GOOD Ideas for Cities visits Cincinnati to discuss local urban issues
0 Comments · Tuesday, May 22, 2012
We live in an answer-fueled society today.
Search engines are the go-to solution for every problem or tinge of
curiosity — Google knows us as well, if not better, than we know
ourselves.
Thunder-Sky show plays some heady mind games
0 Comments · Tuesday, May 8, 2012
I’m obsessed with the title of Thunder-Sky Inc.’s latest show, Reverse Psychology.
The name, a play on two artists’ opposite aesthetics and themes,
doesn’t work for me — or does it? Should I be celebrating differences,
or searching for similarities? I don’t know what to think, and I think
that’s the intent.
ArtWorks’ second Big Pig Gig public art project takes flight
0 Comments · Tuesday, May 1, 2012
When I was growing up, the fact that
Cincinnati was known as “Porkopolis” was not exactly a selling point for
me. I vividly remember Bicentennial Commons at Sawyer Point opening in
1988 to much hullabaloo thanks to the flying pig sculptures near the
entrance and being absolutely mortified with embarrassment that my
hometown would choose to embrace its reputation as a haven for swine.
Three coinciding Weston Gallery exhibits take guests on a visual journey
0 Comments · Tuesday, April 17, 2012
If you are an orderly person, your first
stop on descending the stairs to see the current installations in the
Weston Art Gallery’s lower rooms will be the tiny viewing area just to
the right of the staircase. There, Clara Crockett’s “Theatre
Lilliputiens,” five brief films with a total running time of 20 minutes,
prepare us for the world of her small, meticulous drawings.
1 Comment · Tuesday, April 3, 2012
In Lewis Carroll’s 1871 sequel to Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland,
Alice traverses a mirror above her drawing-room fireplace to enter the
“Looking-glass House.” Once there she discovers a chamber that is both
familiar and bizarre — a place identical in dimension to the humdrum
parlor she has departed, but where chess pieces frolic and poems are
written in reverse.
Peter Haberkorn’s exhibit at Prairie takes viewers on a road trip
0 Comments · Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Peter Haberkorn, a Cincinnati artist who
imaginatively salvages and repurposes older materials, has a background
in architectural study. Fittingly, the first thing you notice upon
entering Northside’s Prairie to see his new show, Airstream, is just how beautifully his work fits in as gallery-complementing design.
0 Comments · Tuesday, March 27, 2012
During the installation of her new show I surrender, dear
at downtown’s Contemporary Arts Center, Moscow-born/New York-based
artist Dasha Shishkin and I discussed a range of issues, including the
possibility that she might be a witch.
0 Comments · Tuesday, March 20, 2012
At Manifest Creative Research Gallery,
ideas for exhibitions are almost an intellectual art form on their own.
The little “neighborhood gallery for the world” in East Walnut Hills has
a history of dreaming up surprising themes.
CAC exhibit examines the art and enduring impact of music videos
0 Comments · Tuesday, February 28, 2012
When I first caught wind of Spectacle: The Music Video,
opening Saturday at the Contemporary Arts Center downtown, I felt like I
was heading over to Steve’s all over again. The new exhibition explores the music video’s past and present while
considering its future through a series of artifacts, photos, immersive
environments and literally hundreds of music videos.
by Jac Kern
02.23.2012
93 days ago
Jac's favorite pop culture and Internet findings of the week
Thanks
to Facebook friends with good taste, my mom's stream of animal photo chain
emails and my voracious appetite for gossip and craft blogs, I'm constantly
exposed to some of the greatest items from the far-reaching corners of the internet. Here's what I just can't get enough of this week.
"Bad
Girls"
OK,
so M.I.A.'s video for "Bad Girls" came out a couple weeks ago, and
despite looping it for hours on end since then, I cannot get enough of it. It's
one of those tunes that makes me want to dance in public even without a (few)
cocktails in my system. With a penchant for controversy, the video (filmed in
Morocco) depicts what seem to be Middle Eastern women in
traditional-yet-pimped-out garb racing cars in the desert and dancing to music
with strong, sexual, pro-femme lyrics.Though it’s been said that the political
standpoints M.I.A. makes in her music contradict her lifestyle,
or sometimes don't even make sense, the “Paper Planes” singer is the queen of juxtaposition when
it comes to her videos. It's also important to note that “Bad
Girls” comes during a time when women in Saudi Arabia are banned from driving.
So whatever her intended/implied/confusing statements may be, this video is a
pretty hot way to say “F that.”
Go here to watch her response to fans’ YouTube comments on the video.
Bonnaroo
The
mega-fest’s initial lineup was released last week, boasting headliners like Radiohead, Red Hot Chili Peppers,
Phish and The Beach Boys. Every year I go back and forth on my
decision to go: Can I afford the ticket plus all the cash and supplies that go
into surviving there (screw anyone who says you just need water and a sleeping
bag)? Can my poor Irish skin bear four days in the blazing sun? What if next
year’s lineup is even better? I still haven’t quite decided, but 2012’s lineup
looks good to me for less-than-obvious reasons.Ben
Folds Five — As in, the original trio reuniting. One of my all time favorite
bands. I’d die. The
Roots — I’ve been a fan of the crew since I first heard “The Seed (2.0)” when I
was in eighth grade. And their day job as house band for Late Night with Jimmy
Fallon has only solidified my love.Ludacris
— Not ashamed.Of
course there’s also this year’s #whoarethey Grammy winners, Bon Iver, Donald
Glover’s alter-ego Childish Gambino, The Shins, jam band supreme Umphrey’s
McGee and dozens more. Aziz Ansari (Parks
and Rec, Funny People) is even
confirmed to perform, though the rest of the comedy lineup is yet to be
announced. It turns out most people go to ‘roo for music, but I will nerdily
admit as a comedy fangirl, the stand-up tent was one of my favorite (and most
air-conditioned) experiences during my trip to the fest in 2010. Ansari also
appeared that year and Conan O’Brien, fresh off his firing from NBC, headlined.
Taxidermy
Art
A
friend on Facebook recently posted a link to Hi-Fructose Magazine’s blog, a page covered in creepy-cute
taxidermy art. Netherlands-based art partners (artners?) Les Deux Garçons
create whimsical pieces in which real taxidermied animals are embellished with
knick knacks, toys and lush decorative ribbons. If that weren’t enough, many
the animals are dual-headed conjoined mammals, or are transformed into unicorn-esque
creatures with crazy horns. These (ethically-obtained) animals are transformed
into their own art form that carefully walks the line between beautiful and
grotesque. Observe:
Arianna
Huffington
The
media queen came to town Feb. 22 to speak as a part of the SmartTalk
ConnectedConversations series, and boy, do I have a crush on her. She spoke (in
a sexy Greek accent, BTW) on becoming fearless in love, work and life,
providing many hilarious and interesting personal anecdotes along the way.
Advice she gave included getting more sleep, turning off that negative voice,
or “obnoxious roommate” in our heads and the importance of finding a “tribe” of
friends we can all relate to and depend on. Fun Fact: She launched The
Huffington Post in her fifties, thanks to help of a $100,000 loan from her
tribe-mate Laurie David (former wife of Seinfeld/Curb Your Enthusiasm’s Larry
David). Pretty inspirational. She ended the evening answering audience
questions with Channel 12’s Cammy Dierking, who clearly also has a bit of a
girl-crush on Huffington, and who nearly made me wet myself when she used the
phrase “That’d go over like a turd in a punch bowl.” It was truly a fun
femme-fest.
Sleigh
Bells on SNL
Despite
my undying love for Saturday Night Live, even I can’t deny the amount of
lackluster musical performances on the show. Granted, it is one of the few
“really live” shows left, details often aren’t finalized until the last minute, sound is often off and
the tiny stage isn’t ideal, but who could forget Ashlee Simpson’s
career-killing disaster on the show? This year, it’s all about hating on Indie
songstress/mannequin Lana Del Rey’s performance. Personally, I don’t think the
performance warranted such a backlash, but judge both for yourself.
And check out SNL’s hilarious response to Lana-gate (with Kristen Wigg as LDR)
here.
Thankfully,
Noise Pop duo (now touring with a third musician) Sleigh Bells killed it on last week’s episode. I wasn’t expecting
the live TV format to do them justice, but they sounded great and were
entertaining despite a nearly naked stage.