I just read an article in GQ in which Lil Uzi Vert talked about his newest alter ego, “AstroCat.” I know Uzi has adopted several egos in the past, and I thought it would be interesting to do a quick enumeration of some of my favorite celebrity alternate personalities.
Content warning: This article discusses abortion and trauma, and mentions sexual harassment.
A story inside a story. Think “The Princess Bride” (1987) or when a rambling friend gets lost in the details of a night recap.
Arguably no one in modern history will be as admired for the amount of creativity and innovation in their art as Virgil Abloh. Illinois-born fashion designer, artistic director, producer and DJ, Virgil Abloh was known and very well respected across all avenues of art. Sadly, Abloh passed away on Sunday, Nov. 28 at the age of 41, losing a hard-fought battle against a rare form of cancer known as cardiac angiosarcoma. He kept the diagnosis private, so his sudden passing came as a shock to many hearing the news of his death.
Tufts University Art Galleries’ exhibition titled “Staying with the Trouble” (2021) inspires its audience to imagine a collaborative and decolonized societal narrative through works of joy, compassion, teamwork and intersectionalityby artists Judy Chicago, Young Joon Kwak, MPA, Lynn Hershman Leeson, Ellen Lesperance, Joiri Minaya, Cauleen Smith, Faith Wilding, Paula Wilson and Carmen Winant with Carol Osmer Newhouse. Coordinated by guest curator Kate McNamara, the exhibit recently ended on Dec. 5, though its timely pieces and message are certainly worth exploring here if you did not get to see it in person.
Christina Tung created the brand SVNR to sell ethically-made pieces of jewelry that each have their own unique stories. Before founding SVNR in 2018 in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, Tung worked at her PR showroom, House Of. Tung is described as having an “eclectic, globally-influenced style,” which carries through to each handmade jewelry piece and their wide variety of materials.
After multiple delays, complaints and a lengthy legal battle involving its organization’s deceptive name, on Oct. 6, event company Fever finally opened the doors to its newest exhibition. “Van Gogh: The Immersive Experience” iscurrently on show at Boston’s Strand Theater.
On Nov. 29, rising alternative indie band Winnetka Bowling League performed at Boston’s Brighton Music Hall in an intimate but lively combination of bouncy melodies, cardboard cutouts and deadbeat dad jokes.
Over the pasteight columns, I’ve pondered many memorable shows, exploring what works and what doesn’t, which characters are interesting and which aren’t and why I — or you — should even care. Reflecting back, I’ve identified key criteria for evaluating what makes a show both subjectively and objectively ‘good,’ in no particular order:
The School of the Museum of Fine Arts is more racially diverse than the School of Arts and Sciences and the School of Engineering, but white students still make up the plurality of those enrolled. The Artists of Color Union (ACU) at the SMFA seeks to center the experiences of artists of color at the SMFA and at Tufts, and provides a space for artists to connect with and support one another.
Tufts has no shortage of quirky acronyms for quirky student groups, between TUSC (Tufts University Social Collective), SUCC (Stand-up Comedy Collective), TDC (Tufts Dance Collective), TMC (Tufts Mountain Club) and many more. What better name, then, for Tufts’ only street percussion group than BEATs (Bangin’ Everything At Tufts).
In the Aidekman Arts Center, the Tufts University Art Galleries present art with poignant stories, carefully curated by members of the Tufts community. Each exhibit showcases the current passions that the art world at Tufts wishes to share with a greater audience.
While I typically use this space to write about Korean songs and artists that I think everyone should be listening to, today’s column will center Tufts' very own K-pop dance association cover group, while recognizing the community it has built.
Sean Baker, king of the beautifully mundane, returns to the silver screen following his hit "The Florida Project" (2017) with "Red Rocket" (2021), a raunchy, fun, balls-to-the-wall joyride on a one-speed bike. It tells the tale of porn star Mikey Saber (Simon Rex) as he returns to his old hometown and reunites with his ex and her mom following a stint of hard times (or, as Variety more aptly puts it, limp times.) As he tries to look for work, an effort thwarted by his narcissistic tendencies, he meets 17-year-old Raylee “Strawberry,” and he falls head-over-heels on a mission to use her as a way to get back to his life of acclaim. The film becomes an odd sort of character study which examines an unlikeable narcissist who, while obnoxious and off-putting, begs you (over and over) to love him.
Rest peacefully, Virgil Abloh. I was never his greatest fan, but I certainly could not ignore the impact he had on both hip hop and fashion. Founding Off-White (originally called “PYREX VISION”) and eventually joining Louis Vuitton as its men's artistic director, Abloh was a pure creative — he was an artist as much as a designer. In fact, Abloh designed over a dozen album covers in his career. He was someone whose talents were not confined to one genre. No matter what medium, Abloh was always for the culture.
On Nov. 19, four bands got together to perform a wonderful display of pop punk and emo rock at The Palladium in Worcester, Mass. Mom Jeans served as the headlining band for the tour, with the support of Origami Angel, Save Face and Pool Kids. The venue was jam-packed from the start, with the bottom-level General Admission filling up completely before the opening acts began, and with merch lines nearly out the door.
Barbie sees a talking dog, Martin Tenbones, from her dreams get shot in the streets of New York City and she’s horrified, naturally. The twisted fifth volume “The Sandman: A Game of You” (1991–92) begins: Gaiman’s imagination is beautiful and perverted –– a perspective just as important as fairytale happy endings.
Every year, "The Great British Bake Off" (2010–) premieres — on Channel 4 for British viewers and Netflix for Americans — with another round of bakers entering the famous white tent on the grounds of an English estate in Essex. What once was just a prized British phenomenon, “Bake Off'' has taken on the international stage, with millions of viewers tuning in to watch 12 amateur bakers battle it out in a series of baking challenges.
On Nov. 23, the Recording Academy announced the nominees for its upcoming 64th annual Grammy Awards, to be held this upcoming January. In recent years, the Recording Academy and Grammy Awards have undergone many changes to adopt new policies centering on diversity, equity and inclusion as well as leadership adjustments. In the "Big Four" categories (Song of the Year, Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Best New Artist), nominees increased from five to eight in 2018, and this year, have been expanded to 10 per category. With that, here are the nominees for each of the aforementioned awards, as well as who, in this author's opinion, deserves and is likely to win each award.
Girlfriend Collective is an athletic and loungewear brand that uses recycled materials like polyester, fishing nets and used water bottles to create its pieces.The company was founded by a husband and wife duo, Ellie and Quang Dinh. They noticed that it was difficult to find activewear that was created in an environmentally sustainable way and also that many of the activewear brands used the same exact materials. So, Ellie and Quang began to search for alternative fabric choices, which is how they found a fabric mill in Asia that creates fabric from 100% recycled bottles and an SA8000-certified factory in Vietnam. The SA8000 certification means that the factory meets a standard developed by Social Accountability International to protect workers’ conditions and wages. Thus, once the sustainable fabric factory and the production factory were discovered, the husband and wife duo began the design process and Girlfriend Collective was born.
