At the Walker Art Center today: “Multiple Realities: Experimental Art in the Eastern Bloc, 1960s–1980s,” artists who pushed boundaries under communism. The threats faced by our current system share unsettling parallels, whether it’s the targeting of sexual minorities, the suppression of inconvenient historical truths, “alternative facts,” or attempts to control access to information.
Category: Arts
Trading Hygge for the Blues
Woke up this mornin’, expecting a day of hygge as the cold spell winds down. Then friends on the mend from COVID passed on tickets to us for blues artist Keb’ Mo’ at the Dakota Jazz Club. This eight-time Grammy award winner was new to us but not to the sold-out audience.
Framing Friendships
Walked over to the Guthrie for a performance of ‘Art’ where friendships are inflamed by a piece of minimalist art. “If you’re not who I think you are, then who am I?”
Handel’s Messiah
Handel’s Messiah at Orchestra Hall from the nosebleed section, aka the gods (UK English). First performed in Dublin in 1742 it still sounds good today, even from the cheap seats.
Beyond the Boundaries of Art
I ventured behind the blackout curtain on the left to find utter darkness. As I waited for my eyes to adjust, it dawned on me that this was not part of the exhibition. I quickly retreated back into the light, just as a docent approached. A mea culpa was in order.
A Splash of Color
On my gray, misty Mississippi walk, a vibrant mural splashed across a concrete wall stabilizing the riverbank. “What Will Sustain Us?”—art that discourages taggers and transforms the mundane.
Guns and Murder
A light dusting of snow was forming as we walked to Theatre in the Round for an adaptation of an Agatha Christie novel. Predictably, the playbill cautioned us to expect gunfire and murder.
Expanding the Repertoire
View from the lobby of Orchestra Hall while enjoying a pre-concert glass of wine. Tonight the Minnesota Orchestra featured pieces by six black composers, including two women. The art form tends to be Eurocentric, sometimes stodgy; tonight was refreshing, mixing it up.
Cloudy with a Chance of Theater
Woke up to cloud-capped towers of Downtown. In the foreground, Gold Medal Park is putting on a fall display. Beyond the park, the Logitech-blue Guthrie awaits, where this evening we’ll take in “For the People,” written by local Native playwrights about the local Native community.
The Magical Realism of Japan
Dwight’s in Fargo visiting his mom, so I decided to watch some anime. Chose “Paprika” where dreams and reality lose boundaries. Magical realism pervades anime, as well as much of the Japanese literature I’ve read in translation, and (for me) Japan itself. I keep going back for more.