HEL[ICON]

This exhibition is the collaborative thesis project of  Clem Turner (senior, Performing Arts Technology) and Darian Razdar (senior, Social Theory & Practice). It will invite visitors into the world city of Paris, and to one of its most singular neighborhoods, Belleville, in particular. This is an interactive research exhibition that serves several purposes: public contribution to the production of knowledge begun in Darian Razdar’s thesis, exposition of the life-worlds of Belleville to a public who may not have knowledge of this side of Paris, and building the collaborators’ experience in gallery-related work. The gallery will include a copy of Darian Razdar’s thesis, interactive maps of Belleville and Paris made out of acrylic, video projection, photography, interactive media on a tablet, and print material retrieved during field work in Paris in 2017. Visitors will be able to engage with the exhibition via: maps by pressing buttons to emit recorded ambient sound from the field of study & interviews from residents of Belleville, drawing/writing on postcard-sized photos, as well as public workshops and discussions.

From Clem ~

When Darian came to me with a collection of audio, video, and print media and his concept for his thesis, it immediately made sense to me that we would collaborate. He and I have worked together in the past on various things: Eco Forum (a student-led forum on the environment), the Residential College Garden, and even an intramural soccer team.  I spend most of my time wrapped up in the world of creative audio production, with a focus in electronic pop music, and my program has expanded my interests to include installation design and programming with Arduino and Max. After listening to interviews and found sound and reading Darian’s thesis, my head was full of ideas. My work in this installation culminates in the form of interactive maps of both Belleville and Paris laser-cut into acrylic and emphasized by an LED frame. Maps play an important role in defining geographical, cultural, and social boundaries: an important element of Darian’s thesis. Participants of the gallery can listen to bits from interviews of Bellevillians, ambient sound of the Parisian cityscape, and sections from Darian’s thesis by pressing on various buttons located on the maps.  This project represents my growth as an installation designer and programmer, and I hope you enjoy it.

From Darian ~

The project that Clem and I are collaborating on came out of conversations that we had in the summer of 2017. I had just returned from six months abroad in Paris—during which time I lived in Belleville and did a bit of fieldwork in the neighborhood. Almost from the beginning of the time in my new neighborhood, I was intrigued by the dynamics going on there. I saw people sharing public space unlike other places in the city—especially between a huge diversity of classes and ethnicities. There was also a strong leftist political presence, lots of street art, and also the creeping air of gentrification. Belleville was I spent most of my time, and when I got back to Ann Arbor in July I began telling Clem about all of my experiences. Additionally, I told Clem about the research I did of Belleville, and some preliminary plans I had about organizing a gallery around my findings. Clem, as a student of Performing Arts Tech, mentioned that he could give me some help with sound and installations. We got conspiring. . . and ended up deciding that a collaborative, interactive research exhibit was the way to go. We wanted to combine our talents to produce an innovative and interdisciplinary engagement with the subject of urbanism and the field of arts and curation. This project, we hope, draws people into Belleville and produces knowledge to complement our theses.

A couple years ago I started going to a lot of modern and contemporary art exhibitions. When I went to Europe, I wanted to go see everything: photography, installations, sculpture, design, you name it. I once went to an exhibition at a gallery a friend worked at; the gallery put work a researcher had done about South Yemeni arts and politics. This show laid out the research materail for all to see, and implicated visitors in the process as well. I had also gone to a student pop-up gallery on urbanism at L’Ecole des Beaux Arts, where I saw some interactive pieces that engaged visitors in content from fieldwork. I took these experiences as inspiration for curating a research exhibition with Clem—we both wanted to see how this process would create new insights for ourselves, our fields, and the gallery visitors. So, in the gallery you’ll come across different media to interact with: maps of Paris and Belleville, video projection, and print media (photos and ephemera taken from the field). We are also planning different discussions and workshops to further engage our audience with the material. The gist is that by putting primary evidence in contact with people in the context of an exhibition like this, we will create connections and build understandings that would otherwise remain dormant.

* * *

To us, this experience is educational at its core, as it represents our senior thesis projects. Darian is using this exhibition to extend the process of knowledge creation to a larger public, and learn about exhibition construction and curation. Clem’s portion of the project focuses on designing, configuring, and installing interactive technological aparati with which gallery visitors may interact. Additionally, this exhibition will represent an opportunity for a public educational experience. The organizers will hold 4 events in the gallery open to the public on May 4th, 11th, 18th, and 24th (contact Darian and Clem at [email protected] and [email protected] for more information!). These events will allow both structured (e.g. artist talks and discussion) and unstructured (e.g. opening reception and conversation) ways for visitors to engage with the exhibition. Darian will lead a discussion on neighborhood activism & translocal solidarity, and Clem will host a workshop on designing and creating interactive technologies.

By: Janavi Goldblum

Have you ever looked at a work of art and immediately associated it with an album or a song? When my mind relates a visual artwork to music, my eyes, ears, heart, and personal experiences become synchronized. To inspire you to embrace this visual-aural-emotional experience, I’m curating a series of art playlists. Each is centered around a theme, movement, or an artist, and pairs incredible works of art with songs. Read below for my fourth playlist inspired by some of my favorite spooky, devilish, scary art for Halloween. (This playlist includes a cartoon?!)   

 #1. L'Araignée souriante (The Smiling Spider) by Odilon Redon, 1881

Listen to: “Boris the Spider” by The Who from the album: A Quick One

 Description: Odilon Redon is one of my favorite artists because his paintings from the 1880’s stand out as particularly nightmarish. Creatures with spindly legs and human faces are not unusual subjects for Redon. This spider, with its sinister smile would get along swimmingly with Boris, the creepy crawly subject of Who bassist John Entwistle’s always unsettling and perfectly Hallween-y horror song.

Listen to: “Lay Your Cards Out” by Poliça & Mike Noyce from the album: Give You the Ghost

#2. Witches’ Flight by Francisco Goya, 1798

Description: Fransico Goya’s body of work is chockfull of disturbing subjects such as an exorcism of supremely hellish creatures, a titan chomping down on his offspring, and a band of magical beings possibly feasting on a distressed mortal while two other figures cower in fear against a pitch black background. This painting, just one in a series of spellbinding witchcraft scenes, immediately brought to mind Poliça’s immersive sonic intensity that seems to be suspended in a dark landscape much like the witches within the painting.

#3. “The Actors Ichikawa Danjuro V as a Skeleton, Spirit of the Renegade Monk Seigen and Iwai Hanshiro IV as Princess Sakura” by Katsukawa Shunsho, 1783

Listen to: “Eco en Estero” by La Sonora Dinamita from the album:        

Description: This is hands down my favorite skeleton in all of art history. Prolific Japanese printmaker Katsukawa Shunsho is known for stunning woodblock prints of Kabuki actors gracing the stage. This scene is from The Vestiges of Pine and Cherry. In the drama, the monk, Seigen, is kicked out of the temple when he falls in love with Princess Sakura. While living in poverty, Seigen is murdered and goes on to haunt the princess, hence the skeleton costume. Nothing like a reanimated dancing skeleton paired with a surreal, horn-heavy cumbia track that contains the most amazing spooky laugh to really feel that bone-deep Halloween spirit.  

#4. Minnie the Moocher, a Betty Boop Cartoon, 1932

Listen to: “Minnie the Moocher” by Cab Calloway (1931 ver.) from the Cab Calloway & His Orchestra Remastered Collection

Link to watch the episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_jqqJ-77xs

Description: Yes, there is a Betty Boop halloween episode. In my opinion however, nothing comes even close to the spooky brilliance that is this 1932 Max Fleischer creation. The episode opens with the incomporable band leader Cab Calloway showing off his smooth moves while his orchestra plays “Saint James Infirmary Blues,” a favorite in the pantheon of eerie songs with old roots. Pay close attention of Calloways unforgettable boogie. In the episode Betty and Bimbo come across a walrus-esque ghost singing one of my favorite jazz comppositions “Minnie the Moocher” and YES that is Cab Calloways voice and YES they did use early rotoscoping to capture his dancing so that the noodle-limbed apparition dances just like Calloway. Aside from being absolutely mindblowing, the ghosts, skeletons, and witches that come out to play in the moonlight make this Betty Boop classic an essential for Halloween night.

#5. Evening on Karl Johan Street by Edvard Munch, 1892

Listen to: “Warhole” by Erik Truffaz and Murcof from the album: Being Human Being

Description: This terrifying Edvard Munch staple depicting a crowd of anamatronic-looking figures devoid of facial expressions is enhanced by Erik Truffaz and Murcof’s disturbing robotic soundscape that gets more disturbing as the song progresses. For this pairing, I was inspired by whoever’s genius decision it was to pair Murcof’s futuristic soundtrack that was paired with Fritz Lang’s1927 sci-fi masterpiece, Metropolis. (Check clips of Metropolis and Murcof on Youtube) Just picture scenes from Metropolis, replace Freder’s buttondown, tie, and puffy pants with black turn-of-the century garb (tophats and all), and you’ve got a dystopian nightmare that is right out of a Munch painting.

 #6. Study after Velazquez´s Portrait of Pope Innocent X by Francis Bacon, 1953

Listen to: “Eyes Without a Face” by Billy Idol from the album: Rebel Yell

Hello hello and welcome back to School Szn. We all hope that you had the most fantastic summer- going for swims, walks in the park, leaving the country (or just your house), seeing art, making art or really just taking a solid 4 month break. This is what we were up to while we were away:

OLIVA

Role: President Year: Senior Major: Art & Design

My name is Olivia Kinker and I am this year’s Helicon president! I am an art and design major and art history minor. I am from Northport, Michigan and spent most of my summer there, except for the four days that I spent in Vegas!

Las Vegas is not normally I place I would choose to visit, however my friend, Felix, is a representative for a shoe company and invited me to come and help him work at shoe convention. We stayed in a hotel right on the strip, saw a cirque du soleil show, and spent three days (8am-6pm) hanging out in the booth and taking orders. The building that the convention is held in is huge, definitely larger than a football field. It is divided into a maze of sections each housing some fabulous brand of shoes. Buyers wander around, looking for new lines or checking out what their regulars are offering for the next season.

The shoe company that I worked for, Rovers, is German based and manufactures their shoes in Portugal. They have a very unique, funky style. One of the benefits of this little job was that I got a free pair of shoes, and they were pink, which is extra awesome.

JULIA

Role: Event Coordinator Year: Senior Major: History of Art and French 

Hello readers, I am Julia and I am also Helicon’s event planner. I began my summer in Paris, France, which is also where I spent the last semester. There, I nannied two young children and explored the beautiful metropolis that is Paris. The city is defined by art – the architecture, the urban design, the countless reputable museums. I spent much of my time admiring these things – a trip to the Louvre alone eats up an entire day. However, what struck me the most about the city was the art of Parisian lifestyle. It’s a finely tuned, well considered way of living, despite its outward appearance of laziness. The most enticing aspect of the city is the artfulness with which Parisians live their lives – the way they pair patterned clothing, the hairstyles they sport, and the attitude they give when smoking a cigarette.

In Paris, jobs do not bear the same weight they do here in the States – it is considered more important to spend time with family and friends, appreciate a good bottle of wine, or watch the sunset from your fifth-floor balcony. All of these charming activities pair nicely with the smell of trash, the countless homeless refugee families, and the drunkards that fill the city. The contrast is sickeningly beautiful – it is the stuff of paintings, poems, and songs. It is the inspiration behind the art we call masterpieces and it will continue to inspire artists for generations to come. The clash of traditions, beliefs, social groups, and sometimes even physical bodies is the true art of Paris, and I spent the first half of my summer catching but a small glimpse of it.

Then, I came home to Michigan and it has been a quick blur of mundane reality. Regardless, I’m excited to bring my experiences forward with me this year and I’m so looking forward to another beautiful year of Helicon.

ALISON

Role: Treasurer  Year: Senior Major: Art & Design 

Hi! I’m Alison, and I joined Helicon last fall. Over the past year, I have had so much fun hanging out with other students who love art just as much as I do and working together to create an exhibition, visit museums, and publish an anthology of student art.

I would love to say that I spent this past summer backpacking across Europe or even taking the great American road trip; however, I spent much of it here in Ann Arbor taking classes. That being said this gives me an opportunity to highlight some of the amazing Ann Arbor art that is accessible to all of us via a short walk or blue bus ride! I spent many afternoons escaping the heat in the UMMA (University of Michigan Museum of Art). For being a university museum, UMMA’s collection is an artistic force to be reckoned with, as it boasts works by Picasso and Monet as well as the largest collection of Asian art in the state of Michigan. My inner museum nerd is starting to ramble, so anyways: UMMA definitely check it out.

This summer, UMMA’s contemporary gallery served as the perfect escape between my classes, and I found Peter Campus’ Kiva to be especially compelling. Kiva is comprised of a tv monitor with a camera on top that points directly at the viewer; what is more, the camera’s view is manipulated by the placement of suspended mirrors. The camera records through a hole in one mirror onto the surface of another which results in a beautiful fragmentation, as the camera simultaneously takes in aspects of the room, the viewer, and the lens of the camera itself.

Aside from art and classes, I spent the remainder of my summer taking short weekend trips to my family’s cabin in northern Michigan where I kayaked until the skin between my index fingers and my thumbs ached, but in the best way possible.

LIAM 

Role: Secretary  Year: Junior Major: History of Art 

Hello everyone! My name is Liam Dougherty, and I will be serving as the secretary for Helicon this school year. This will be my second year in the group, and I’m looking forward to another year of exposure to the amazing artistic community at the university and beyond. We have a great exec board group this year that I know will help the members of this club to cultivate and explore their passion for art.

This past summer I went home to Denver, Colorado for a very art-infused stay. I was fortunate enough to be able to work as a studio assistant for local sculpture named Andy Dufford. His studio focuses primarily on large scale outdoor sculpture and landscape architecture. It was fairly hectic as we rushed to finish projects while moving studios, but it was an incredibly fulfilling and educational experience. This is one of the semi-finished sandstone pieces my friend and I worked on for a hotel in Vail up in the mountains.

We were commissioned to create several stone totems for a park and outdoor amphitheater, and it was wonderful to be able to spend a few days working up there to install all of our pieces. Here’s another photo of us having fun with some of our rocks.

I hope everyone had a very relaxing, enjoyable and art-filled summer, and I can’t wait for all the exciting things in store for this year!

KATIE 

Role: Public Relations Year: Senior  Major: Art & Design 

hi my name is katie raymond and i am running PR for helicon this year (!!!!!!). I have been in helicon for 2 years and am super amped to be running the blog and our print publication this year!! this summer I spent 5 weeks photographing paris. My 5 weeks taught me more about photographic process, about being uncomfortable and flourishing in that discomfort, about the human condition, navigation, being lost in translation, asking for permission, being denied permission and how to constantly be looking- through my eyes and the lens of my camera.

something I learned and wrote down in my journal: “I am not sure what it means to be a master of photography. If one could be a master of photography then in turn that must make them a master of life, to which that is simply impossible. I know that I will never be a master, I will always be learning.”

I am always learning and growing and am excited to keep on doing that this year!

Every spring break, Helicon takes a trip to see and study art in person. This year, we sent nine students to Rome, accompanied by department faculty Betsey Sears and Catherine Carver. The city’s winding roads preserved centuries of history in one place, with every corner turned revealing art and architecture spanning a wide range of time periods and styles. A few students had a considerable amount of experience studying Italian art and were thrilled to see the art from their textbooks up close and personal. Others came with less experience, but through Betsey and Catherine’s insightful comments, developed new interests and found connections between Rome’s history and art and what they’ve learned in their academic concentrations.

Below, students share some highlights from the trip.

I've always wanted to be a Roman, and I've been lucky enough to have spent a considerable amount of time in the Città Eterna as a result. However, this experience with students and brilliant UM faculty was an entirely unique adventure for Roman-Hal. I learned so many new things about the city's history and the extent of art within its borders from both professors and my fellow students! Over just six days, our group got to see an incredible amount of art and architecture covering a wide range of time periods and styles. Our free days were spent perusing churches and museum collections, shopping on Via del Corso, eating delicious Roman cuisine, and taking evening passeggiate through the charming streets of Trastevere. All of us students got to know the city, its history, its inhabitants, and each other so well. My favorite thing about Rome is how major piazzas and monuments sneak up on you. One minute, you can be completely lost in a dense web of narrow streets, and all of a sudden you are standing in front of the Pantheon, completely awe-struck. It was the perfect city for a break that stimulated our imagination and passion for art & history.  -- Halle Jarvi

Gian Lorenzo Bernini really blew me away. His sculptures and architecture are all over the city and we had the pleasure of seeing many examples of his work. I was entranced by his attention to detail and careful representation of the human body. On our first full day, we went to Piazza Navona, which is home to a large fountain featuring four river gods (made by Bernini of course). I was particularly amazed/ interested by the twist in one figure’s back.  

Every street we walked down seemed to have some piece of history connected to it, or was home to an old parish.  The streets are so narrow that you can be strolling along, turn a corner, and find yourself face to face with the Pantheon. Moving throughout the city felt like navigating through a maze of hidden treasures. I never ate a bad meal in Rome, and I had gelato everyday. My favorite meal was probably on the first night, when Halle and I went to a little restaurant very close to our apartment called Da Enso. I had a very Roman pasta dish – carbonara, which has an eggy sauce with pepper, parmesan and bacon. And tiramisu for dessert. Delicious to say the least.  -- Olivia Kinker

Going to the Vatican, I didn't think that an opportunity to attend mass would come up given our (already packed) schedule. However, when we entered St. Peter's Basilica, I realized that the Cardinals had just begun their mass. Michelle, Janavi, and I somehow made our way into the pews. I was blessed with ashes by a Cardinal, which was (literally) a religious experience for me, being an Irish Catholic. This was all super unexpected, but by far one of my favorite parts of the trip (and my life). -- Jenna Barlage

As wonderful as our itinerary was, I am a firm believer that aimless wandering can be a great way to stumble upon interesting experiences in an unfamiliar city.  On my free day, I meandered through a alleyways and trekked up hills until I found myself at the entrance to the Villa Doria Pamphili.  A light drizzle on a weekday wasn’t enough to keep dozens of people from hanging out and jogging in the park.  The landscaping was beautiful and complimented the ornate architecture perfectly.  It was such an easy place to get lost in, and each structure I stumbled upon seemed as if it had been long forgotten before I rediscovered it that afternoon.   -- Liam Dougherty

After watching a film of a bald man eating chicken, Julia Pompilius shares how contemporary art frees viewers from academic barriers to access and allows them to construct their own interpretations of art.

The trouble with moving to a city as incredibly stimulating as Paris is that you eventually grow accustomed to it, even take it for granted. Lately, I’ve been falling prey to this privileged sort of apathy and so I decided to put a stop to it; I made it my goal to check off a meaningful destination of my choice at least once a week. So this past weekend I paid a visit to the Centre Pompidou—home to Paris’s most esteemed collection of modern and contemporary art. The building itself, commissioned by former President George Pompidou in 1977, is a bold architectural statement. Amidst blocks of cobblestone streets and Baroque French architecture dating back to the 1600s, the Centre Pompidou sticks out like a sore thumb. Its design was heavily influenced by the Structural Expressionist movement, which externalizes the structural innards of a building, thereby aestheticizing the functional aspects of architecture. This highly conceptual architectural style was not exactly well received by Parisians during the 1970s, but it has since become a pillar of post-modern architecture in Europe. That being said, it is the perfect home for the world’s most recent and cutting-edge artwork. 

So as I somewhat confusedly made my way up the external escalators to the 5th floor, I braced myself for a coming wave of confusion and frustration. Because if we’re being honest, those are very often the emotions I feel while looking at contemporary art. (Contemporary art is a blanket term I use here to cover any conceptual or post-modern piece from the 1960s onward).  I believe this is a sentiment shared by many. Even those who have studied art, who are familiar with the narratives of flatness, kitsch, and post-structuralism, often find themselves utterly at a loss while pondering conceptual pieces. For each new abstracted innovation, must the viewer really learn yet another theory in order to understand it? Is it possible to continue innovating artwork, or are we just spiraling down a conceptual path of nonsense?

These questions are not ungrounded. As I stare at a thin, elongated strip of white canvas covered with repetitive black dots, I struggle to extract meaning. This is natural—there is no easily recognizable story here; one cannot simply look at a piece like this one and connect the dots (pun intended). Thus it seems necessary to have a continuously growing literary understanding of artistic theory in order to gather meaning from modern and contemporary art. Cultural critic Tom Wolfe dedicated an entire book to satirizing this phenomenon. If contemporary art seeks to free art from an “academic” context, why is it so inaccessible to the typical viewer? In his book The Painted Word, Wolfe observes, “Frankly, these days, without a theory to go with it, I can’t see a painting.”

This is the looming intimidation that surrounds the contemporary art world—the nervousness that you don’t have quite the right set of theories in your head in order to unpack the truth within the artwork—even if that truth is the denial of any truth at all. The nagging feeling that maybe if you wore a little more black, smoked a few more cigarettes, or went to an even smaller liberal arts university, you might be better equipped to understand the piece that sits before you. Maybe, just maybe, you aren’t missing anything. Maybe these two squares painted next to each other are just that—two squares. Maybe the people parading around professing their amazement are phonies just trying to insert themselves into the haute couture of the art world. Many would argue this stance; however, I would not.

I found hope when I stumbled into a dark, perfectly cubed room with a video being projected onto one of its walls. I sat down on the bench opposite it, and began to watch. What I saw was bizarre, if not just downright disgusting. The film showed a man sitting in an empty room attempting to eat an entire rotisserie chicken with his bare hands. The man was white, balding, looked to be about in his forties, and wore a plain sweater atop a button-down shirt. Essentially he was the picture of banality. As he grappled with the greasy bird, an epic Italian opera blasted behind him. As I sat there watching the strange scene unfold before my eyes, it slowly dawned on me that I was entranced. Sitting in this dark, enclosed space watching a bald man eat chicken with his bare hands, I felt oddly at ease. What an odd juxtaposition: the beauty and grandeur of an Italian opera (some might say the pinnacle of human achievement) accompanying a man gorging himself in the most primal way.  What a privilege it was to sit there and watch it.

The man’s name was Dmitri Prigov and the piece was entitled Death & the Child. Prigov was a prolific poet and artist during the era of the Soviet Union and he used his art to criticize the Communist regime at the time. Thus his work is supported by a bounty of relevant context: the suppression of free speech under Soviet reign, widespread famine in the USSR, as well as strict, legally-enforced guidelines of what art could and should be. If the viewer were familiar with such phenomena, she would gain an entirely new perspective of Prigov’s work. A bald man grotesquely eating chicken would be transformed into a commentary on dissidence from Soviet tradition. However, even if she did not have this understanding, as I did not, this piece would have meaning. For me, I recalled just a few days before when I sat at the dinner table with my Parisian host mother. We ate cold chicken, and she served me what I, as an American, would call a drumstick. I asked her, “is it appropriate in France to eat this with your hands?” She looked at me blankly and replied, “Non. Pas du tout.” (Translation: “No, not at all.”) In this instant, I understood that to eat a piece of meat with your bare hands in France was completely against custom. Thinking back on this moment while watching Prigov’s video piece, I formed my own understanding of his work. To me, his piece communicated the dissonance of cultural etiquette. It evoked the most basic functionalities of humanity: the need to eat food, the creation and appreciation of beautiful music. It juxtaposed these very natural and primal qualities with the superficial rules of society we impose upon ourselves: etiquette, civility, tradition. What does it matter if one continent eats chicken with their hands and the other would never dream of such an act? The same question can be asked of practices of conversation, of love, of war. Prigov’s piece rendered these differences meaningless: they all fulfill some basic human need, no matter how their surroundings perceive them.  

Have you ever looked at a work of art and immediately associated it with an album or a song? Janavi Goldblum shares that when her mind relates a visual artwork to music, her eyes, ears, heart, and personal experiences become synchronized. To inspire you to embrace this visual-aural-­emotional experience, Janavi has curated a series of art playlists. Each is centered around a theme, movement, or an artist, and pairs incredible works of art with songs. Read below for her second playlist inspired by artist Pamela “Pixie” Colman-Smith.

Pamela “Pixie” Colman-Smith: British-American artist, illustrator, and writer of the late-19th and early 20th century. Pamela worked in miniature theatrical design, illustrated books on Jamaican folklore (including the tale of the beloved character Anansi the spider), and was a fierce supporter of Women’s Suffrage, expressing her views through political cartoons.

Colman-Smith also had synaesthetic abilities, and would paint images that came to her while listening to music. How fitting for this series! One example of Colman-Smith’s enduring work is “the original Rider-Waite-Smith [although her name is often left out] Tarot Deck” originally published in 1909-10. Due to the perpetual dominance of white males in art and scoiety, Smith, a woman of color who is also said to have been queer, remains obscure to this day. To celebrate Pamela Colman-Smith and reclaim this beloved tarot deck as the Colman-Smith deck, enjoy this playlist inspired by a few of my favorite tarot illustrations. ]

#1. The Magician (Major Arcana)

Listen to: “Little Love Caster” by Laura Marling from the album: Once I Was An Eagle

In the realm of divination, tarot cards in the Major Arcana suit indicate life-changing events. The magician, a bridge between earth and the heavens, is a figure of skill, resourcefulness, and human will, and has the ability to bring great change. The image of the magician casting spells among the roses is as beautiful and mysterious as the incomparable Laura Marling’s voice in a song with a very fitting title.

#2. The Sun (Major Arcana)

Listen to: “Sunshine” by Powers from the mini-release: Sunshine

Warmth, light, bursting success. With jaunty lyrics predicting that rain will go away and good times are on the horizon, Powers captures the energy of Colman-Smith’s bright illustration. The addition of a crystal-clear wooden flute in the breakdown following the chorus is a perfect complement to the whimsical nature of these tarot card illustrations.

#3. The Star (Major Arcana)

Listen to: “Who by Fire” by Leonard Cohen feat. Janis Ian from the album: New Skin For The Old Ceremony

Pamela Colman-Smith is unmatched when it comes to depicting abstract concepts. When used for divination, The Star represents spirituality and renewal, while in reverse, it represents the very opposite: despair and a lack of faith. This Leonard Cohen staple is based off the traditional Hebrew melody and poem Unetanneh Tokef, which is recited at High Holy Day services as an ode to God’s divine judgement. Like so many songs from the Judaic Canon, Cohen’s song is a hauntingly beautiful expression of faith. Cohen’s folk adaptation of the original Hebrew song and Colman-Smith’s illustration are interestingly linked in their spiritual roots. (Bonus: check out the original cover art for this Cohen album. It caused quite a controversy when the album was released in 1974 and is another complex, symbolic image with a spiritual component.)

#4. The Moon (Major Arcana)

Listen to: “In This World” by Moby from the album: 18 & 18 B-Sides

In Colman-Smith’s illustration of the moon, the dog and the wolf between the pillars are said to be projections of one’s fears and insecurities. In this song, Moby -- who samples gospel singer Jackie Verdell’s (of the Davis Sisters) powerful, prayerful vocals and is known for his atmospheric electronica -- reflects the overwhelming fear of being alone in the world and needing to be guided out of a dark place.

#5. The Queen of Pentacles (Suit of Pentacles)

Listen to: “Oh! Sweet Nuthin’” by The Velvet Underground from the album: Loaded: Reloaded 45th Anniversary Edition

The Suit of Pentacles deals with business, money, and other aspects that may indicate material status. In an idyllic environment, the queen sits on a throne, surrounded by abundant nature. Colman-Smith illustrates an ideal life full of pleasures which can fall apart. The Velvet Underground’s bittersweet 1970 classic may feel incredibly desperate, but it is an ode to those who have lost everything yet still have the strength to land on their feet. The way the song becomes a soaring anthem by the end makes me wonder: when we hit rock bottom and let go of the weight we were carrying, do we come out of it more free? The Suit of Pinnacles may point to a more lucrative life, but material possessions may not be the key to a full one.

#6. Queen of Cups (Suit of Cups)

Listen to: “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” by Cary Brothers from the album: Under Control

The Suit of Cups is concerned with human emotional connections, love, and the expression of these emotions. This illustration of the queen peacefully sitting seaside, sporting her flowing marine-esque robes and a gold crown, is my absolute favorite of Colman-Smith’s. These days, love is often depicted as difficult and desperate, but The Queen of Cups, when in the upright position, represents compassion and security. Cary Brother’s song is a hopeful expression of love that, through its simplicity, is sure to evoke the queen of cups.

Mateusz Borowiecki talks us through his visit at the Weisman Art Museum at the University of Minnesota.

I’ll be honest. I was kinda blown away. I’m not too happy to admit it, but the other U of M (somehow they have the audacity to use that acronym even though we beat them to it by 34 years), the University of Minnesota...they have a better art museum than us.

Putting on my best Michigander accent and presenting myself as “a representative of the Art History Society at the University of Michigan”, I had the chance to briefly tour the museum with some of the student volunteers there, as well as take the time to meticulously document every piece of interest in the facility. While I won’t have room in this post to toss in the entire gigabyte of photo, video and audio I recorded, I’ve included below some of my favorites from my visit as well as some choice comments from volunteers I spoke to.

Special Exhibition: Melissa Stern’s “The Talking Cure”

Inspired by Freud’s psycho-analysis, Stern created an exhibition, including painting, sculpture and interactive pieces, which explore the psychological impact of art. The pieces on display echo early surrealist and expressionist experimentation and address a wide number of issues, including social interaction and exclusion, stigmatization and stereotyping. The sculptures of human figures take on crude, simplistic forms, yet feature expressive faces and utilize a wide variety of materials to create a diverse emotional examination of human life. Meanwhile, the two dimensional pieces replicate an almost child-like crudeness, and carry simple titles like “Family”, “Mr. Happy” and “Class”, evoking a repressed, child-like memory of the world which Freud was so fascinated by.

 Class, Melissa Stern (2012)

Main Gallery

Wandering out of the special exhibition, the first thing you run into is “Standing Glass Fish” by Frank Gehry. Like, literally run into, there’s barely walking space between it and the wall. It’s tall too: as you can see in the picture of the work, a special wedge had to be cut into the ceiling just to fit the thing. Across from it stands the equally colossal “World’s Fair Mural” painted by James Rosenquist, featuring all things American (at least as of the 1964 World’s Fair). Together, these two works dominate the visitor’s view upon first entry into the museum.

Standing Glass Fish, Frank Gehry (1986)

World Fair Mural, James Rosenquist (1964)

Passing by he main gallery, I was confronted with a massive hall with various works tastefully dispersed across the walls. It was quiet afternoon: a handful of guests wandered around while three volunteers loitered in the corner. The museum’s main collection is largely composed of modernist and post-modernist works, with smaller side galleries dedicated to 19th century art and other minor sections of the collection. It was in this room that I spoke to volunteer, Kari, who pointed to “Forming in Four Reds” as her favorite piece in the gallery. “The first time I looked at it, it didn’t seem all that interesting”, she told me, “but the more time I spent looking at it, the more the optical illusions and craftsmanship that went into it become apparent”. “I’m a political science major”, she continues, “so when I see art, it has to be pretty obvious what the point is for me to understand it, so I enjoy it for that reason”. Indeed, when looking at the work close up, it begins to oscillate and vibrate, an effect that can even be captured on video (see below).

As far as I could tell, the only thing in the entire museum older than the museum itself was the pottery collection. The museum took an interesting approach to this display: rather than labelling each piece individually, a large number of pieces were grouped together by function (e.g. drinking, decoration), regardless of age, location of origin or any other factor. In fact, the details of the pieces were explicitly hidden: I had to search the gallery for a small pamphlet which listed the individual information about each piece. This exhibit structure forces visitors to instead compare pieces that, for all they know, were produced thousands of miles and centuries apart, but shared some common purpose. There’s probably some deeper point to all this I would better understand if I were not a quantitative economics major, so I’ll leave that to you the readers to resolve.

It was in this pottery exhibit that I met my second volunteer, who promptly took me to his favorite work in the gallery. Talking about Ernest Lawson’s “Boathouse Walk”, Ethan told me that “throughout the day, as the light changes in this room it always looks so bright no matter what. And as you get closer, it has all these little speckles of color that manage to blend into a cohesive work as you step away”. “And you wonder”, he continues, “when you’re close, why did he choose to throw in this little speckle of purple here? But when you step away and look at the whole, it all makes sense.”

Boathouse Walk, Ernest Lawson (1931)

As I turned to leave the gallery, two final pieces caught my eye. They were by the same artist and clearly complements, yet they were spaced on opposite sides of their little gallery. Illustrating a freezing white landscape in one and a blistering red scene in the other, with complementing frames to emphasize each piece. Each piece also has a hint of the other within it: the winter piece has a shade of orange near the bottom left, while the summer/fall piece sees its main subject, in red and brown, contrasting with a bright white and blue cloud. Really, I’m considering writing a letter to the museum to complain that these pieces aren’t placed right next to each other.

Maine Snowstorm, Marsden Hartley (1908)

Landscape No. 36, Marsden Hartley (1909)

Overall, I loved every part of the museum. The exterior of the building is lovely, as is their giftshop. Seriously, I’ve yet to ever buy something from our giftshop, but got something at Weisman on my very first visit. Even the view is better, see attached photo.

Have you ever looked at a work of art and immediately associated it with an album or a song? Janavi Goldblum shares that when her mind relates a visual artwork to music, my eyes, ears, heart, and personal experiences become synchronized. To inspire you to embrace this visual-aural-­emotional experience, Janavi has curated a series of art playlists. Each is centered around a theme, movement, or an artist, and pairs incredible works of art with songs. Read below for her second playlist inspired by artist Louise Nevelson.

Louise Nevelson: 20th century American sculptor who is known for her large-scale monochromatic sculptures that usually consist of wood and other found objects. The expressive titles, the sheer size of them, and the small individual components that come together to create the whole, truly immerse the viewer. I myself have spent more than an hour in front of a Nevelson, completely mesmerized.

#1. Ancient Secrets  (1964)

Listen to: “Dona Dona” sung by Chava Alberstein from the album: Yiddish Songs

The Yiddish classic from the 1940’s, beautifully sung by Israeli songstress Chava Alberstein, perfectly combines a very old Yiddish musical tradition with more contemporary instrumentation. Nevelson’s sculpture, composed of asymmetrical wooden blocks in various states of protrusion and recession, captures that feeling of old and new, by maintaining its staccato punchiness while also appearing old and weathered.  

#2. Dark Presence (1971)

Listen to: “The Spoils” by Massive Attack feat. Hope Sandoval from the mini-release: The Spoils / Come Near Me

Fact: University of Michigan students can head to State Street and see Dark Presence III at the UMMA! I highly recommend that everyone spend a few moments taking in this impressive work. This wall-sized assemblage of wooden components all painted black appears to have a life of its own. The structure ascends, as if it is growing and will eventually take over the light-colored wall. No one captures that immersive, looming, dark vibe quite like Massive Attack and Hope Sandoval’s haunting voice only adds to that effect.

#3. City – Space – Scape V  (1968)

Listen to: “Sound & Color” by Alabama Shakes from the album: Sound & Color

Nevelson has a way of putting together irregular -- and sometimes even conflicting -- shapes and somehow making them into a cohesive whole. Alabama Shakes accomplishes the same thing. At first, the song’s bassline, percussion, and vocals, don’t seem to quite match up, and are even a little bit confusing, but it works. The discs that frame the smaller inner components, remind me of subwoofers. I can picture them reverberating at the song’s unexpected high-energy moments.

#4. Untitled, from the New York portfolio, “New York Collection for Stockholm” (1973)

Listen to: “Harbour” by SOHN from the album: Rennen

This work, a part of the UMMA’s collection, is unique because it is not a sculpture, but a silkscreen print and was gifted to the museum by Robert Rauschenberg, another incredibly interesting artist from the same time, also famous for his assemblages. [Rauschenberg playlist to come!] The beginning of SOHN’s atmospheric tune is completely void of any instrumentation. This floating, empty sound has an almost outer space-type feeling and immediately came to mind as I looked at the top portion of the print. The end of the song, however, is heavier and sharper, pairing well with the pop of color and the jagged black and white portion of the print, akin to ripped paper.

#5. Sky Cathedral-Moon Garden Wall  (1956-60)

Listen to: “Hareta Hi Ni” performed by the Aun J-Classic Orchestra from the album: Wa-Gakki de Ghibli

This work is very close to my heart, as it is housed at my favorite place in the entire world and the place I must visit whenever I go home: the Cleveland Museum of Art. As if the stunning deep blue and the nooks filled with fascinating wooden pieces that make it feel like you’re on a treasure hunt aren’t enough, the title puts it over the top. The Aun J-Classic Orchestra’s rendition of this dreamy song [from the 1989 Miyazaki classic, Kiki’s Delivery Service] is as otherworldly as Nevelson’s work. What I cherish the most about this work is that seeing its placement among very bold and somewhat loud expressionist works, the corner that it stands in becomes a haven. I won’t say anymore, see and hear it for yourself.

#6. Black Excursion No. 13  (1964)

Listen to: “Caravan” composed by Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington, performed by Duke Ellington from the album: The Duke: The Columbia Years (1927-1962)

This aesthetically-pleasing work is part of UMMA’s collection as well. Some of Nevelson’s works appear to be deliberately, but more freely arranged, and others are incredibly organized. While the pieces in Black Excursion No. 13 line up and fit together well, the two sides contain different arrangements of the same elements: wedges, spheres, hollow squares, rectangles…etc. The work, which has a basic structure, but plays with the arrangement of its elements reminds me of how some of my favorite jazz standards come together. This famous Juan Tizol and Duke Ellington song, with its iconic hook has both musical elements that stay consistent through the song and variation where the musicians take the opportunity to play around. In both jazz and visual art, a closer look into arrangements can spark thoughtful conversation.

Jenna Barlage reflects on how seeing a List of Deaths opened her eyes to the extent of the human rights violations in the current Middle East and African refugee migration.

There is no better time to go to an art museum than on a gray December morning. It was a busy post-Holiday Thursday in Midtown Manhattan, the Museum of Modern Art no less susceptible to the presence of pedestrians. I made my way through the crowd to the second floor, where I usually spend my time strolling through the permanent collection that has become comfortably familiar to me.

I was caught off guard when I entered a seemingly inconspicuous hallway. Black text in a table-like format lined the walls, and I soon enough realized what the words meant. It was an installment entitled “List of Deaths,” as I later found out. The list, complied by the European network UNITED for Intercultural Action, quantifies the “unknown and unseen” lives of refugees who died in transit. Each name on the list was followed by date of death, country of origin, and cause of death. The refugees listed were primarily from Middle-Eastern and African countries such as Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Ivory Coast, and Kenya. Common causes of death included dehydration, starvation, drowning, suicide, and homicide (committed by government police or competing asylum seekers).

Historically, bodies are rarely discovered and efficiently identified during political crises. Seeing the number of identifications made me wonder how many people were left unidentified or remain missing.

Liam Dougherty visits the Japanese Prints of Kabuki Theater temporary exhibit at the University of Michigan Museum of Art.

Japanese woodblock prints have long captured the intrigue of viewers in Japan and all over the world, and the University of Michigan’s Museum of Art provides a vivid and comprehensive introduction to one particular genre of this celebrated media.

In the pleasure quarters of the Edo (present-day Tokyo) Period, kabuki became an incredibly popular form of entertainment that provide commoners with a fantastical escape from the rigid social realities of life under the increasingly strict Tokugawa Shogunate.  Woodblock prints depicting elements of this fantasy or “floating world (ukiyo-e)” became wildly popular given their fairly simple mass-production and inexpensive price.  Images of kabuki actors, yakusha-e, who achieved widespread celebrity status, were sought after and promoted within a passionate fan culture.

The exhibition gives a thorough introduction to the many subjects or genres within kabuki prints.  Prints often depicted popular plays’ celebrated actors in character in the instantly recognizable mode of ukiyo-e of vividly saturated blocks of color and delicately delineated contours.  One subgenre of kabuki prints highlighted in the exhibition that I found to be particularly interesting are “mitate” or “see and compare” prints that could explain why these prints remain endearing to viewers everywhere today.

Amidst rapidly growing demand for new kabuki print images, there existed an explicit public interest in seeing the celebrity actors in imagined or personal contexts.  Essentially, the prints, in their mass-produced and, in turn, short-lived nature, served to satiate the popular clamor to observe and relate to the visually popularized lives of celebrity actors that persists today.

Utagawa Kunisada. Praying for Hits in the Waterfall of Answered Prayers, 1863, color woodblock print on paper.  University of Michigan Museum of Art, Gift of Pearl Sellards, 1985/1.71A-C

In this triptych, several famous actors of the time are portrayed in an imaginary scene under a popular waterfall pilgrimage site in Edo with their skin decorated in elaborate tattoos.  In reality, actors would not have had such tattoos.  Even one hundred and fifty years ago, halfway across the world, we find a fascination with the aesthetics of a celebrity lifestyle, and parallels can be drawn throughout history to the proliferation of a visual media frenzy surrounding popular culture figures and their associations with an escape from the mundane.  Today, it is tabloid photos and pop. culture blogs that are considered to be unsophisticated indulgences.  How ironic that with regards to the Edo Period, we now examine the products of a very similar phenomenon as the epitome of fine art.

Is a museum just a physical space to house artwork, or can it be something more? Michelle Gurevich explains what the Metropolitan Museum of Art means to her.

The Met has always been a special place for me. Back when I was a kid, my mom would let me skip school every once in a while to go see a new exhibit, so it’s no wonder the museum is one of my favorite places back home.

This past fall break, I was lucky enough to visit it for a day with my best friend. I dragged her all across and finally we went to my favorite room, which features a reconstruction of an Egyptian temple structure and walls decorated with hieroglyphs. There is a large pond snaking around the buildings, littered with coins from visitors hoping to return, and the entire room is lit by dozens of windows opening to a park. You can see it in this picture which features also my posed and elegant friend, Isa.

The Met is where I first discovered art, and I have come back at least once every year. It is a wonderful museum and a New York landmark, and I hope I will be getting lost in its halls again soon!

Liam Dougherty reflects on John Cage’s “How to Get Started,” a conceptual performance piece curated by Laura Kuhn and Aaron Levy and performed at the Institute for the Humanities on Sunday, Oct. 30.

        My initial exposure to John Cage was a result of my interests in Cage’s highly influential musical work as a minimalist and experimental composer. However, the significance of Cage’s work transcends the boundaries of music alone. Cage has also made massive contributions to visual art, dance, philosophy, and more.  For example, you may recognize this work that John Cage helped create with his friend Robert Rauschenberg:  

Robert Rauschenberg and John Cage, Automobile Tire Print, 1953.

John Cage conceived the performance piece “How to Get Started” as an exercise for grappling with the notion of improvisation on ideas.  The experiment involves a speaker, a sound engineer and, to an extent, the audience.  The speaker writes out a different keyword or subject on ten notecards.  The topics may be related in a linear train of a thought or completely independent of each other.  However, the order in which the speaker will address each topic is randomized, and the speaker proceeds to extemporize on each topic for three minutes.  The sound engineer is responsible for recording each subsequent extemporaneous speech and then looping each one layered upon the preceding speeches that plays back while the speaker continues to improvise.

The performance I witnessed featured three community speakers from Ann Arbor or Detroit. In this case, each person spoke regarding a general underlying theme about his or her identity as realized within the context of race, gender, career, etc.  The steady barrage of words and sounds upon each topic’s looping providing a fascinating listening experience.  I alternated in my experience between attempting to hear the whole sequence collectively as one linear monologue, and allowing myself to be completely overwhelmed as the words accumulate so that individual phrases would jump out to me at different times.  On several occasions, the seemingly random assortment of words and sounds revealed a profound interconnectedness that, both thematically and sonically, became increasingly dense with each ensuing collection of ideas.  I was surprised to find that my processing of the performance was simultaneously scrambled yet very cleared as I found my own thoughts and responses bouncing around in a such a strangely precise chaos for the duration of the performance and much of the evening that followed.

The John Cage Trust and Slought Foundation continue to invigorate this exercise with essentially an online library that is constantly being updated with new recordings of the performance.  You can explore the project and the work of John Cage, as well as look into performing the exercise for yourself at howtogetstarted.org.  During a particular lack of inspiration, this performance certainly helped me to get started on some ideas that I had been working on and some new ones as well.

‘Twas a dark and stormy night. Swarms of dead leaves scuttled across cold concrete and a woman’s faraway cackle echoed in the moonlight. Eerie green smoke swirled into tall columns. The earth rumbled. The ground cracked. And out from this madness: HELICON ASCENDED!!

In light of the our favorite holiday, we are sharing some photos of Helicon members’ Halloween costumes!

<3 Helicon exec board (pictured below)

Janavi as Andy Warhol

Olivia as Salvador Dalí

Olivia as a flower

Leah as a zombie

Vanessa as a witch + Alison as a nun

Snippets from Grace Millard and Spencer Haney’s iMessage preview of Isaac Levine’s new album, “Nothing Shocking.” His [FREE] release party on Nov. 4 features music + storytelling + lots more performances from fun special guests.

The release show will be on Friday, Nov. 4 at Arbor Vitae from 9-12PM.

:: FOR MORE INFORMATION ::

Album release show Facebook event page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1260921263960396/?notif_t=plan_user_associated¬if_id=1477517060888147

Listen to more sounds by Isaac here: http://isaaclevine.bandcamp.com/

+ peep the album cover below!

This October, Helicon members Mateusz Borowiecki, Olivia Kinker, and Janavi Goldblum took a day trip to the ArtPrize competition in Grand Rapids. Here are some insights from our intrepid voyagers, reporting back straight from the front line!

Kenneth Lum

Canadian, b. 1956

The Keypunch Operator, 2016

Archival ink on Japanese paper

Courtesy of the Artist

I loved this piece for its exploration of an idea that seems simultaneously obvious and strangely brilliant: the effect of typed fonts, and in particular strongly contrasting fonts, on one’s internal monologue when reading a piece of text. When speaking, we raise and lower our voices, insert dramatic pauses, add is special emphasis and otherwise color our words to bring life to our speech. Writing seeks to imitate that, with the use of commas, semicolons, bold, italics, dashes and so on--yet here we see a text that avoids most of that, drawing its vividness purely by constantly cycling through a wide variety of fonts. The technique brings energy and animation to the otherwise mundane story of a typist’s life that no amount of Times New Roman could have brought out.  -- Mateusz Borowiecki

Hillerbrand+Magsamen

Higher Ground

Video

Link to watch: https://vimeo.com/158208079

This piece is a video made by the husband and wife team Stephen Hillerbrand and Mary Magsamen. It begins with the artists and their children sitting and watching a rocket launch. Then the entire family begins building their own rocket ship with various items from their home. They simulate a take-off, flight, and landing.

I found it very endearing and engaging. Their construction of the ship was clever and ended up looking pretty real. The family was very serious throughout the entire thing. When I first walked up to the video in the museum, I thought that it was actual footage of a rocket launch. When I saw that it was just this quirky little family making a performance art piece I was intrigued enough to sit through all eight minutes. Maybe you will too!  -- Olivia Kinker

Stacey Kirby

Bureau of Personal Belonging

Performance & installation

This work won the Juried Grand Prize for a reason. Kirby’s incredibly complex installation includes a series of rooms within the setting of an old-time office, The Bureau of Personal Belonging. As part of her project entitled VALIDnation, this installation allows people of all backgrounds and orientations to explore how they identify themselves. The attention to detail alone, from name plaques to office supplies to filing cabinets overflowing with administrative papers, is a huge draw for the audience. For Stacey Kirby, who is known for creating very specific installation sites for her politically motivated, interactive, and powerful performances, (especially around LBGTQIA+ rights) it’s so much more than an office. Although we weren’t able to see the actual performance, we did meander through the various rooms of the office, each with a different theme and objective.

Jenna Barlage attends the Penny Stamps Lecture featuring street artist/activist Kashink.

I’ve been lacking inspiration lately. Admittedly, I have not been seeking it out. Tonight I made my first attempt in weeks to be inspired. I guess what you seek, you shall find.

I had never been to a Penny Stamps lecture before tonight. I walked to the Michigan Theatre in the rain, taking an aisle seat in the back of the auditorium upon arrival.

The subject was The Wynwood Walls, a collection of graffiti art composed upon once forgotten buildings in a district of Miami. The concept behind Wynwood is influential. What I found even more influential was one of the many faces behind Wynwood.

Kashink came onstage sporting her signature pencil moustache. She’s been wearing it for three years. It started as a persona for her openings. Now she wears it everyday to embrace the eccentric. She likes to cross gender boundaries, to question the status quo.

Maybe that’s why her work is so revolutionary. Kashink paints on walls, legally or illegally, paid or unpaid. She began tagging in her native Paris as a teenager, but today her works can be viewed across the world. Her pieces are political and provocative, advocating for gay marriage and women’s rights.

50 Cakes of Gay Series

“Everybody loves cake.” - Kashink

A mural for the 50 Cakes of Gay series in Kongsvinger, Norway (above)

50 Cakes of Gay in Paris, France (below)

Kashink’s work for Amnesty International

“Mon Cops, Mes Broits” – “My Body, My Rights”

Paris, France

Challenging Stereotypes of Masculinity

Kashink’s works challenge stereotypes, sensitive, eccentric men being her primary subject matter. Her four-eyed characters appear race-less and gender-less, promoting equality and expression.

Kashink’s Signature Four-Eyed Man

Wynwood Walls, Miami

Kashink is a woman in a field dominated by men, addressing social issues through eccentric and unique art, persuading people to progress through bringing them happiness rather than aggression.

Kashink employs balance in her work in a way that I’ve not seen before. She is powerful and revolutionary, with but with a big heart a sense of humor that radiates through her work. Long story short, Kashink is really awesome.

Thank you, Kashink, for giving me the inspiration that I was looking for.