Month: March 2021

Jon Key: Art that Challenges Space

Art is a valuable tool for self-expression, while also serving as a form of activism. When tragedy strikes, creatives seek an outlet to draw attention to inequalities. Jon Key, an artist known for his dedication to justice, used art to vocalize his thoughts and feelings after the 2016 Pulse Nightclub massacre. Following the tragedy, Key focused his attention on the safety of queer and trans people of color in public spaces. 

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Chopova Lowena: Making Traditions Trendy

In March of 2019, I was lucky enough to visit the country of Bulgaria. I had in my mind preconceived notions and stereotypes about the country, from every red-scare visual of Eastern Europe to picturing a country full of Viktor Krum's (the Bulgarian Quidditch player from the Harry Potter series). What I didn’t expect was a vibrant and colorful country that while flawed, is still so full of life and beauty throughout. The contradicting existence of modern-day Bulgaria, as a country still coming to terms with the end of state socialism and dealing with the impending globalization that comes from the English-speaking world, a country both urban and rural, a country that often seems like it’s stuck in the middle though. Within this contradictive existence lies a possibility that has just begun to be explored: fashion.

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Xaiali Magnetic Supreme: Medicinal Music

Two very important questions for our followers this week are: Did you get a chance to see the Xaiali Magnetic interview about a week ago on our Instagram feed? And did you get a chance to check out his album yet? If the answer to either one of those questions is, “NO,” then we need you to get on board with the rest of us, and get familiar with the sounds of Xaiali Magnetic. 

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Garrett Bradley: The Black Experience Meets Hollywood

The year is 1913 and three suitors are competing for the hand of the local beauty. Mobile partygoers are dancing the famous “cakewalk” as legendary Entertainer Bert Williams and Actress Odessa Warren Grey are dressed up for a date at the park, which includes a ride on the merry-go-round. This positive depiction of life as a middle-class black person in the film "Lime Kiln Club Field Day" serves as one of the very few silent black and white films which featured an all-Black cast with story elements that challenged the negative, evil depictions of Blacks in a majority of white produced films of that time. Over 100 years later, filmmaker Garrett Bradley has chosen to incorporate footage from this unreleased film into her multichannel video installation titled “America.”

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Junya Watanabe: Styling Outside of the Box

The roles are destined to switch when the student eventually becomes the teacher taking what they learned and running with it. The storyline for Junya Watanabe, a Japanese fashion designer, doesn’t fall far from that tree. Taking what he learned as an apprentice with Comme des Garcons (a Japanese fashion house based in Tokyo) Watanabe was able to create his very own crazy clothing line that pushes the fashion world to its limits. 

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