In an event titled Gaining/Losing Control: The Artist and the Book Format Stephen J. Bury presented a talk on book art to a crowded auditorium of art enthusiasts, curious students and community members on Feb. 2. The talk, which was as a part of a series of programing on book art at Hopkins and around Baltimore, covered different traditional and experimental books from the early 20th to the 21st century.
There are two kinds of Super Bowl fans: those that care about the game and those that come in the last five minutes of the first half to watch the halftime show. However, regardless of the type of football fan, it seemed like everyone was excited to see Beyoncé, Bruno Mars and Coldplay. While the headliner was officially Coldplay, a British group formed in 1996, Brunos Mars and Beyoncé were invited to perform alongside the band. This was an interesting choice considering it was almost guaranteed that their combined star power would overpower Coldplay.
Dope Body headlined a show at the Ottobar on Saturday, Feb. 6 that featured a variety of Baltimore-based acts, with openers Wume, Frenemies and Wing.
The 2015 gang intervention documentary License to Operate, directed by James Lipetzky, held its Baltimore premiere in Hodson Hall on Thursday, Feb. 4. The film premiered at the Seattle Film Festival and screened at a number of universities across the country. The film was opened by an introduction by Beverly Wendland, James B. Knapp Dean of the Krieger School, and Don Kurz, an alumni of Hopkins and one of the film’s executive producers.
The Center for Africana Studies hosted a reading by three poets and contributors to the recently published anthology The BreakBeat Poets: New American Poetry in the Age of Hip-Hop on Feb. 8.
This past weekend, the newly re-branded Bollywood dance team Zinda travelled to Detroit to attend their first competitive dance competition. Formerly known as Masti, the team started about 10 years ago as a non-competitive dance team at Hopkins.
Atlanta rap group Migos released a follow-up to their classic mixtape Y.R.N (Young Rich N****r), not to be confused with the also classic album Y.R.N. (Yung Rich Nation), in late January. Creatively called Y.R.N 2, this newest tape is yet another step in the meteoric rise of the trio compromised of Quavo, Takeoff and Offset. Migos has created their own flow and their own slang. One of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, Cam Newton, does their dance, the dab, every time he scores a touchdown — what a time to be alive. Moreover, comedian Dess Nice has argued that this group is better than the Beatles.
Amid the polarized economic debates of this election season, The Big Short brings audiences back to the origins of the “Great Recession,” a story of nearly unbelievable greed and devastating loss. To those who recall the blaring headlines and chaotic atmosphere of nearly a decade ago, the film brings a sense of clarity and unravels the twisted heaps of corruption that led to the downfall of the word economy.
At a school students know to be demanding and stressful, a comedy show may seem improbable. The Intersession class on stand-up comedy offers an escape from the norm, with students’ comedic efforts culminating in a public show in which they deliver their four-minute routines in front of the Hopkins community. The aptly-named Intersession Stand-Up Comedy Show was on Jan. 29, a week later than planned due to winter storm Jonas.
Directed by Writing Seminars professor David Yezzi, the play Schnauzer opens this Friday at Single Carrot Theatre. Yezzi has directed several shows in New York City and has a long history in theater. His latest production is an original, innovative one-act play that runs a little over an hour.
Season two of FX’s Fargo wrapped up during winter break. The series is an adaptation of the Coen Brothers’ 1990s film of the same name, and the second season is a prequel to the events of the first season. The show is helmed by writer Noah Hawley, who delegated the writing of several episodes this season to other talent, in a departure from the past season.
As the Baltimore Museum of Art (BMA) continues to unveil exhibitions in its New Arrivals series throughout the year, many of the new exhibits will suit diverse artistic tastes.
Remember when Netflix was just a company that sent DVDs to your house in weird envelopes and not a production powerhouse that churned out great television? Neither does anyone else. We are all busy watching their shows on Netflix Instant.
In a celebration of local art and artists, the Baltimore Museum of Art will be displaying a new exhibit on Maryland artists from Feb. 7 to May 8 of this year. The exhibit, curated by Senior Curator of Prints, Drawings & Photographs Rena Hoisington, will be displayed in the museum’s Sadie A. May Gallery. It will feature more than 20 newly acquired Maryland-related pieces of art, many of which are being placed on view for the first time.
Out of the films that received several Academy Award nominations this year, two of them, director John Crowly’s Brooklyn and Tod Haynes’ Carol, are set in the 1950s, a decade torn between conformity and rebellion. Although these films take place during the same decade as iconic movies like Grease, neither film exactly prescribes to the Rock ‘N’ Roll, candy-colored imagery that one would normally associate with the time period.
As in any year in music, 2015 was a year full of ups and downs. Now that the year is over, however, we can reflect on the higher notes with a Top 10 List of the Best Albums of 2015.
