How different the world looks
Simply by sitting on the left side of the bus
Instead of your usual spot,
On the right
A symmetry of your everyday routine,
Lost in your love for reliability.
Of sitting in the same spot, every time.
The route is even unfamiliar now,
All these trees and roads and buildings
That you were on the other side of,
the whole half of the world you did not see
Unknown to you, and would have remained unknown
Had someone not taken your unassigned, assigned seat
On the bus today
And this is just small in terms of what you know it really means,
How we only see things one way
And never from the view of the
People across the street
And when we finally muster courage
To step across our boundary
that we set for ourselves,
We are uncoordinated, unfamiliar, uncomfortable,
And even lost
In all this, we learn
The grass is just as green from the other window,
And perhaps it is our view that is tainted
By sitting so long in one spot,
And never trying a different window.
First off, I don’t watch the Grammys or follow the awards; I have no idea what the categories are, how the winners are determined, or how Billie Eilish can win 5 Grammys, including Album of the Year and Record of the Year (what’s the difference again?). But I did catch the aftermath this year, namely the musical performances which tend to be an iconic part of the awards show. Personally, I was most interested in the performances by Tyler, the Creator, Bilie Eilish, and Lil Nas X, of which Tyler is the most senior, having been rapping and pushing the limits of the genre for the last decade, while both Billie and Lil Nas are recent stars on the hip hop/pop scene. All performances were interesting in their own way and extremely telling of the current music industry, and for that reason I want to look at how successful each performance was and what defined them.
My favorite performance by far was Tyler, the Creator performing a medley of songs off of his most recent album Igor, which you may remember me writing about last fall. It ended up winning Best Rap Album of the Year, which is somewhat controversial, considering how experimental and genre-breaking Igor truly is. Many critics of the Grammys (including Tyler himself) point out the historical connotations of the Best Rap Album award, which has been one of the only awards consistently won by African American musicians, and feel that the forcing of Igor into this category further displays the role of the rap award as a participation trophy for African American artists.
Regardless of the politics around the award, nobody can argue that Igor didn’t deserve the Grammy; it truly is one of a kind, a fusion of multiple genres and saturated with personality and aesthetic. Tyler brought these exact qualities to his explosive performance, featuring a beautifully sung intro, then wild and intense effects followed up by an insane, almost heavy metal raging and dancing, leading to another beautifully sung reprieve, and finally a crescendo of visceral craziness and adrenaline, leading to a fitting climax. I definitely recommend watching it yourself; words can’t do it justice. Even if you don’t usually appreciate that style of music, I think the performance is objectively fantastic. I found that my heart was racing when I was watching, and I caught myself smiling at the end, that’s how much I was drawn into the over-the-top qualities of the performance. Not only was it more entertaining than any other performance, it actually put the music on display, perfectly conveying the themes and emotions that go along with the album.
The next performance I watched was Billie Eilish performing an acoustic song off of her most recent album with her brother on the piano. It was certainly well done and haunting, but its impact was almost insignificant compared to Tyler’s. I should acknowledge my bias towards Tyler first however; I simply appreciate his style and musical development more than Billie’s. I was a fan of hers when she first started, but I quickly felt like all of her music sounded the same (which is a pretty generic critique, I know). Perhaps her style is just meant to be subtle, and I missed the point of her performance, but regardless I felt like it left a lot to be desired, which is surprising considering how many Grammys she won.
Last but not least was Lil Nas X performing a medley of Rodeo and Old Town Road, both viral hits last year. They’re great songs and all, certainly very catchy, but it’s hard for me to see him as anything more than just a meme. I don’t mean that with disrespect; I definitely think there is a place in pop culture for viral music and his endearing personality, but I think he objectively lacks the artistic skill of more serious or developed musicians. He might grow into a more serious artist one day too, who knows, but for now I think his music is just meant to appeal to the lowest common denominator of today’s pop culture, which I think was put on full display during his performance. Studded with other celebrities and musicians, his performance felt like an odd fever dream with some familiar faces, but no unifying style. It was practically a musical advertisement for the music industry, not an example of outstanding creative performance. It makes sense that Lil Nas would rely on the reputations and popularity of other musicians, considering he has just started making a name for himself, but it certainly doesn’t help him to stand out or create his own musical legacy.
Hopefully this didn’t turn into a rant (it can be hard to tell sometimes), and I think my biases are pretty obvious, but regardless I think that comparing these iconic performances can reveal a lot about what makes award show performances so important, and what makes a performance stand out or blend in. In my opinion, Tyler’s performance is the gold standard of memorable, experimental, mold-breaking, and artistic. It might not be fully appreciated by general audiences, or appeal to the popular culture spheres of today, but I think it will be remembered as iconic in the history of award performances. The other performances will likely be forgotten by the next Grammys, but hopefully those artists will have another chance to prove themselves with more experience and perspective under their belts.
I’ve been feeling a little burnout by my beginning of semester workload, but seeing the sun these past few days has really healed my soul, so I took some inspiration from the weather for today’s page. Also it’s a landscape spread since I’ve been feeling the urge to change up my layouts recently, next week I’ll probably be back to something more standard though. Hope everyone gets a chance to grab some sunshine, while it lasts!
Basil + Gideon is an ongoing narrative comic, if this is your first time reading check out the first installment here!
A literal and physical question to “what is art?” can be examined when comparing this question to the piece by René Magritte’s, This Is Not a Pipe.
Discussions have begun with looking at this lithograph and arguing if the image of a pipe counts as being a pipe or if it is simply an image of a pipe. Additionally, the word “pipe” is displayed. Is that a pipe or is it just the word pipe written down? What is a pipe? Is it only the physical object or can it be an image of it or the word written down as well?
Now let’s examine “art”.
Do you consider paintings on wall art? Are the sculptures in the MET art? Is the wallpaper you put on your computer screen art? Is a seven year old’s crayon drawing of a tree art? What about the picture their mom posted on Facebook of it? Are the pictures artists post of their pieces on Instagram art?
Magritte wanted us to question not only what a pipe is but also have us play with the idea of what is real and what is not. When asking the question “what is art?”, one must also examine the complexity and simplicity of the question. If one were to answer this question they could say art is the physical work but then they would have to think about how digital art can be classified. Furthermore, one could say art is anything one says it is but then they would run into the problem of almost everything being art with that statement.
Art is defined in various ways and is interpreted in multiple ways. When answering the question one must be open to studying different takes on this question as well as many perspectives.
Three years ago, Nike made headlines by designing the Pro Hijab, a sports scarf for Muslim women to don during sports.
Although it wasn’t the first company to do so, it certainly is the first major sporting brand to design a breathable headscarf. Many hijab wearing athletes, including Ibtihaj Muhammad, lamented on the fact that it was hard for her to find a hijab that was suitable for her to compete and train in. She realized that that Pro Hijab was better at cooling and regulating her body temperature. The Nike Hijab Pro is currently selling for $35.
Very recently, Nike released a new swim line, the “Nike Victory Swim Collection”. This collection of swimsuits were designed with modesty in mind and unlike typical swimsuits, covered the body modestly. As a swimmer myself, I was rather impressed with this because Nike dedicated a lot of research and development into making this. A lot of modest swimming suits that I have seen myself usually doesn’t last very long, isn’t suitable for doing laps and is baggy and is just not very water streamlined. This new swimwear lifts the barriers to swim for women who desire more modesty and for hijab-wearing women.
Nike certainly has stepped up, by providing sports wear for women who don the hijab and even sports wear for plus sized women, With this, I do hope more major brands take up this challenge, to provide all sorts of wear catered to different types of people, and to remove any barriers that might be hindering people to perform sports, or to express themselves.
This month has been filled with lots of exciting memories, most of which came from trying something I never thought I’d want to do. I’ve been hearing the phrase “do something that scares you everyday” a lot lately, and I’ve actually trying incorporating the meaning behind it into my life more.
I don’t think doing something that scares you everyday is good for one’s mental health. So instead I’ve simply been trying to be more outgoing. This has meant starting conversations instead of waiting for someone else to speak first, sending emails that the answers to might not be what I want to hear, and more. The biggest example of this this month is that I actually joined a sorority!
Growing up I honestly didn’t understand the point of sororities. I though they sounded pretty weird. But when I got to Michigan I slowly realized that I wasn’t really making social connections as fast as I’d hoped. That’s when I started seriously thinking about joining one.
Recruitment was quite the journey, and though it definitely scared me, it was totally worth it. I’ve ended up surrounded by a great group of young women that immediately welcomed me and I can see support everyone in the group. I’m only a few days into being a new member, but I can already tell this is one of the best decisions I’ve made in a very long time. And it all came from me stepping out of my comfort zone and trying something new!
