PREVIEW: Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán

On Friday, February 14 at 8 pm, Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán will perform at Hill Auditorium, with an opening act featuring Ballet Folklórico de Detroit and Mariachi Nuevo Santander from Roma, TX.

Founded in a small city near Jalisco by Don Gaspar Vargas in the 1890s, Mariachi Vargas de Tecalitlán “basically invented the modern mariachi,” and they are known today for blending both new and old styles. I’m excited to hear this world-class ensemble live.

Tickets are available at the Michigan League Ticket Office or on the University Musical Society website. As always, students tickets are $12 or $20 with ID.

PREVIEW: Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a film I have heard much about, despite its lack of attention in mainstream media and throughout the American awards season. Depicting the story of a portrait created in confidence, this French film features arresting cinematography and a look at an intense relationship between two women. This film has been nominated for everything from best actress to costume design to the Palme d’Or, and so there’s definitely something worth seeing here, even if it hasn’t been on many people’s radar.

 

Come out to the State tomorrow at 7 to see this surely fascinating film and support international cinema!

PREVIEW: Oscar Nominated Shorts – Live Action

In preparation for the Oscars this Sunday, I implore you all to head to the Michigan Theater and check out the often neglected category of shorts. The live action category offers strong contenders this year, coming from international backgrounds and touching on a variety of important subjects. I’m looking forward to my own first time previewing the shorts before the (inflated and problematic, but still undeniably enjoyable) Oscars.

 

What’s more is that admission to all the shorts is free with a Passport to the Arts Voucher through the 13th of February! No excuses!

REVIEW: Yayoi Kusama’s Fireflies on the Water

A 9 x 12 x 12 room. The walls and ceiling are mirrors, the ground water. You, the subject, are reflected over and over again against a backdrop of hanging lights: blues, reds, oranges. You are allotted 60 seconds in the room. Yayoi Kusama’s Fireflies on the Water transports you to another reality where it feels like you are at the center of that surreal universe.

Yayoi Kusama is a Japanese artist. When she was ten years old, Kusama began to experience vivid hallucinations in which she saw bright lights and endless fields of spots, which has heavily influenced her artwork throughout her life. She first became known to the public sphere as an active member of the hippie counterculture movement in the late sixties. She staged several performances, or “happenings,” in which naked participants were covered in polka dots.

I had previously seen another one of Kusama’s installations at The Broad in Los Angeles. The room was structured in a similar fashion, thought the lights were larger and more spherical. Infinity Mirrored Room – The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away had a more blue-green hue, whereas Fireflies on the Water had a warmer tone. Although both rooms are very similar, I found the two experiences to be independent of each other. The room in LA was exciting; I felt like a child, giddy, desperately taking photos in an attempt to capture the experience. This time around the experience felt more self-reflective. I was more aware of the tranquility of the scene, which was largely attributed to the fact the museum workers ask those waiting outside the room to remain silent. Inside the room, it feels like you are alone in this alternate dimension, but the experience is more soothing than frightening.

Naturally, I took an abundance of photos, but I almost felt that shattered the illusion. I wish I could return to the room and just sit on the platform surrounded by water for as long as I wanted. The logistics of allowing each visitor to stay in the room for 60 seconds makes sense, but it leaves the viewer yearning for more. Right when you enter a daze of seeing an endless number of lights and your reflection again and again, the door swings open, distorting your vision, and you find yourself back in the dingy lighting of the museum.

Still, Kusama’s installations are a very unique and unforgettable experience that I highly recommend seeing. Fireflies on the Water is currently on display at the Toledo Museum of Art and will be open until April 26.

REVIEW: As Far As My Fingertips Take Me

You put on the headphones, and they themselves seem significant: the wires connect but they constrict, you have to rely on the tinny sound for information but it blocks out your surroundings. The whole experience was full of these contradictions, to the point that I had to consciously stop myself from thinking through them in order to pay attention. There’s the white wall to my side, and though I can see the borders of it from where I sit I can’t see the other side, so it’s as good as infinite. A little light is coming from where I’ve offered up my arm to the artist, Basel Zaraa, and I’m tempted to look down and through to meet his eyes but I know that something will be broken if I do.

The felt-tip marker is brushing over the flesh on the inside of my forearm and my palm, and I hate how gently he’s holding my fingers down because already I’ve associated him with a Dublin Regulation fingerprint database employee. When I realize I’ve put myself in a position I am privileged to never experience, it’s jarring and it’s a feeling that’s creeping like sweat along my forehead.

I don’t feel any one thing completely after, except for quiet. Not quieted, not disquieted, not just not speaking and not just alone. Quiet is the only adjective I can give myself. I’m sad for what I don’t know and especially for why I don’t, the stupid luck that let me be born into stability and the politics that let others live out of backpacks. Travel is so often romanticized, but there is a difference between travel by choice and by circumstance (further reading: https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470670590.wbeog940).

So in about 15 minutes I’m in and out of another world, halfway a vagabond myself. I’m back and walking home and I feel homesick but mostly physically so, my eyes kind of glassy. It’s a little disappointing that I wasn’t physically transported, though of course that would be impossible. I’m still in Ann Arbor, Michigan walking down the street, and I have no reason to fear that I won’t be here tomorrow. There is a constant stream going through my head berating me for how little I know about the world, and it feels like an abuse to wear this tattoo on my arm like a costume.

But I can use that guilt he’s given me, to take learning into my own hands and to get politically involved. Where the law does not protect the safety of people worried for their lives, there is a problem, a violation of human rights. As election season is upon us, it is a perfect time to get involved and get the right people elected. With primaries right around the corner, the time for active research is now.

You can find out more about Tania El Khoury’s work on her website: https://taniaelkhoury.com/

PREVIEW: As Far As My Fingertips Take Me

Imagine what a lonely terror it is to lose your home to violence and instability, and then be cast into a stranger’s land. For most of us, this will never be our reality, but for the 70 million forcibly displaced peoples around the world, it is.

As Far As My Fingertips Take Me forces the subject to take on the identity of the refugee for a couple of minutes, reading the poignant writing on the wall and offering a nervous arm through to the unknown. This innovative one-on-one exhibit design incorporates the poetic and visual artworks of Basel Zaraa.

The work is the brain child of Tania El Khoury, a contemporary live artist known for her productions that illuminate issues that are of both the heart and political machine. This exhibit in particular has toured far and wide, gathering awed reviews from major publications like The Washington Post and The New York Times. 

The exhibit will be shown at the U-M Institute for the Humanities from January 24, 2020  February 2, 2020, tickets: ums.org. Be sure to arrive 15 minutes ahead of your showtime as the schedule is extremely strict.