, with surfer!Pangzi from tlt2 being a worthy predecessor. I am mostly here for post-Bronze Gate Wu Xies, and I vastly prefer the more realistic fighting style of reboot!Xiaoge than emo!XG, mathnerd!XG, or dancer!XG. But this was supposed to be about a binge, not my Standard Tomb Opinions Dissertation.

when you created your blog: 2010? There was a brief period when apparently I used tumblr for...interior design porn?? Rather than porn porn??? I quickly learned my lesson.

the last thing you googled: firstly, that would be the last thing I duckduckgoed, if we’re being strictly accurate, but I digress. It was [Richard Diebenkorn Guggenheim], part of a long-running conversation with my dad, who is a landscape painter currently going through an abstract expressionism phase. It’s getting wild up in here, folks.

other blogs: as I said, uschickens everywhere, by which I mean Twitter and dreamwidth and ao3.

why i chose my url: back in The Early Days of Livejournal, I lurked even more than I do now, so when I finally took the plunge, I couldn’t resist going with a name that really captured my inner Do Not Perceive Me, crossed with big band music and Louis Jordan. Ergo my tag line was “ain’t nobody here but... [us chickens]”.

how many people are you following: fuck if I know

how many followers do you have: fuck if I care

average hours of sleep: NOT. ENOUGH. But better than it used to be; see also my Twitter for some of the more bizarre paths my mind goes down when I’m in the middle of a juicy bit of insomnia.

lucky numbers: 3

instruments: a couple decades of piano and a solid eight months of French horn.

what i’m currently wearing: the dress I wore to work over pajama bottoms. I’m getting ready for bed, I swear. Halfway there!

dream job: ::hollow laughter:: I feel I would be excellent at being independently wealthy, at which point all my time would be devoted to travel, food, and writing about/photographing that travel and food, plus whatever experimental theater/circus/dance performances I happened to run across. But I shudder to think of actually relying on that sort of writing/photography to earn my keep, because there’s no faster way to kill my joy in a thing than to make it an obligation. Is “dilettante” still a thing? I’d be very good at that.

dream trip: do you want that chronologically or alphabetically? I have spreadsheets! I *will* be going to Singapore once all this ::gestures vaguely at the world:: sorts itself out. There’s a weeklong food tour in Mexico City for which I have lust in my heart. I want to rent a beachside with a million bedrooms for a month and just have friends show up for as much or as little of that month as they want. When I want true escapism, I look at the Aman hotel website, pick a location at random, and decide which suite I would like for a) myself, solo, b) myself with family, c) myself with friends and d) whichever characters currently live in my brain.

fave food: ha, I couldn’t pick a favorite band, and you want me to pick a favorite FOOD? Gumbo. Spaghetti and meatballs (but only good ones). Georgian khachapuri and aubergine satsivi. Fresh strawberries and cream.

top three fictional universe you’d like to live in: something written by Diana Wynne Jones, because it’s always a good mix of fantastic and pragmatic, with fundamentally decent people. Probably Howl and Sophie’s neck of the woods. Star Wars, because fuck it I want a lightsaber. And faster than light space travel. And I can’t think of a third offhand, but something with magic. Because if you’re going fictional, go big fictional or go home.

Part II

last song: the moody acoustic version of the Guardian theme song.

last movie last stream last podcast: We’ve already talked movies, and Vix Does Not Stream, so let’s go to the only thing that means my laundry gets folded in a timely manner - podcasts. I would be remiss in not mentioning the primary ‘castular joy in my life, the I Saw What You Did pod, which is two fortysomething women of color talking nerdily about two movies based on a theme each week. You’ve probably never seen most of these movies, and it doesn’t matter in the slightest. They themselves are a delight, and it’s exactly the sort of chewy discussion over media that I adore, especially because it is not done in an exclusionary, clerk-at-that-one-independent-video-store-who-always-seemed-to-be-sneering-at-your-choices way. Highly recommended. But, uh, the one I really should talk about is All About Agatha, a very good podcast reading and ranking all of Agatha Christie’s novels in order, because it is an excellent segue into...

currently reading: ...the fact that I am a solid 80% of the way through all of Agatha Christie’s novels in audiobook. In, like, the last two months. I haven’t read a book with my eyeballs since ::gestures vaguely at the world again:: (wait, no, I made it through the dmbj novels, for better or for worse), as reading with my eyes seems to be reserved for fic these days. But I am plowing through these audiobooks like it’s a part-time job. What even is life if not narrated by Hugh Fraser at this point? I’m not sure if I recommend the endeavor or not, but I and my knitting and my mystery audiobooks will be over here getting our Miss Marple on as long as possible. (For the record, the audiobooks have edited out some but not all of the egregious bits of racism but left most of the anti-Semitism. So, uh, there’s that.)

currently watching: Mystic Nine, my last full Tomb series. The only I’m not going into preemptive withdrawal is the presence of several side stories on iqiyi with English subtitles. Naturally not the ones I really want (heeeey, Liu Sang vs haunted paint can, plus whatever the hell is going on with Hei Xiazi from last month), but needs must. I suppose after that, I’m back to a reboot rewatch, for fic research purposes, if nothing else. I mean, I suppose I could watch a non-dmbj property? Like the backlog of recommendations I’ve been collecting?? Sounds fake, but okay.

what is antipoetry to you: I’m going to go out on a limb and say it’s another form of poetry. Something something even by rebelling against the form one is inherently bound by its concepts, especially when one tries to define oneself in opposition to something one cannot help but be shaped by it blah blah.

currently craving: I could say something existential about what the pandemic has made me yearn for (live! theater! with! friends!), or I could talk about the roast pork from Big Wong’s that I’m seriously contemplating for lunch tomorrow, but what I want most right now is for the goddamn construction crew that dug a hole in the road right outside my window starting at 10pm would finish and go away ASAP.

[chocolate-brownies]

Chill with Zuzu and Ebony Smith (aka the Ghetto Guru, read more about her here) at her Wanderlust 108 pre-event to get ready for the main squeeze on November 10!

For more info about the 108, click here. We have several types of tickets available this year, something for every budget. Snag a Practice Ticket for entry to the yoga and meditation portions of the event, as well as the Kula Marketplace. Entry to other bonus activities and the 5K are included with either the 108 Ticket, the 108 Ticket Package, or the premium WAN(DER)LUST Package.

Have a spot you’d like to see on this list? Reach out to us on the Austin 108 Facebook event page and let us know.

In the heart of Texas is a weird little gem of a city called Austin. It’s known for it’s diverse culture, thriving creative community, scrumptious local eateries, and a whole lot of southern hospitality. Austin is alive and vibrant with a  much to see and experience, so we’ve created a list of some of our most treasured spots around town. Whether you’re coming for a getaway weekend with your lover, a bachelorette party, birthday celebration, or just to experience the local scene, Austin has something to offer for all types, and its magic is felt by everyone who visits.  

Girls Weekend

Ladies Brunch: Bouldin Creek Cafe

Bouldin Creek Cafe is an Austin favorite and for good reason. With tons of veggie and vegan options, a wide variety of coffee, tea, and pastries, and the some of the best breakfast tacos in town, we couldn’t leave this off of our list. Before you and the girls embark on your weekend journey, fuel yourselves with a healthy local meal. If it’s your first time visiting this hippie haven, try the Vegan Blueberry Cornbread with agave for dessert and check out on the outdoor patio. 

Take a Dip: Barton Springs Pool

Barton Springs Pool is a natural spring that flows in the heart of downtown with an average chilled temperature of 68-70 degrees all year round. For $3 you can take a dip, sunbathe on the grassy hill, show your skills on the diving board, and experience some of the cities best people watching. Note that the park does not allow food or glass containers, and definitely no coolers. Bring your suit, a towel, and water to stay hydrated. If you’re adventurous, bring some goggles and search for the springs endangered Salamander that is housed in the bed of the springs!

A Night on the Town : Rainey St.

Rainey St. is a downtown neighborhood filled with local bars, food trucks, live music, and outdoor games. There is truly something for everyone on Rainey st. and it you visit on a weekend night or even for Sunday Sunday, you’ll be surrounded by locals and visitors alike. Check out live music at Icenhaur’s, play lawn games at Lustre Pearl, and grab a deep dish pizza at Via 313. Parking can be tricky, so we suggest getting a ride share and then strolling on foot to see what Rainey has to offer.

Family Getaway

Kids Day: The Thinkery 

Learning meets fun at this local children’s museum and exploratory experience. The Thinkery believes in the importance of developing future generations of creative problem solvers through science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM). This is one of Austin’s most renowned experiences for the little ones and is entertaining for the entire family. 

Get Crafty: Smudge Studios

This art space is not only for kids to creatively express themselves, but the entire family. Smudge is a creative sanctuary with private and public classes, kids camps and events. Make sure to check out the splatter room! Owned by two young Austin women with a thirst for creativity and self-expression, this is a spot not to miss while visiting ATX.

Fun as Far as the Eye Can See: Toy Joy

This toy store is beyond anything you’ve ever seen. Toys and novelty items as far as the eye can see, even the ceiling is adorned with vibrant color and one-of-a-kind toys. Toy Joy has been the one stop shop for gifts in Austin since 1987 and is a wild experience for all. Bring the whole family for an afternoon of imagination and shopping. If you’re on the hunt for some gifts to bring back home, this is our #1 suggestion with a little something for everyone. 

Family Day: HOPE Farmer’s Market

The HOPE Farmer’s Market occurs every Sunday from 11-3pm with local farms, artisans, live music, yoga, and activities for the whole family. Located in East Austin, this is one of the longest running farmer’s markets in the city. Have some fun in the sun and support local farmers! Grab a local kombucha and breakfast taco while you shop and doggies are always welcome!

Party Animals (This City is Made for You)

Get Funky: Native Hostel 

A new addition to the local night life scene is Native Hostel, an upscale hostel with full kitchen and bar. Classified as an “Experiential Hostel” because of it’s weekly rotating events. Pop in anytime for a bite to eat, a refreshing cocktail, or on a Friday or Saturday night for a fancy rage fest. You may stumble into an art show, live music, a dance party, or all the above! 

What Happens in Austin, Stays in Austin: West 6th Street

You may have heard of Austin’s “Dirty 6th Street”, but we suggest moving west down 6th to the district known as, “West 6th”, a wild place for those who like to party like there’s no tomorrow. You’ll find yourself surrounded by local bars, clubs, and restaurants with an array of attractions at each one. Make sure to check out Kung Fu for some free video games on Sunday and Green Light Social or Concrete Cowboy for a night of dancing. Dinner before going out is always a smart idea, so grab a burger at the Austin landmark, Hut’s Hamburger or local favorite, Irenes. 

For a Night you Won’t Forget: Hotel Vegas

Dance the night away at this dark sweat fest in East Austin. It may not sound appealing, but there’s something magical about dancing like there’s no tomorrow like sardines in  the dark dance floor of the Hotel Vegas. This is the place to go if you’re in need of letting loose and some detox/retox action. Outside patio for those who are looking for fresh air and picnic tables to connect with new friends and an intimate dance floor inside for those who want to rock out. Grab a Lone Star and catch a night of hip hop or a 90’s classics with local DJ’s. A local hangout and one of our top choices for a night out for all of you party animals. 

For the Creatives

Spoken Word: Austin Poetry Slam

The Austin Poetry slam is a long time standing spoken word event every Tuesday at the Spiderhouse Ballroom on UT campus. The venue is embellished with some of the most random decor we’ve come across, which makes it incredibly fitting for the Austin scene. Show up early to get a seat, this event packs out every week. Just $5 for your entry, all ages welcome, and you’ll have your soul cracked open by these incredible poets. Full bar and food on-site, so it’s a one stop shop on any given Tuesday.

Austin’s Street Art: HOPE Outdoor Gallery 

If you’ve looked up “things to do in Austin”, then you’ve seen the HOPE Outdoor Gallery, a community paint park located at 11th & Baylor St. in downtown Austin, TX. This educational project was officially launched in March 2011 and is the only paint park of its kind in the USA. Leave your artistic mark on Austin and lay down some spray paint! The park is open to everyone to paint, but make sure to send an email to murals@hopecampaign.org to register beforehand. Swing by Jerry’s Artarama to grab your paint supplies. 

Support Local: Art for the People Gallery

If you like art, you’ll love this gallery located off of South 1st, one of Austin’s weirdest neighborhoods. We love AFTP because of it’s dedication to promoting the Austin art community and featuring 120+ local artists. You’ll find original artwork, sculptures, ceramics, jewelry, home decor, cards, prints, and fashion pieces. Hop around S. 1st for other boutiques and shopping experiences. Bouldin Creek Cafe (see above) is a short walk away. Grab lunch and check out local art in this funky Austin OG neighborhood. 

Join us at Wanderlust 108 Austin!

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Zuzu Perkal is an independent artist, photographer, yoga instructor, and adventure enthusiast in Austin, Texas. Her days are filled with coffee, paint, and daydreams. She believes mistakes are simply a beautiful opportunity for growth and that our own life experiences serves as our most valuable teachers. Zuzu graduated from Wanderlust’s first Teacher Training Program and is on a mission to continually expand her consciousness while following her journey down the yogic path. She is currently experimenting with the concept of a floating yoga studio and mixed medium practice.

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The post Your Austin Vacay, Made appeared first on Wanderlust.

[psotu19]

Parrish Art Museum, Water Mill, NY: Story Circle #2, January 26, 2018

Annette: The story I am sharing happened a year ago in the big Women’s March in DC. It was an opportunity to take my 15-year old daughter to the March. The night before I had a friend who got invited to a dinner for all of these major figures, and I was blown away—having our daughters there was pretty powerful. A lot of the speakers who were there turned to our daughters and said, “you are the next generation who are going to turn this country around.” And it was an empowering moment for my daughter.

Corinne: My story happened a while ago. I lived in Brooklyn and started having fights with my neighbors about shoveling snow. It escalated and we were hurtling insults at one another in emails. I am a straight white single woman and they were a black gay couple. At one point, I said, this can’t go on. I asked one of the women if we could meet and she said yes. I was very nervous about all of these issues and facing them both in person, but I went to their apartment and we started to talk. Suddenly she said, “don’t you have a cat?” I did, I had two. They had four little dogs. And so we had a common moment. We shared this—our love for our pets. And then things got better with the issue of shoveling snow and we fixed things.

Chris: I have been mostly working on my own this year and haven’t been socializing that much. I turned into…not a recluse but…have been spending a lot of time alone. We had new neighbors and they are a young couple. Very nice. They have come over to our house for dinner, we’ve gone over to their house. Then one night the music was on very loud. I did the mean old man thing and shouted out the window, “If you don’t turn down music, I will call the cops.” My wife turned to me and said, you know, you could have handled that differently.” I wonder what effect that might have had on them. In the time since, their house has gone on the market and I wonder if that had anything to do with it….

Patricia: Mine happened just last week. I started teaching a new semester at Stony Brook and have a group of photography students. This was the first time in all my years of teaching that two students said they are no longer men. One of my students emailed me and he said “I’m Elaine;” the other student said he would be going by “Elise”. I felt very hopeful. There is so much crap going on but these two young people were able to say, this is how we are. I felt this was a sign of hope. The powers that be are trying to reverse it but I think that’s impossible. And it really hit home when we were having dinner at our house and our daughter was there. We had some friends over and I was telling this story and they couldn’t quite grasp how that was and there are the 60+ year olds saying, “why THEY” and it was my daughter who spoke up and was like, get over it. She defended them and had the language and the temperament and explained why they weren’t called “he” or “she”. It was really something to see that young people can accept and embrace these changes. Young people are wonderful and really very accepting.

Maggie: [Hearing Patricia’s story] I changed my story: two years ago, my son set up a video chat with me and my husband and informed us that “he” was now a woman. For the past two years, I have been processing that. The first months were amazing. You see, I was in show business so I knew all the right things to say and do. It was a big adjustment of being appropriate and saying the right things. Then we went to a parents’ group. After 6 months, I crossed a line and became a fierce advocate.

I love her so much. Her name is Emily and she is so much happier than Andrew ever was. Thank God you did it now, is all I can think. With the new administration it was a concern now of safety. The most misery was that for the first 33 years she was in the wrong body. Today I got a text that she started the process of the legal name change. She’s seeing about “the top part” of the surgery and I had a meltdown.… But I love her so much.

Tim: I’ve been carrying around this brick [showing a real brick he had brought]. It came from a palette of bricks in 1976. I worked in construction and one of the first jobs I had was to make a sidewalk for the family. My mother died 2 days before Christmas. The walkway was built and was tread on and smoothed over. Everyone in my family walked on this brick. This brick makes me amazed.

I wanted to leap to this story of rocks. I studied at New Paltz and I climbed a cliff at the falls. I tried to climb a 375-foot cliff. When I got to the top, I discovered there was an old road. The state of the union to me is in the permanence of the landscape. There is a symbolic thing of freedom and liberty. For me to climb there and climb by myself. To me the roundedness of the nation is as a big plot of land. I come from 4 generations of immigrants. This is who we are as a nation. I’m channeling—it’s in the rocks, the trees, the Grand Canyon….

Kathy: The story is hard for me to choose; as dismal as things seem, I’m inspired daily. I’m just so grateful for that. One day I was approached by USDAC founder Adam Horowitz; he called me up and came to my office at NYU and I was so inspired [he talked about creating the People’s State of the Union and the Story Circle]. I said what do you need me to do? He taught a class with me. We took that risk and I’ve built organizations and I’ve made messes and I’ve seen things grow. And to watch this planting and this opening and these invitations… I went to the NY State of the Union poetry reading. Anytime we gather this way gives me inspiration. Having watched the meticulousness of this [State of the Union] building—it has tentacles all over this country. People of all ages and color come together.

Kim: The most profound feeling of belonging was going to the Women’s March in NY a year ago. It was an incredible experience. The last time I did that was in DC for a Pro-choice march and it gives you an incredible sense of movement and what matters. That said, the State of the Union to me has something to do with medical matters. I wonder about the days when doctors did care. When they were not worried about deductibles. When I grew up, my parents’ friends were the doctors and dentists that we went to, and I miss that. I miss that they talked to one another. My friends and I are politically the same but I’ve really had to bridge a gap with my dad and a friend from my High School. I feel this weirdness about this State of the Union.

PAUSE IN GROUP. MODERATOR ASKS if there are any themes that seem to have surfaced. Everyone is feeling positive. We’ve all had these experiences where we had friends and now there is a wall, especially when you see white supremacists. Maggie says “everyone is finding a pathway. I had a client who was talking about how much Trump was doing for the country. I felt like I could kill him. But I had to find a moment of serenity.”

Some of the themes are that people have retreated. There is a reaction to one year in. Last year was more of an uproar. Now there is hope. There are positive events.

Kathy: About the belonging thing, I grew up here. My dad had a potato farm. I felt like I never belonged. We talk about the word “different”. I spent my life fighting white supremacy. Young women of color are making a new world. They’re excited, hopeful, which is not the experience of a lot of people I know. What is the most useful way to share experiences. We need to understand who this country really is. There is a lot. How things are going to happen… are going to be different.

Those who oppose you are harder to reason with. My neighbor, a local guy, after the election, he saw I came out of the booth and he hugged me. I think he knew why. In Sagaponack, they think I’m so weird, except for the small corner of artists. How do we talk about white women who support Trump? I need help. Not every conversation is useful.

Maggie: On the hopeful side, the great thing that happened is that people were out there marching. It wasn’t happening in Westhampton Beach, but it IS happening.

Annette: Thinking locally, I’m afraid to talk to some and avoiding others. If you look at All the President’s Men, at that time, the facts were the facts. It’s difficult to find a starting point.

Tim: My reaction is that things have nothing to do with the election. I’m climbing the falls. There is a taste of freedom, a choice to be an artist is difficult. Artists carry the torch. It’s a passion for who we are and where we are. I’m an independent voter. I paint from a place from way back. I am an American. I was born here but my family is from Scotland, Italy, Germany, Canada…. The literary troupe in this country did more than the politicians. The flakes are in Washington DC. I’m on the side of Tennessee Williams. The freedom of the individual is what the union was. If we bind ourselves to teams… I don’t want to succumb to these.

More group discussion between Corinne and Annette: coalitions are very important. People tend to need community. Not anyone survives alone and there IS a sense of community. Being encouraged by truth telling of those students coming through.

ROUND TWO

Annette: Well, this story relates to the last round. My cousin’s daughter was 19 or 20 and decided to transition and become male. My cousin lives in CO and hers is a very isolationist type of family and they decided to cut ties with their daughter. I met him when he was a she. It makes me so sad that this child who is lovely is now severed from his family. I found too that back when we were in our teens, my siblings and family lived one way and they lived the other way. It astounds me. I feel sad that I wasn’t close and couldn’t help bring those family around.

Corinne: My story is about when I moved out here from the city last year and was a new driver. I’m doing well but last summer I was in East Hampton and I was coming out of a parking lot. I did a left turn in a place where it said no left turn…. I thought I could get away with it and did it because if I didn’t, I’d be lost. As I’m driving, I heard sirens and didn’t look back. When I looked in the rearview mirror, the car was brown but NYC cops are in white cars. I thought it was some crazy person with a siren on their car and I decided to go faster. He came closer and I finally stopped and when I stopped, the cop was very aggressive; I was so frightened and almost cried. I set up a date in court and wanted to fight it. One point I want to make is that the policeman was very aggressive and when he noted my accent, he commented that I wasn’t from here. The other point is that when I went to the court in East Hampton, the people there for traffic violations were 99 percent Latino. The judge threatened several of them with deportation. And you hear that they are being profiled. It was very sad and very disturbing. That people are getting rounded up. That says a lot about the State of the Union.

Chris: I’d like to go back to Tim’s brick. You’ve placed it in a way that doesn’t function. In a way it’s interesting. The brick is a thing of protest. It’s a metaphor for this conversation. It’s both constructive and destructive.

Scott (poet—came to our circle for round 2): I had a remarkable experience in October in New Mexico in a place that my wife grew up in. We recently went back there and put a conservation easement in and we went to this place that hadn’t been farmed in 30 years outside Albuquerque. It was amazing to be back there. We went to Santa Fe and there was a Mariachi band. It was beautiful with these musicians dressed up. The point was to draw people in support of the Dreamers. It was a really moving moment because we said the pledge and sang America the Beautiful. We just happened upon this in this square in Santa Fe, all singing about this place in our country. I have so many good stories about this place that is my country. I left as a child of the ‘60s and lived outside for 10 years. But now I want to be part of this country.

Maggie: Disappointing story about diversity—I do a lot of work with substance abuse. A couple of months ago there was an event at East Hampton high school and people were there to testify about losing their children. I was very excited about it but when I got there, the auditorium was not completely full. There was not one person of color on the panel, nor was there anyone under the age of 45 or 50. It was disappointing to me and it made me feel that our politicians on our side of the isle don’t really get it. They don’t get the Opioid issue and the administration is not being helpful at all. It’s virtually wiping out children. I’m being hopeful and advocating to make treatment more available and to get the message out more strongly.

Tim: The week before 9/11, I remember being out in Montauk and painting for three days, then driving up to Lake Placid on September 10 to restore an old building from 1700s. This house was beautiful and I got everything in order. September is the most beautiful month, and I got a lot of work done. The morning of 9/11, I’m in this little village—everyone knows each other. Bing in this downtown area on the morning of 9/11, I didn’t know what to do. Should I paint? Is this going to be the end of the world? This woman was standing in the door of her shop that she just opened and you could see the look in her eyes. I felt like an American then. We were all in this together. I was speechless.

Kathy: With the brick exchange… There is an incredible community and cultural organization called BRIC in Brooklyn. I’m thinking of this as “both” instead of “either or,” which is kind of a way of remaining being alive through dichotomies. That’s not a story. You probably know the group OLA (Organización Latino-Americana of the Est End), I do try to stop or slow down when I see cops pulling over Latinos. I don’t know that I’d do anything useful. I ask myself what should I do, what would I do, but I do know there is a group that needs our support.

Kim: The thing that’s sort of on my mind is how my day to day feels inspiring and moving forward and yet I feel there’s this big moving cloud of a whole lot of stuff that I can’t do too much about. I feel kind of powerless about that cloud. I feel the only thing that I can do anything meaningful about is doing things locally. Showing up—showing up for my coworkers and for my family. There are days where I just feel the heaviness and I think to myself, God, how did we get here? Truthfully, I hear stories every day, thankfully, that people are doing incredible things. I listen to a lot of inspiring podcasts and I am hopeful. I can’t control the bizarre and crazy bullshit that’s going on in politics. There is craziness on both side. It’s insane.

Break. Discussion resumes among group to follow up.

Annette: So we are talking about immersing ourselves in podcasts: This American Life. We just spent a vacation in British Columbia and to get away from the news, the chatter. It was great to hear stories like “today, a deer was pulled out of an icy pond”. I mean that was on the news.

Various discussions among panelists. I don’t listen to news and what’s going on in politics. I don’t pay too much attention to the man behind the curtain. This is a time to come together. I’m new out here and I wanted to meet community leaders. What can we change here in Southampton?

Creativity is a pathway to freedom. Any art form, even if it’s a movie, it does help. It helps to deal with the day to day horror. I like to deal with things indirectly. In times of struggle, great art emerged and also great community.

On 9/11, everyone knew exactly where they were and who you were with.

Corinne: After 9/11, I thought should I go back to Switzerland but I decided to stay here. That’s when I felt most American. Now I’m not so sure. There are all of these issues with healthcare, pensions, racism, climate change…. That’s a different kind of catastrophe.

Annette comments about political climate in Europe and BRexit. Corinne says Europe isn’t much better and there is an increasing gap between the have and have nots, like here.

Tim: After 9/11, I went to VT to a Tractor Pull. In one sense, I thought, well, this is America. They were just going about their business. And this is America, there is a sense of comfort and also denial.

Annette talks about a friend from Sag Harbor who lost her boyfriend in the towers. She had gone back to CO to teach and he called her and said he was trying to get out and she didn’t really have a clue what was going on. Then she had to deal with the guilt. The guilt of knowing she intended on breaking up with him. The guilt of his mother transferring her feelings about his death….

Kathy: People and 9/11…. There is such complexity. What about the people in Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan? What do we learn and what do we do differently? What does it take to imagine what it’s like to live outside of one’s sphere?

Scott says he is hopeful and defiant. What can we learn about nature? So many events are out of our control. There are these smaller cycled systems and we are discovering about ourselves all of the time. There is a real fluidity. What is true is that children need to be allowed to be creative. It’s the greatest gift we can give them.

There is a correlation between individuals and denial. Denial of family. Denial of Nation.

What happens when you don’t acknowledge what’s the classification? There are artistic intimacies that need to be spoken in public. Group collectively agrees this is great.

End.

[nofomoartworld]

Art F City: This Week’s Must-See Art Events: Spend Valentine’s Day Grabbing Bjarne Melgaard’s Sloppy Seconds

Bjarne Melgaard is going through a reinvention phase, which means he’s giving away his entire $500K wardrobe for free on Valentine’s Day at Red Bull Studios. Then he’s launching his new project: a streetwear line with an installation a department store at the same spot Thursday night. Then two painters offer unique takes on domesticity through still lives—Sydney Licht at Kathryn Markel Fine Arts and Crys Yin at Amy Li Projects.

Friday night, things get weirder with a dystopian video game from Jeremy Couillard at yours mine & ours, artwork lost in translation at Tiger Strikes Asteroid, and a late-night performance from Actually Huizenga and one-time-AFC-contributor SSION (video above). The weekend brings two more all-women shows conceived in response to Trump’s sexism: BODY/HEAD Saturday night at Be Fluent NYC and BEAT at On Stellar Rays Sunday afternoon. Lookin’ good, NYC.

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Tue

Red Bull Studios New York

220 W 18th St New York, NY 5:00 p.m.Website

The Purge: Bjarne Melgaard's $500K Designer Fashion Giveaway

This Valentine’s Day, Bjarne Melgaard is breaking up with his half-a-million-dollar designer wardrobe. In a performance tied to his solo show The Casual Pleasure of Disappointment, the artist is opening a free “department store” of both his personal high-end clothes and new line of streetwear. 100 at a time, visitors will be invited to fill up Melgaard-designed trash bags with items from the installation. The flier also promises “Hardcore Porno” and “Sex Booths,” so I guess no one has to be lonely this February 14th.

I would imagine every single in the city (and likely a few couples) will be heading to this most romantic looting spree, so get there early (it’s first-come, first serve).

Wed

Hauser & Wirth

548 West 22nd Street New York, NY 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Serialities

One complaint we’ve had after viewing several exhibitions at Hauser & Wirth’s cavernous 22nd Street former-gay-roller-disco space is that it’s hard to fill well. From Rashid Johnson’s latest solo show to an underwhelming Phillip Guston retrospective, the strategy for conquering a surplus of wall/floor space tends to be repetitive hanging—rooms with multiple versions of essentially the same artwork. It can be a bit boring.

Now it seems Hauser & Wirth is turning this problem into the conceptual keystone of an exhibition. Serialities has an impressive line up of A-listers, each with a body of work based on experiments with repetition. Think multiples, photographs, formal interests that jump from medium-to-medium, etc…

Carl Andre, Yuji Agematsu, Bernd and Hilla Becher, Liz Deschenes, Isa Genzken, Eva Hesse, Roni Horn, On Kawara, Robert Kinmont, Louise Lawler, Zoe Leonard, Sherrie Levine, Sol LeWitt, Paul McCarthy, Roman Opalka, Andrea Robbins and Max Becher, August Sander, Karin Sander, Mira Schendel, Cindy Sherman, David Smith, Ian Wallace, and Mark Wallinger. Organized with Olivier-Renaud Clement

Thu

Red Bull Studios New York

220 W 18th Street New York, NY 12:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.Website

Bjarne Melgaard: The Casual Pleasure of Disappointment

Beyond purging his wardrobe, Bjarne Melgaard is launching a whole new identity: “the retirement of Bjarne Melgaard as a fine artist, abandoning the humiliating context of the exhibition platform for the much worse context of cult streetwear: a market pretending to be a community, pretending to be a violent assault on reproduction.”

Yes, Bjarne Melgaard is launching a fashion line and renouncing fine art. He’s doing this with a pop-up department store at Red Bull Studios that sounds suspiciously like an art installation. Huh.

Kathryn Markel Fine Arts

529 West 20th Street New York, NY 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

Sydney Licht: This Side Up

Sydney Licht’s painterly still lives are a bit weirder than they seem at first glance. They’re mainly focused on the domestic realm—so there’s an unshakable association with decor. But they’re composed almost-always slightly-off kilter, with unstable, clashing prints. They vaguely evoke interior decorating catalogue imagery gone awry. Her inclusion of mass-produced consumer goods—packaged fruit or a tissue box, for example—further pushes the association with “product,” but their aesthetic is anything but sleek or advertisement-like.

Amy Li Projects

166 Mott Street New York, NY 7:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Website

Crys Yin: If You Were Home, You'd Be Here By Now

Meanwhile, on the other side of town, Crys Yin has a pretty-similar solo show. Yin’s still lives, however, have a strangely scientific-personal feel. She lays out groups of domestic objects reflecting her upbring on a plain table, arranged almost like specimens or evidence. The clinical treatment is somewhat negated by the paintings’ lack of perspective and un-naturalistic shadows. Nothing seems to sit quite firmly in the picture plane.

Fri

yours mine & ours

54 Eldridge Street New York, NY 12:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

Jeremy Couillard: Alien Afterlife

The description for this solo show is a narrative about a woman in a dystopian future finding a contemporary video game. We’re expecting this to be a downright trippy dive into a fully-imagined alternate reality. The video game itself will be playable in the gallery, along with physical artifacts from Couillard’s universe.

Tiger Strikes Asteroid

yours mine & ours New York, NY 6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

x ≈ y: An Act of Translation

Nina Katchadourian is one of those artists who can pull off art pranks that are smart, aesthetic experiences, and also extremely funny. She once had all the cars at a commuter college park in lots according to color—a surreal, unexpectedly beautiful happening that was documented by local news traffic helicopters. Here, she’s showing “Talking Popcorn,” a contraption that translates the sound of a popcorn machine to morse code messages. I’ve seen that piece before, and it produces both a tasty snack and bizarre bits of poetry.

Indeed, all the works in x ≈ y: An Act of Translation sound like they captures moments of humor and accidental beauty in transcription. Asuka Goto, for example, translates her father’s writing from his native Japanese to her native English bit by bit, resulting in often garbled passages that reveal the limits of language and cross-cultural communication.

Artists: Chloë Bass, Torkwase Dyson, Asuka Goto, Mona Saeed Kamal, Nina Katchadourian, and Byron Kim

Curated by Andrew Prayzner and Naomi Reis

Baby's All Right

146 Broadway Brooklyn, NY 11:59 PMWebsite

SSION and Actually Huizenga

SSION and Actually Huizenga are two of our favorite performers mixing pop music catchiness with art-school weird. Huizenga is based in L.A., so this is a somewhat-rare chance to catch her on the East Coast. Tickets are $12-$15, a total steal for what’s likely to be a memorable evening.

Sat

Be Fluent NYC

15 West 39th Street New York, NY 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

BODY/HEAD

Here’s yet another all-women show organized in opposition to the Trump presidency. Inspired by Trump’s comments about women’s bodies, curators Jacob Rhodes, Rachel Frank, and Katrina Slavik have assembled 12 female figurative artists. The show addresses the body from the perspective of the female gaze, in a variety of media. If the image above (Jen Schwarting, “Drunk Girls #19”) is any indication, this will be a refreshingly broad look at “figuration” and the subject of the body.

Artists: Sachiko Akiyama (+ Rick Fox), Julie Curtiss, Cindy Ji Hye Kim, Amy Khoshbin, Kimia Ferdowsi Kline, Sarah Lubin, Nicole Maloof, Danielle Orchard, Sahana Ramakrishnan, Katarina Riesing, Jen Schwarting, Virginia Wagner

Sun

On Stellar Rays

213 Bowery New York, NY 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Website

BEAT: Closing Party + Benefit for Planned Parenthood

After the election, friends Kate Gilmore and Karen Heagle decided to have a two-woman show together. Every weekend, female performers have come to On Stellar Rays to bang on Heagle’s minimalist metal sculptures, slowly eroding an imposing monolith. The show ends with one final performance, and a fundraiser for Planned Parenthood.

Pierogi

155 Suffolk St New York, NY 6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.Website

Elliott Green: Human Nature

Elliott Green’s latest paintings flit between cheery abstraction and brooding fantasy landscapes. That makes for an engaging viewing process—one shape might read convincingly as a cloud or rock formation due to context, but a brush stroke or pallet knife scrape on closer inspection. With works ranging in size from 18″ x 24″ to 6 ½’ x 11 ½’, it should be interesting to see how those illusions function at different scales.

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