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The Poetry Snapshot: The Lotus

nehaallathur Leave a comment

Chaos is grasping for water when you’re drowning,
but only swallowing muddy water.
It feeds off this fear and thrives in uncertainty.

Lotus by Maria Venardis 

You stand by the edge,
looking out at the pond, patiently.
Today is when the lotus begins to bloom.
The only flower to bloom petal by petal.
Like the consistency of flowering,
you like predicting the future
and staying on track.

A large lily pad is by your feet.
You pay attention to it,
but keep your distance.
And then a Child steps on.
Fearlessly and effortlessly,
without a second thought.
For a moment, this Child was God.

The Child looks up directly at you,
not with any sense of urgency,
but as if warning you about what comes next.
Because God cannot be blindsided.
The Child dances off the water lily,
and you are still caught off guard.

Trying to look past your concentrated fear of chaos
you jump into the pond for rescue.
But your disarray only drags you further down.
Even in the muddiest of waters,
a lotus finds the graceful power to blossom.

You watch the Child flow through this chaos;
unbothered and elegantly just like the lotus,
and you are rescued.

Unlocked: Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats

jushutch Leave a comment

Denzel Curry is a versatile musical artist with a distinct style that breaks genre boundaries, and Kenny Beats is one of the biggest up-and-coming music producers in the industry, working with a wide variety of artists such as Vince Staples, JID, and Ed Sheeran. Although an unlikely pair, the duo recently released a short music project titled UNLOCKED, only 8 tracks long with a run-time of under 20 minutes. However, it makes the most of every minute: it’s gritty and experimental, combining the aggressive and powerful style of Denzel and the innovative and off-kilter production of Kenny into a thrill ride of an album.

UNLOCKED by Denzel Curry and Kenny Beats

There is no unifying concept to the album (although there’s a great accompanying music video about the two having to recovered the leaked track files in an animated, cartoon-style universe), but the album cover gives a great idea of the overall aesthetic. The art is brutal and objectively cool, with an over-the-top presentation and self-aware attitude that lends itself perfectly to the music. My favorite tracks are Take_it_Back_v2, Lay_Up.m4a, and DIET_; each one is a great representation of what makes the duo so great, featuring clever wordplay and dynamic production. I’m always left speechless when I pay special attention to either Denzel or Kenny; when I focus on Denzel, I’m blown away by his energy and clever lyricism, and when I listen to Kenny’s production, I always find new depths to the instrumentation and sampling. It’s honestly incredible how well the two styles complement each other, and I think a lot of the credit goes to Kenny. He seems to perfectly understand the aesthetic Denzel is working to achieve and makes it a reality.

Although the project is short and lacks a unifying concept, I think it works as an amazing example of the experimental power of this musical duo. Each song packs its own unique punch, and even after listening to the album at least 30 times, I’m still constantly surprised by its style and production. Considering this was only a small project, and that Denzel is known for releasing few full albums, I’m really hoping that he takes this style and runs with it, and maybe even works with Kenny Beats again for his next project.

Viral art

sarahshu 1 Comment

My mind wanders, hopping from one coronavirus news to the next. Tired after being inundated by viral news of the Covid-19, I redirect my mind to something else entirely. I google “virus art”, not expecting to find artists inspired by these microorganisms.

But it turns out, there are!

1. David Goodsell

David Goodsell is a scientist who turns viruses into beautiful watercolor art. Deadly viruses such as HIV, Ebola and Zika are depicted eerily accurate. Personally I think the art is perhaps an acknowledgement that beautiful things can kill, an interesting thought to process. Goodsell’s art is not just merely something he does on the side, but is deeply interconnected to his own research of pathogens. His work is said to be “an amazing combination of science and art”.

2. Guo O Dong

Although creating art unrelated to actual microorganisms, his work into infecting a 10-year-old laptop with 6 of the worse computer viruses is an interesting and original take. Who would expect an infected laptop to be worth millions? Titled “The Persistence of Chaos“, Guo O Dong was commissioned by a cybersecurity company to create a computer which is contaminated with infamous viruses such as WannaCry, which left hospitals in England unable to operate their equipment and ILOVEYOU, a virus that inflicted international disruption. Various engineers were brought in to install the viruses into the computer, which is isolated in a housing unit in New York to prevent the virus from spreading to other computers. Sure sounds like quarantine… Besides that, the computer sold for $1.45 million.

3. Laura Splan

Her project of creating computerized lace doilies based on virus structures is done to demonstrate the dangerousness of viruses portrayed through a harmless domestic object. Designs of the doilies are based on HIV, SARS, Influenza, Herpes and Hepadna. This project is also revolves around the notion that an heirloom artifact can manifest cultural anxieties of disease. This project seems rather relevant to our current anxiety around the COVID-19.

  

These three different virus-inspired art demonstrate indeed how viral art can be…

(Image sources: Science Mag, Popular Mechanics, Laura Splan) 

Marge Makes Comics #26: Like Genuine Despair

MargeMakesComics 2 Comments

Hey guys. The recent developments on and off campus regarding COVID-19 have been tearing me apart lately. I’m scared for my family and friends and I’m torn between feeling lucky and grateful that I can go back home to be with my family and angry and devastated for my friends, for my classmates, for the world, for myself. Taking the time to mourn lost time is important. Take time and take action. Stay safe out there, be kind and be careful.

5 years of comic diaries

Amy Fieldmouse 1 Comment

I realized recently that this is the fifth year now I’ve been keeping a comic diary, so I thought it would be fun to look through them and see how my work has changed. Here’s one from around this time each of the last 5 years.

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

I’ll be back with more new comics next week! My thesis comic is so close to finished, and it’s eating up all my time, but looking back always gets me excited to draw new things again.

Cheers!