Detroit Hustles Harder (Newly Centered)
Newly centered is a culmination of Detroit artists with the intent to bring the art, live music and DJ scenes closer one another and they definitely showed that to me. Hear about my time in the D last Saturday.
Yo!! Detroit is KILLING the underground game!
Last Saturday I made plans with my buddy Edgar, but I’m not really familiar with Detroit, so I told him to find something happening and I’ll be there. When he sent me this poster, honestly, I got hype! It was like all my favorite things came together and made a baby: music, art, food, and off-kilter individuals.
Less than 30 seconds of walking into the venue I see a fully-stocked bar and a vendor selling vegan/vegetarian nachos & burritos (shoutout to Monster Foods for providing those bomb ass Seitan burritos - I’ll come back to those). So Edgar and I go down into the crowd, and I kid you not the first person that we run into - quite literally - happened to be the cousin of my friend & colleague, Natalie. If that ain’t kismet…yup; this was where I was meant to be. Unfortunately, we arrived while racehorses are resources JUST got done with their set we weren’t able to hear any of it which was a bummer because I heard that they were really good.
Jams with Dave killed it, for real. When the main vocalist came out with that furry coat on, I got a little skeptical because although we were in the D, it was pretty warm in the building. I was pleasantly surprised though.
Light Scene Factory was cool to watch, but I just couldn’t get behind the vocals for some reason. The musicians as instrumentalist are PHENOMENAL, but for some reason the vocals were just way too distracting to me to get down to it.
Of all the bands that performed though, the one that stood out the most for me was Tears of a Martian. Rarely do I get blown away, but this band FLOORED me! The bassist Justin Reed held it down. His stage presence was captivating and the amount of visible chemistry amongst his bandmates was intoxicating. The guitarist and lead vocalist Arianna Bardoni did a fantastic job engaging the crowd and displaying nuanced ability by incorporating unique meter and genre changes turning what started off as an alt. rock guitar solo to one with a latin/jazz feel to a bachata back to rock flawlessly. Now…let me take a second to catch my breath because Todd Watt’s skill and technique on the drums changed my life. So I went to school for music as a vocalist, and I’ve always had high respect for anybody that can even figure out how to work a drum set, but Todd Watt’s has done way more than just figure out how to work a drum set he has tamed and MASTER the instrument. In a conversation with him after his set, I come to find out that Todd was a member of Eastside Fury, a WGI (Winter Guard International - pretty much the major leagues for marching musicians) team.
So back to the food.
Monster Foods, man…*muah*. When I asked what was in the burrito, Jamie had me at Seitan. I don’t know what it is about a solid vegetarian meal that just makes you want to keep coming back, and that’s exactly what I did. I’m not even somebody that eats that much! I don’t know if it was the generous Jameson & gingers the bartender was serving me, or the smell of that cilantro but I couldn’t resist but look ravenous as I scarfed down that delicious burrito. I didn’t even think to take a picture of the meal, and y’all wouldn’t have wanted to see the monster I became when she handed me that burrito. Looking back, it makes me laugh because I had so much salsa in my beard but I didn’t even care.
A Bazaar Universe gave me that feeling of walking into your favorite vintage/thrift store and getting frustrated because there are way too many things that you want. So you end up spending way more than you should, and then in 2 weeks you’re back to see if you can find more goodies for the house.
Unknown Titled Piece
This is a piece that I bought by Christine Monley for $1. This piece spoke so loudly to me, and I cant’t put my finger on why yet still. There’s just so much in the expression.
Kathleen Stellar
She was painting this piece during the whole event and I kid you not, I spent over 20 minutes just watching her add details. The level of symmetry and the use of colors hooked me.
Hey, Ohio! We NEED this!
Toledo peeps, where you at?
When I asked around, I learned that only about 4 people were needed to really put the whole event together. That’s insane to me! The community amongst artists and creatives is so beautiful to me; almost got me questioning why I’m not living there. Don’t get me wrong my city isn’t bad, but we don’t do it like Detroit does. This event was definitely what I needed to feel a creative spark coming into this new year. There’s really a spirit amongst that city amongst artists that is inspiring. Detroit, thank you so much for having me! Until next time.
B. Piri (out)
Chanel
There are two sides to everything in life. Whether it’s the idea of good & bad, heaven & hell, or rich & poor; these concepts are not as concrete as we would all like to believe.
Dichotomy
Noun
a division or contrast between two things that are or are represented as being opposed or entirely different
botany: repeated branching into two equal parts
Origin: Greek
Dikho- in two parts
-temnein: to cut —> -tomia: cutting —> -tomy
In all aspects in life there is always a division of two opposing parts. Whether it’s the idea of good & evil, heaven & hell, love & hate, good & bad, etc. All of these concepts are completely subjective though. Nietzsche says, “What first comes to my mind is that, in this theory, the origin of the concept ‘Good’ was mistakenly identified, and thus sought in vain, for the judgment ‘Good’ did not originate among those to whom goodness was shown! Rather it has been ‘good men’ themselves, that is, the noble, the powerful, those of high degree, the high-minded, who have felt that they themselves were good, and that their actions were good….” What can been seen to one person may be seen as bad to another. These conflicts can be seen in life, media, and art.
What This Belies by Thebe Phetogo
Thebe Phetogo is a Botswana born artist living and working in Cape Town, South Africa. She’s a representational and figurative painter that explores her background as a Motswana through her personal sensibilities and experiences.
This image expresses the idea of dichotomy by using both sorrow & joy. The image of the man with a noose around his neck as a very clear representation of death, but the contrasting image of the balloons can represent so much: whether it’s symbolic of blood-clotting, joy, or the idea of misrepresentation - that I am not sure. The artist unfortunately does not say much about this piece, and lets it speak for itself.
Rubber Soul, Monument of Aspiration from The Toledo Museum of Art
In her work Mary Sibande investigates issues of race, class, and power in post-Apartheid South Africa. Rubber Soul is the last in a series depicting Sibande’s semi-autobiographical character Sophie, a South African maid. Sophie tends to appear as a matte black mannequin with her eyes closed, dressed seemingly both as a maid and a Victorian madam. This ambiguity of costume is a way for Sibande to question the overly simplistic dichotomies of servant versus mistress and black versus white, while asserting the power of fantasy and self-fashioned identity.
From the Skagens Museum
In Anna Ancher’s harvest pictures, the harvesters are present in a very concrete sense, and it is always the man who carries the scythe, which is not only to be seen as symbolising the Grim Reaper, but also as a quite traditional division of the harvest work. The women’s work was usually linked to specific tools, and thus also distributed in the same way. In several of her oil sketches and finished paintings, Anna Ancher has worked with the composition, which is stringently built up around a perspective following the surface of the painting. The paintings are divided into two almost equal halves, which are only interrupted by the movement of the harvesters either in or counter to the reading direction from left to right. The composition in the harvest pictures acquires an almost frieze-like quality, and the division into two almost equally large areas of corn and sky respectively is a special quality in Anna Ancher’s harvest pictures, while she has also worked intensely with the light and shade effects and the blue and yellow complementary contrasts. In one harvest painting she has portrayed harvesters seen with the light behind them, while the sun in the other falls in from the left foreground and thus strikes the cornfield and the figures.
Frank Ocean - Chanel ℗ Blonded Released March 10, 2017
The song Chanel by Frank Ocean challenges the duality and non-heteronormative binaries.
I took a dichotomy test recently, and it was pretty informative for me. If you are interested in learning more about your internal contrasts, then check out Dichotomy Tests.
Real TV
Imagine a world where all your favorite shows had a primarily minority case instead of the ones they have now??
Happy 2019, Y'all!! 🎉
It’s officially a new year! 2018 was a wild ride, but it’s officially over. (Won’t God do it?!)
I didn’t feel like I accomplished much last year until I actually verbalized everything that I was looking past:
I got a corporate job.
I quit a corporate job.
I got a job working at this bar that I’ve been wanting for the last 4 years.
I decided to take strides towards working on myself.
I realized the value of gym membership.
I realized the value of a good relationship.
I realized the weight of a bad relationship.
I stopped eating red meat.
I put more work and effort into creating art.
I started a blog, yo!
But honestly, this year I realized something about myself that I never accepted earlier in my life; I’m terrified of getting killed by a white person. After going through this year and seeing so many people (real & fictional) being insulted, harassed, or murdered by the hands of bigots and police, I’m shook. I’m not surprised though because it wasn’t until this year that television and movie felt actually “real” to me.
When I was growing up shows like Friends were so popular, and it kind of felt like somewhat of a relatable reality; which it was in the 90’s (ish). But can y’all imagine what Friends would be like if it had all Black people in it??
I really think a character like Ross would be great for the black community. A paleontologist that’s a brother, whose main flaw is that he’s over sensitive and falls in love quickly? Psh - what?! On the other hand shows like this would then have to follow the troupe of if she’s success in the corporate or professional world, then she has to angry or mean - I’m looking at you Gabrielle Union.
But who would it be?
Black Rachel: single, divorced mother whom worked for Ralph Lauren, or Black Monica: married, executive chef, and mother?
Black Phoebe would probably resemble Nola Darling as the slightly ditzy artistic figure but she would be hella Afrocentric.
Black Chandler would be everyone’s least favorite character because he’d basically be Chris Tucker from Friday, and everybody knows how happy they were when they found out he wasn’t returning in Next Friday.
Black Joey though…for real, think about this. Black Joey would be the philander with zero kids, baby mamas, and no child support payments. (that kind of greatness just isn’t allowed in television)
Also, can we talk for a second about how normal crimes in white television feels sometimes? When I watch Shameless, I never feel like the police are an issue, but watching The Chi it feels like I’m always watching everybody’s back! Both shows, characters have run-ins with the law but usually watching Shameless everything ends pretty optimistically.
Imagine if Dexter Morgan in Dexter was a black man!
Let that marinate for a second!
Also, if any of y’all are wondering, the thumbnail is from the video Moonlight by Jay-Z. If you haven’t seen it yet, then I definitely recommend you changing that ASAP!