Arts
Just Another Magic Player
I played my first Magic tournament in third grade, with a bow in my hair and a deck of cards I had scrounged together by saving up allowances and “borrowing” cards from my older brother. I used a Lisa Frank notepad to keep track of “life totals.” In hindsight, I’m sure I looked perfectly ridiculous to the shop’s clientele.
The Culinary Theater
It is all part of the experience—today customers are seeking more than just tasty food or creative drinks; they are seeking a full interactive event. The décor, the menu, the restaurant staff, the customer—all contribute to a theatrical reenactment of the food culture of a distinct historical period. And what better way to build community than through this form of art, a staged dining experience based on customer participation?
Deja Entendu, Emmylou
I was a city girl seeing the world from behind the wheel for the first time. Somehow, on one of my first steps towards being a “real” adult, I rediscovered my childhood—long car rides are nothing without good music. I started looking through my dad’s massive CD collection for new tunes to carry me through daily jaunts and weekend trips, and, along the way, I alighted on the old Emmylou CDs.
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Freshman Karl C. Kopczynski, left, and Adam J. Connor ‘14 perform a duet in Friday night’s performance of “tick, tick...Boom!,” a witty musical which ran in Adams Pool Theatre.
Celebrating Paine
The Portland String Quartet plays Walter Piston's String Quartet No.1 at the reopening of Paine Concert Hall. The concert was part of a celebration of the legacy of John Knowles Paine, a former Harvard professor and the founder of Harvard's music department.
'Medea' Actors Overcome Poor Direction
While the show boasts a strong cast and innovative set design, Gammons’ ultimately muddies his own message with imprecise directing in some of the plays most crucial scenes.
The Astral Moment
The night I first understood “Astral Weeks,” I was cold in the dark back seat of my family’s car, looking out the fogged window as we became helplessly lost en route to a Christmas party. As the disc finished and looped back to the beginning, I began to find the music inexplicably appropriate to that moment. “If I ventured in the slipstream,” sings Morrison on the titular first track, “between the viaducts of your dream…could you find me…lay me down in silence easy to be born again?”
Keeping It Classy
The veiled disdain artistic people once had for those who chose more lucrative paths has been replaced by hostility. As a junior in the thick of the summer job search frenzy, I am acutely aware of the contempt the self-appointed “artsy elite” have for those seeking lucrative internships. I have heard the terms “soul-seller,” “sell-out,” and several which The Crimson could not print applied to people aiming at more conventionally remunerative careers.
‘The Artist’ to Ascend to Academy Glory
'The Artist' will capture the lion's share of awards at the Oscars on Sunday, but 'Senna' and 'Of Gods and Men' deserve recognition as well.
What Art Belongs to the Internet?
Lushly visual art and art that works with physical experience is out—imagine trying to take a Google Maps tour through a Richard Serra piece. The best internet art is collective and interactive in a way peculiar to its medium and works with the quiet, personal, and slightly guilty state of its consumers. There is no self-satisfaction to the internet the way there is to a book or a museum.
