Category: Arts

REVIEW: Unsettling Histories: Legacies of Slavery and Colonialism

Malvika Pandya Leave a comment

Although it might be tempting, or even the norm, for arts institutions to uphold the veils that American and European art so often hold just for the sake of fitting aesthetics, the Unsettling Histories exhibit at the University of Michigan Museum of Art does just the opposite. Assistant curator Ozi Uduma has put together a remarkable collection of works that spark discussion- who is shaping the narrative, and what messages are they explicitly or subconsciously trying to portray?

When I first entered the gallery space, the exhibit seemed fairly conventional, with portraits lining the walls and several works occupying the floor space. The real impact of the exhibit stems from the descriptions alongside each work, each deliberately including the harsh realities faced by marginalized communities at the time, and forcing the viewer to reconsider the way they take in the work.

One such example is the oil painting Mount Hood from The Dalles by John Mix Stanley. From afar, I saw a simple idyllic landscape scene, which turned out to be not so innocent after all. The caption acknowledged how the stereotypes used in many of Stanley’s paintings played a role in encouraging removal of Indigenous communities to promote Western expansion. I remember feeling taken aback after reading the description and surprised that the painting could do so much harm, which just goes to show how effective the exhibit was in revealing the darker side of such works and the ways in which narratives can be exploited for harm.

 

The entire collection was created in response to a work new to the museum, Flay (James Madison) by Titus Kaphar, which held the central position in the room, rightfully. To me, this work was the most impactful because it directly addressed the hypocrisy of America’s Founding Fathers in their mission to fight for freedom while they simultaneously owned slaves. The portrait of James Madison is cut into strips at the bottom, a reference to his position as a slave owner. Although I knew of the dark history of most of America’s founders, seeing it explicitly conveyed in a visual manner served as a powerful reminder about the truth of America’s history. This exhibition was an intense and compelling experience that I would highly recommend, and I feel like I walked away with a greater appreciation of the power of art and how it has been used to harm others in the past.

REVIEW: Moxie

Madison Krumins Leave a comment

Moxie, directed by Amy Poehler, is a Netflix film about 16-year-old Vivian and her feminist awakening when she opens her eyes to the misogynistic culture of her high school. Vivian finds her mom’s old collection of ‘90s feminist punk zines and decides to make her own, anonymously printing copies and putting them in the school bathrooms. A cult following then amasses–a small group of girls get together to start taking larger action against sexism and gender inequality at their school.

I may have came in expecting too much from the film. I’ll try my best to judge it as the lighthearted teen dramedy it was meant to be, but I have to criticize Moxie for its ambitiousness and subsequent shortcomings.

Overall, Moxie felt like it was trying too hard to be too many things, and the end result was a messy and underwhelming teen rom-com. Too often I felt the issues being touched on in the film were important, but not given enough attention or screen time. Moxie tries to cover heavy topics like sexism, racism, transgender issues, sexual assault, and immigrant issues, along with mother-daughter conflict and healthy teenage relationships, all while tossing in a bit of barely-there LGBTQ+ representation and disability representation.

Vivan (left) and Lucy (right) in Moxie (2021)

While I’m happy that this film had representation of so many different identities and experiences, it was disappointing to see so many opportunities for nuanced coverage of these diverse topics disappear in the shadow of Vivian’s coming-of-age plot. As an important but unfortunate example, new student Lucy, a Black girl, is the one who inspires Vivian’s budding feminism by standing up against a sexist teacher and the aggressive school jock. However, Lucy and the other women of color in the Moxie group are basically relegated to the role of one-dimensional inspiration and backup for Vivian, while Vivan, a white girl, gets the privilege of a plot exploring the complexity of her budding political self, family life, young love, and teenage angst–which we don’t even truly get to invest in, because there’s simply not enough time to dive into character development with everything Moxie tried to squeeze into 2 hours.

Amy Poehler’s character, Vivian’s mom, makes a brief reference to the lack of intersectionality in the feminist movement back in her day as a ‘90s riot grrrl. Moxie also fails to fully be the feminism power statement it could be. I feel there simply wasn’t enough time in a feature film to cover intersectionality and discuss why and how misogyny affects women of color, or trans women, or disabled women, differently. And that there had seemingly been no push against the terribly misogynistic culture in the school before Vivian’s spontaneous feminist push is doubtful–but that’s all I’ll say about that.

As someone who was in the high school scene just a few years ago (though it seems longer), I will say I probably would have been inspired by this film as a 16-year-old. I saw some of my own Gen-Z high school struggles portrayed in Moxie, and I think Moxie is definitely more positive than other YA media that was being released in my teenage years (ex. 13 Reasons Why). I think Moxie was made in good intent, it just didn’t live up to its potential. Perhaps as a full Netflix series, Moxie could have been a lot more. 

Moxie was a cute modern-age girl-power flick, but it sure wasn’t anything groundbreaking or monumental. Worth the watch if you’re looking for something light–but don’t expect more than, as NYT’s Jeannette Catsoulis puts it, “a CliffsNotes guide to fighting the patriarchy.”

PREVIEW: Moxie

Madison Krumins 1 Comment

Netflix’s new film release, Moxie, directed by Amy Poehler and based off of a book by Jennifer Mathieu, has been all over the news for me lately. Netflix even sent me an email, saying “We think you might like this! Coming in early March.” I’m excited to see what Amy Poehler brings to this story.

Described as a “sweet, clear-eyed Gen-Z female empowerment story,” the film follows 16-year-old Vivian as she and other girls at her school push back against the misogynistic culture of their educational institution and eventually create the titular underground zine, “Moxie.”

I’m excited to see how this film handles feminism and politics in the high school setting of Gen Z. While I’ve heard the film does its best to be intersectional and inclusive of many different identities, I have read that the film’s shortcomings in this area can be distracting and disappointing.

Tina Fey’s Mean Girls, arguably the most well-known and iconic female-driven high school movie of my generation, came out in 2004. Even though I’m in college now, I think it’s time for a new girl-power film anthem, one that’s updated to better fit the high school experience of Gen Z and include broader representation.

REVIEW: Radical Acts: A conversation with Sheryl Oring and Sherrill Roland

Emma Pinchak Leave a comment

While perhaps not as informative about their collaborative work as I had hoped, this discussion provided some valuable background and behind the scenes information on Oring and Roland’s individual projects.

Roland was more reserved in talking about The Jumpsuit Project than Oring about I Wish To Say, not surprising given the length of time Oring has spent developing and connecting with her work, which has required a different kind of personal conversation to its audience members. As Roland reflected, in-person commentary to his work has mostly involved either an effort to shape the design of the project (campus and local police, university faculty, professors) or a rather momentary response (students commenting on it while studying at the library, passersby snapping a quick photo). Starting as a thesis project for his MFA, it makes sense: he faced pressures to appeal to a great deal of people, or if not to appeal, then to specifically give a message to many, all at once. There were his thesis advisors, people on the street, people on his campus, the institution that had held him despite his innocence, the entire country’s network of incarceration and justice systems.

While also incredibly impactful, Oring’s project has something to say rather than something to prove. That’s an oversimplified statement, but it compares the current evolutionary state of the two projects in broad terms. Oring, in contrast, speaks to her audience one-on-one as well as peripheral members of her audience (observers by the typewriter stations, people reading about her work online), making space for the content of their letters in an overwhelmingly impersonal world. In the nearly two decades since she began the project (as well as her previous years as a journalist), she has honed her ability to speak simultaneously to an individual subject (an interviewee) and a wider audience (readers).

Both styles of performance art serve a purpose within the political moments in which they exist: Roland seeks to expose widespread flaws in the criminal justice system through bringing his own experience to many in a particularly conspicuous way, contrasting how systemic injustice is often kept away from the public eye. These systems are represented as old, unchangeable institutions central to the function of our society, despite the reality that prisons are an industry, a pipeline, a cyclical system with rehabilitation far from a main focus. Oring, by working one-and-one and over a long period, has allowed citizens to individually be vocal. It’s especially important as polarization and whipsawing between recent presidential administrations causes significant frustration and disillusionment amongst the public.

Future events put on by the Stamps Gallery can be found here, including episodes of the Penny Stamps speaker series and other talks with artists. There are also some upcoming gallery exhibitions as MFA students showcase their theses; do note that entrance into the gallery requires an Mcard.

PREVIEW: The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah

JM Leave a comment

Newly released this year, Kristin Hannah’s novel The Four Winds has already garnered critical acclaim and a place on bestseller lists. It is a story of the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl, and of America and difficult choices. I am particularly excited to read this new book because I enjoy a good historical fiction novel.

Check out The Four Winds from your local library, or if you would like to purchase a copy, visit your local book store. In Ann Arbor, The Four Winds can be found at Literati Bookstore (where it recently earned the distinction of Staff Pick).

Happy reading!

 

REVIEW: My Folky Valentine

JM Leave a comment

The Ark’s “annual celebration of romance,” My Folky Valentine, had a different look this year due to the ongoing pandemic, but it did not dampen the spirit of the performance. Hosted by Annie and Rod Capps, the show also featured musical couples Catherine Miles & Jay Mafale and Robin & Jenny Bienemann.

The performance’s format was not what I expected but was nevertheless very effective, and in some ways catered to the virtual nature of the show. Rather than each duo performing an uninterrupted set, the show was completed in “rounds,” during which each couple played one song. This pattern was then repeated several times for the duration of the evening. In an environment where many are suffering from Zoom fatigue and a general attention deficit when it comes to looking at screens, this kept the show engaging and was a welcome departure from other virtual performances.

Most of the songs were written by the performers, except for the round in which it was designated that each duo would cover a song that was not original to them. Perhaps the most entertaining result of this round was a very unlikely mashup of “Rubber Ducky” (yes, the one from Sesame Street) and the jazz standard “All of Me,” performed by Robin and Jenny Bienemann. It was an understated rendition of the two songs that was unexpected, theatrical, and tongue-in-cheek, and as a result, extremely hilarious. During the same round, Catherine Miles and Jay Mafale performed “At Last,” and Annie and Rod Capps covered “My Funny Valentine,” the showtune-turned-jazz standard that the event’s title was a nod to. I found this round of covers particularly enjoyable because it included folk renditions of popular jazz tunes, and I appreciated the inventive ways in which the performers paid homage to the original songs while molding them into a new style.

Of course, the original songs were also a highlight of the evening, as the performers’ skills as singer-songwriters were on full display. Like my experience at the Ann Arbor Folk Fest, I was happy to find new music to listen to because of this online event, and I highly recommend anyone interested in folk music check out the work of all three of the duos featured at My Folky Valentine!

The show’s finale was a prerecorded and produced performance of “The Glory of True Love” by the late John Prine, featuring all three couples singing and playing together apart, courtesy of the magic of technology.

If you missed My Folky Valentine, it (as well as other past performances from The Ark Family Room Series) is available for viewing at https://theark.org/ark-family-room-series.