The Williams Record (https://williamsrecord.com/category/arts/)
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was late May, and the ballroom of the Hilton Atlanta teemed with hormones and promise. Six hundred and sixty two middle schoolers had touched down the previous night, and a few rubbed jet lag out of their eyes as they snacked on granola and reviewed flashcards, preparing to spend the next three days fighting tooth and nail for glory.
Tonight, the theatre department will present Radio Dramas, a series of short pre-recorded radio plays selected from Suzan-Lori Parks’ 365 Days / 365 Plays. The show was recorded, edited, and produced this fall by a cast and crew spread across the country and beyond, and the format represents “a way out of—or through—the pandemic,” according to Creative Producer Nicolle Mac Williams ’21.5.
Trivial, a new Cap & Bells production which premieres Friday, Nov. 13, started as a high school homework assignment.
“It’s almost a single freeze frame of a movie. It’s a space, cast with characters. The idea is to take you away, and sort of transport you off Spring Street,” said Artist Stacy Cochran as she described her new Pick-Up Pop-Up Bookshop in town. As the Mass MoCA gift shop recently closed, Cochran fashioned an operative art installation to create a moment of atmospheric light in the symbolically vacant space. The space is not a complete store, but a pop-up installation, intended to emulate a bookshop, where people can pick up an order placed from the website of the Northshire Bookstore of Manchster, Vt. each week.
Āddā in Bengali refers to the fine art of discussion, originally denoting a salon-like gathering at which the thoughts and persuasions of the day could be discussed in a gregarious, if sometimes vociferous, manner. A quintessentially Bengali concept, āddā these days could be described more as a meeting place for a group to indulge in a long chatter and gossip.
“When the revolution comes, no one is spared. It’s not just Trump’s the big bad guy. All of them need to go. We included everyone, because all of their faces need to be locked up” Crystal Ma ’21 said in regard to her recent artistic experiment “Lock Them Up.” Ma, a biology and studio art major from Redmond, Wash., and Kester Messan-Hilla ’21, a Studio Art major from Cambridge, Mass., were given an assignment by Assistant Professor of Art Johanna Breiding for their Junior Seminar class to imagine their desired world, post-election. The duo created a live experimental installation through campus on Oct. 24, centered around the doors of Chapin Hall, in which they covered the large entryway with many posters of Trump and his family, each individually titled “Lock Him Up” or “Lock Her Up.” The experiment, in its desire to prompt direct response, was quite successful—the front of Chapin has unexpectedly become a live canvas for political imagery.
Aaron Sorkin’s second film as both director and writer, The Trial of the Chicago 7, sheds light on a highly relevant historical event: the trial of eight men charged with conspiracy for inciting riots at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. While delivering on the snappy “I-wish-I-had-said-that” dialogue and political overtones he is best known for, Sorkin manages to portray the inequalities within the justice system and the most famous parts of the trial with countless thrilling moments and plenty of humor.
According to artist and filmmaker Sandy Williams IV, a candle of Thomas Jefferson should be melting on every mantlepiece. Monuments like Jefferson’s, and the often vexed historical weight they carry, should be interrogated, in Williams’ eyes. Williams spoke on Oct. 21 in the first artist talk in Assistant Professor of Art Pallavi Sen’s “Dream Time Lecture Series.” The series focuses on artists that utilize their work to reimagine the “near present and future.” The “Dream Time” series was originally intended to be for Sen’s students, but now, due to Sen’s desire to reach broader audiences, the series is now open to everyone in the Williams community and beyond. According to his website, Williams, based out of New York City and Richmond, Va., works in “sculpture, cinema, performance, painting, photography, text, and the public.”
Currently situated – or hidden – throughout the landscape of the Clark’s 140 acres of forest and field are the works of half a dozen female artists. One could see this outdoor exhibition, guest curated by Molly Epstein and Abigail Ross Goodman, as particularly apt for this moment, although Ground/work was not intended as a response to the pandemic. Meant to open in late spring, the showcase was in fact pushed back repeatedly by virus related difficulties until finally “opening” in the first week of October.
In a world of webinars and Zoom calls, it’s rare to be in an environment that makes us want to get up out of our chairs and dance. Yet on Friday night, I was delighted to find myself grooving along to Maxine Lyle ’00’s call of, “Raise up your hoodie and show your light, light!” as she choreographed a scene from her musical, “Step Show,” in front of our eyes.
