Arts & Entertainment
The Aux Cord
Coming soon: new music to look out for this summer
Summer and music go hand in hand like nothing else. Inevitably, when the temperature peaks above 85 degrees Farenheit and all your clothing starts to stick to your chest, people look to the glorious medium of music as salvation from the heat.
Theater
Sarah Bay-Cheng says a bittersweet goodbye to Bowdoin
Before Sarah Bay-Cheng, chair and professor of theater and dance, leaves Bowdoin to become the dean of the School of Arts, Media, Performance and Design at York University in Toronto, she’s making herself available for lunch dates and coffee chats.
International Students
Photos explore international student experiences
Ever wondered what being an international student at Bowdoin entails? Shining light on the international student experience, “The I-20s: an International Student Exhibit” opened Wednesday night in David Saul Smith Union’s Lamarche Gallery as part of International Week programming.
Visual Arts
Senior art show inspires with creative experimentation
From monumental murals in neon colors to life castings molded out of earth and clay, this year’s senior art show dazzles the eye and excites the mind. On Wednesday night, the exhibition titled “Changeover” transformed the Edwards Center for Art and Dance into an active ground of artistic vision and reflection.
Arts In These Parts
Portland’s First Friday Art Walk breaks free from the white box
On my first visit to New York’s Museum of Modern Art, I wore a baseball cap. While my curly hair protested vehemently as I forced its tendrils under the crown, I received louder complaints from museum security guards regarding my fashion decision.
Photo exhibit highlights warning signs of dating violence
In the midst of frantic Bowdoin spring, a visitor to the Blue Gallery in David Saul Smith Union may be prompted to pause and reflect on the nature of relationships this week. “Focusing on Dating Violence,” currently on display in the gallery, is a photography exhibit created as the capstone project of the Office of Gender Violence Prevention and Education’s (OGVPE) Leadership Institute, a training program led by Lisa Peterson, associate director of Gender Violence Prevention and Education.
June Vail: the unsung heroine of Bowdoin dance
What were the first dance classes offered at Bowdoin? The answer, according to Professor of Dance Emerita June Vail, included technique, repertoire, choreography and a senior seminar that took place in Coles Tower. Though her name may not be familiar, Vail remains the unsung heroine behind the founding of Bowdoin’s dance program.
The Aux Cord
‘Old Town Road’ sweeps the charts—and the nation
Of all the songs that aim to blend genres that normally never go together, none have done it quite like Sam Hunt’s “Body Like a Back Road.” It starts like any other bro-country hit, with acoustic guitar twang, drab pop chords and a cringeworthy whistle at the girl that [insert bro] is about to serenade.
The Aux Cord
‘Titanic Rising’ is a masterpiece of mood and space
“Titanic Rising” by Weyes Blood should not have surprised me. Weyes Blood is a well established musician within the indie scene, and “Titanic Rising” is her fourth album. Artists in 2019 seem to come out of thin air, having been lurking in some corner of Soundcloud or Bandcamp, waiting for their big break into the general consciousness of those who have r/indieheads or Pitchfork as favorites on their internet browser.
Books
Rachlin ’08 investigates cracks in criminal justice system
When Benjamin Rachlin ’08 was studying English at Bowdoin, he wanted to be a rich short-story writer despite the paradox. But when he returned on Tuesday, it was to discuss a work of nonfiction, Rachlin’s first book, titled “Ghost of the Innocent Man: A True Story of Trial and Redemption.” The book follows the true tale of a man who lived a life unimaginable to most Bowdoin students and delves into the ugly and overlooked cracks of America’s criminal justice system.
Theater
‘Too Much Light’ brings Neo-Futurism to the stage
Even before the show begins, shouts from the audience and screams of “Curtain!” set the stage for the vivacious and fast-paced production “Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind.” Tonight and Saturday, an intimate cast will take the audience through a whirlwind of 30 plays—a series of emotional, hilarious and thought-provoking storylines—in just 60 minutes.
Arts In These Parts
A look into the art museums of the Maine Big Three
With May 1 approaching quickly, College Confidential has blown up with mothers of high school seniors who are desperately searching for the ultimate answer to the Colby vs. Bates vs. Bowdoin (CBB) debate. These moms converse as if they’re trading secrets, whispering about the diameters of the campus pond (Bowdoin’s can be found between Moulton and Hyde when it rains) and the width of their tour guides’ smiles.
Portrait of an Artist
Portrait of an Artist: Singer ’21 connects through film
Niles Singer ’21 is a visual arts and francophone studies double major from Reading, Massachusetts. He is the Head of Photography for Avant-Garb Magazine and serves as a darkroom teaching assistant for photography courses. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
The Aux Cord
All you need to know about the Ivies acts
The concert formerly known as Ivies (if we’re calling it Bowchella) has been announced. An email sent out to the entire student body—with the subject heading on the email as “No Bamba”—announced the lineup, with Lion Babe playing Thursday, April 25, and Jamila Woods and Mick Jenkins playing Saturday, April 27.
Books
Creating change through ‘Power of Literature’
As contemporary interests drift away from physical books in favor of online media, people are beginning to doubt the power of literature. Yet, Wednesday night in the Beam Classroom, Dr. Alaa Al Aswany, world-renowned author and Egyptian reformer, reclaimed the agency of the written word in his lecture titled “Power of Literature.” Currently a visiting professor in Middle Eastern studies at Dartmouth College, Al Aswany is best known for his 2002 work, “The Yacoubian Building,” which offers a poignant dissection of modern Egyptian society under the facade of fiction.
College Houses
‘Art and Color’ seeks to open up white spaces
Walking into Reed House basement on Thursday night, you might have been pleasantly surprised—gone are the toppled red solo cups and sticky beer pong table. The space has been scrubbed anew, with colored lights and works of art adorning the walls.
Dance
‘Wind in the Pines’ grapples with family history
The theater is dark, and nobody is on the stage. The lights are off and the room is quiet until a voice breaks the silence. Assistant Professor of Dance Aretha Aoki’s voice is broadcast throughout Wish Theater, but she remains off stage.
Museum
The Building of the Future, 100 years later: Bowdoin College Museum of Art celebrates lasting legacy of the Bauhaus
Bowdoin students need look no further than Coles Tower or the VAC fishbowl to see examples of Bauhaus architecture. This year, Bauhaus’ hundredth anniversary will bring this legacy to the fore on Bowdoin’s campus. Founded in 1919 in Weimar, Germany by architect Walter Gropius, the revolutionary modernist art school proclaimed its aim “to create a new building of the future that will unite every discipline … as a clear symbol of the new belief to come.” What followed was a movement that forever changed definitions of art, design and architecture, stretching across the world and across the century.
Exhibition highlights new dimensions in Inuit music
What sounds and rhythms come to mind when one thinks of the Arctic? The latest exhibition at the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum, “A Resounding Beat: Music in the Inuit World,” which opened Tuesday, offers a taste of Inuit music both rooted in tradition and charged with originality.
Arts In These Parts
Grab your Ivies gear: an early musical weekend in Portland
Temperatures in the high 40s beg the lingering piles of snow to sink back into the earth, and bare legs to begin to peek out below shorts and dresses. With spring break over and many students’ closets swelling with newly thrifted overalls and bucket hats, murmurs begin to wind their way through dorms and dining halls: so, how close is Ivies?
Theater
‘Sweat’ stages working-class anguish with empathy
Once audiences are confronted with the human cost of the American Dream, economics and politics will never look the same. On Friday night at Pickard Theater, tales of American workers take center stage as the Department of Theater debuts the Maine premiere of the Pulitzer and Tony award-winning play “Sweat” by Lynn Nottage.
Music
Music department seeks recruitment in admissions
While many students step into Gibson Hall each semester, very few know the inner workings of Bowdoin’s music department. Despite occasional setbacks, new efforts are being made to revive music programs and recruit students through a greater attention to musical abilities during the admissions process.
The Aux Cord
2019 release radar: the good, the bad and the average
Chris Ritter ’21 picks: Zacari – “Don’t Trip” You might not know Zacari’s name, but you’ve definitely heard his voice. It probably caught you on Kendrick Lamar’s “LOVE,” where it soars in a falsetto riff adapted from his own song, “Lovely.” Or maybe you heard him on “Redemption,” a dancey afrobeat highlight from the star-studded “Black Panther” album.
Performance Art
‘Voyage without a Visa’ narrates immigration
On Tuesday night, students and community members were taken on a journey in Kresge Auditorium with the performance of “Voyage sans Visa, Tukki saa suné (Voyage without a Visa),” which followed immigrants travelling from Senegal to France.
Visual Arts
Contemporary art comes alive in downtown gallery
You may not think of downtown Brunswick as the hub for cutting-edge contemporary art. Yet tucked away in a former furniture shop, just mere steps from Gelato Fiasco, the Frank Brockman Gallery is filled with colors, energy, vision and creative expression.
Arts In These Parts
Portland Museum of Art might just surprise you
“Claustrophobic.” “Elitist.” “Boring.” Worse has been said about museums. Maybe you’re imagining pairs of women in patterned scarves and narrow red glasses with beaded straps gliding through cramped hallways spitting nonsensical art jargon. Staring at yet another oil portrait of Jesus and some other guys that looks like every other painting in the hall, you can’t help but feel that museums are only a place for art historians and pretentious hipster wannabes.
Books
Author Hannah Tinti talks fiction and storytelling
The audience snapped their fingers in unison on Tuesday as Hannah Tinti began singing. The author of three critically-acclaimed novels, Tinti knows how to captivate an audience. Singing, she says, does just that. Tinti, who was at Bowdoin as part of the Alpha Delta Phi Society Visiting Writers Series, read from her most recent best-selling novel, “The Twelve Lives of Samuel Hawley.” It’s not Tinti’s first time receiving critical acclaim.
Museum
Museum of Art celebrates 125 years
The bronze figures of Sophocles and Demosthenes, set in niches on the facade of the Walker Art Building, are turning 125-years-old. As the Bowdoin College Museum of Art celebrates the quasquicentennial anniversary of its iconic home, students, faculty and community members gathered on Tuesday evening to celebrate the legacy of art and visual culture at the College.
The Aux Cord
Maggie Rogers triumphs on ‘Heard It In A Past Life’
I should leave out the story about Maggie Rogers’ rise to fame through a viral video with Pharrell because it is clear by now that she deserves it. It is true that the Maryland singer/songwriter was a student at NYU just two years ago, making eclectic songs that fused her folky roots with Eurohouse influences acquired from a semester abroad, and that one day Pharrell showed up to class, instantly raved about Rogers’ work, and abruptly sent Rogers and her song “Alaska” into a firestorm of attention via YouTube.
Music
Chamber ensemble sparks musical collaboration
The “quad squad” may sound like an unusual moniker for a music group, but this is far from the only surprise offered by the Bowdoin’s Department of Music’s chamber ensemble program. Each semester, dozens partake in a variety of independent, student-driven chamber groups.
Music
Students inspire with live music at the Children’s Center
Take a peek into the Bowdoin Children’s Center, and you might see a student plucking the strings of an acoustic guitar, the notes sweetly melodic, a mother with a sleeping infant strapped to her chest and a toddler at her side, swaying to the music, listening with curiosity and wonder.
Museum
‘Fashioning Modernity’ examines changing Nigerian identity
Visitors are packed in the Becker Gallery, chatter filling the air as community members and students alike wait in anticipation to see the new exhibition, “Fashioning Modernity: Art and Independence Among Yorubas in Nigeria,” on display at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA).
Music
Singer Andy Shauf brings ‘The Party’ to Portland
You can see the glow of yellow light and the shadows of passing figures through the windows. You leap up a few steps and pull open the front door to be greeted by a rap song from Spotify’s Top 50 hits playing over someone’s parents’ speakers and, subsequently, you inhale an odd fog of beer, body odor and half-assed Febreze.
Portrait of an Artist
Portrait of an Artist: Fortuno
Tobi Omola ’19 and Ellis Laifer ’19 comprise the music duo Fortuno, which recently released the singles “Be” and “Feel” on all major music platforms. Omola will be performing in his senior recital this Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
Museum
Sight and sound: Music at the Museum
The dome of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA) rings with music as a full, rapt audience experiences sound interwoven with sight. On this February night, the performance series “Music at the Museum” continues yet another successful run.
Dance
Advanced theater class shatters disciplinary boundaries
Walking into Edwards Center for Art and Dance, you may run into interdisciplinary work in action. Last year, the Department of Theater and Dance launched the Performing Arts major with concentrations in dance, theater and interdisciplinary performance.
Visual Arts
Campus galleries highlight student art talent
Whether it’s trekking up the ramp to get to the Hubbard Stacks, staring into the windows of Lamarche Gallery while working on a problem set or sinking into a couch right in the middle of the Blue Box, Bowdoin students can easily find art in their surroundings.
The Aux Cord
‘Assume Form’ exposes a different side of James Blake
James Blake’s music cannot be categorized into a specific genre. Many artists have been labeled as musical chameleons, adapting their sound from album to album based off of the current trends in music. But it would be a mistake to add that descriptor to Blake as well.
Visual Arts
Ceramics and community: hidden gem at the Craft Center
Bright colors, wheels and an endless amount of materials can feed anyone’s artistic hunger in a small, white building tucked away behind the Office of Admissions. Bowdoin’s Craft Center offers a range of creative activities beloved by students, from knitting to sewing to jewelry-making.
Portrait of an Artist
Portrait of an Artist: Sam Roy ’20, perspective of patience
Sam Roy is a junior majoring in neuroscience and minoring in visual arts. Last November, she gave a TedX talk in Springfield, Massachusetts titled “Accidental Photographs: Taking Ownership of Chance.” Roy was the recipient of a McKee Photography Grant last summer for her independent study.
Museum
Intersections of Art and the Environment
Enter the latest exhibition at Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA), and it may not be what you expect. In ‘Material Resources: Intersections of Art and the Environment,’ notions of what environmental art ought to look like are challenged within moments of arrival.
The Aux Cord
Our picks for album of the year
Sebastian’s picks: 1. Mount Eerie – “Now Only” “Now Only” is not an easy listen. Mount Eerie, the stage name of Phil Elverum, experienced unthinkable tragedy in 2016 when his wife, Genevieve Castree, died after a battle with cancer.
Museum
Spring of Discontent: student-curated exhibition memorializes 1968 Germany through photography
Sixteen striking black and white photos are hung on the three gray walls of the Becker Gallery in the Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA), occupying the intimate space and transporting the viewer to Germany in 1968.
Portrait of an Artist
Portrait of an Artist: Darius Riley ’19, people’s photographer
Darius Riley is a senior visual arts major and photographer from East Palo Alto, California, who also co-founded Bowdoin’s creative and fashion magazine, Avant-Garb Magazine. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity. The Bowdoin Orient: How would you describe yourself as an artist?
Music
West African Ensemble electrifies with eclectic beats
Hip-Hop, rhythm and blues, jazz, reggae—many kinds of popular music have roots in Africa. Last night, the West African Music Ensemble brought to life the connection between drumming, dancing and singing during their performance “The Path and the River.” Distinct at Bowdoin in its non-Western approach to music, the ensemble is directed by Adjunct Lecturer in Music Jordan Benissan—a master drummer of Ewe people of West Africa, esteemed for complex cross-rhythms.
Film Screening
‘In Stitches’ highlights rise of vernac comedy in South Africa
On Wednesday night, two Bowdoin alumni returned to campus with a unique story rooted in the language of humor as a tool for decolonization and rewriting histories. Hannah Rafkin ’17 and Meg Robbins ’17 screened their documentary “In Stitches” and answered questions from students, faculty and community members.
Dance
December Dance Concert to showcase department’s successful semester
A semester’s worth of work by Bowdoin dancers will come to life in Pickard Theater tonight. Six unique pieces will represent nearly every dance class from the department, as over 60 students grace the stage at the December Dance Concert.
Miscellania shines on stage at Radio City Music Hall
While the majority of students spent their Friday evening hanging out with friends or procrastinating on finishing work, one particular group of Polar Bears embarked on a road trip. Bowdoin’s all-female a cappella group, Miscellania, was on its way to perform at the glamorous Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
The Aux Cord
The Aux Cord Playlist: hot takes on hot tracks
Every 2 weeks, The Aux Cord team adds some of music’s best new tracks to a playlist on Spotify. This week, we take a closer look at some of the best songs released in recent weeks.
Dance
Bowdoin dancers debut new duet at Portland dance month
For two student artists, their latest show was an exercise in vulnerability. Exploring movement and meaning, Lucia Gagliardone ’20 and Felicia Wang ’20 were two of eight college students to perform in a works-in-progress show for Portland Dance Month on November 4.
‘Unsilenced:’ confronting the weight of language
In order to fully understand a person, you need to dig—a theme that Arah Kang ’19 explores, in the exhibition “Unsilenced,” located in Lamarche Gallery in David Saul Smith Union. The show visually explores the complexities of personhood by juxtaposing the weight of biased phrases with pictures of students expressing what makes them whole and happy.
Museum
Dan Dowd: security officer makes art from discarded materials
Frequent visitors to the Bowdoin College Museum of Art recognize Dan Dowd as a familiar face. Over a decade long career as a museum security officer, his standing silhouette has become one with the pristine gallery walls, a guardian figure quietly watching over the collection.
Theater
Chekhov’s ‘Three Sisters’: dreams and despair through the lens of ordinary life
Laden with what-ifs, Anton Chekhov’s “Three Sisters” comes to vivid, aching life in Wish Theater under the direction of Associate Professor of Theater Abigail Killeen. On a set fantastic in color and intricacy, the interwoven lives of three sisters and their loved ones unfold as time races by.
Books
Sergio Chejfec comments on social unrest through postcards
Alternating between English and Spanish, past and present, reality and fiction, Sergio Chejfec came to Bowdoin on Monday to read and discuss his essay “The Revenge of the Idyllic.” A Guggenheim Fellow and distinguished writer in residence at NYU’s MFA in Spanish program, Chejfec has published a number of short stories, essays and books which have since been translated into various languages.
Museum
From Mosul to Maine: Record-shattering auction sale sheds light on College’s ancient Assyrian reliefs
The 3,000-year-old stone slabs sit in silence, mostly. Weighing in at almost 2,000 pounds each, it took a lot to get them here—a boat ride down the Tigris to Basra, a skip over to Bombay, then, via ship, onward to Brunswick, Maine.
The Aux Cord
The Live Playlist highlights original music
Bowdoin’s music scene is ever-changing, but this year is seeing a cosmic shift. While bands performing pop covers continue to dominate College House parties, there is a shift occurring in dorm room studios, low key listening events and online streaming platforms.
The Aux Cord
Thom Yorke creates a haunting atmosphere with his ‘Suspiria’ soundtrack
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and what better way to celebrate it than by listening to some spooky music? Thom Yorke’s new album “Suspiria” is a soundtrack for the 2018 movie of the same title, a remake of a classic Italian horror movie.
Film Screening
Dissecting lies and truth with actor Aurélian Recoing
Laurent Cantet’s 2001 prize-winning film, “Time Out,” opens with a shot of Vincent—the film’s protagonist—asleep in a car. The audience quickly learns that Vincent, portrayed by Aurélien Recoing, has lost his job and is lying to his family about having found a new one in Geneva.
Visual Arts
‘Heavy Water:’ an alternative history of Savannah River
When visitors walk into the exhibition “Heavy Water” in the Telfair Museum in Savannah, Georgia, they are absorbed in a lush soundscape, accompanied by screens depicting wild dogs weaving through the woods. The question that follows is: what am I looking at?
Books
Author Chang-rae Lee tells tale of dystopian society in latest book
The story of a community of people raising fish in small, pristine glass tanks in dystopian America might seem far removed from reality. Chang-rae Lee revealed the story’s real-life origins as part of the Alpha Delta Phi Society visiting writer series, in a Tuesday night reading of his most recent book “On Such a Full Sea.” Lee is an English professor at Stanford University and has published numerous short stories and novels, including “Native Speaker,” “A Gesture Life,” “Aloft,” “The Surrendered” and “On Such a Full Sea,” which was published in 2014.
Visual Arts
Challenging confines of the frame with Sascha Braunig
Coiling forms, spatial fantasies and abstracted bodies—boundaries between the real and the imagined become indistinguishable in the vibrant canvases and eerie motifs of Sascha Braunig’s work. Originally from Canada, the Portland-based artist came to Edwards Center for Art and Dance on Tuesday afternoon, decoding her pictorial puzzles through a glimpse into her creative evolution.
Portrait of an Artist
Portrait of an Artist: Dixon ’21 reflects on life in rap
Jaden Dixon ’21 is an artist and producer from Davenport, FL. He recently released his first EP, “Moving Forward,” as well as his first music video for the track, “Wait Up.” Jaden’s music is featured on all major streaming platforms.
Theater
Snapshots of intimate encounters in ‘Heart of the City’
The hustle and bustle of New York City comes alive on stage to the familiar sound of a subway announcement. Complete with towering skyscrapers, dreamers and cynics, hurrying high-heels along congested sidewalk, the city was reimagined on stage at Pickard Theater last weekend in Masque and Gown’s fall production, “Heart of the City,” written by Eric Lane.
Visual Arts
Frank Mauceri: playing with perspectives in art
Black and white lines converge and juxtapose to form patterns—chaotic, dynamic and full of movement; the artwork of Frank Mauceri, senior lecturer in music, presents a touch of novelty and surprise. Viewers would never guess that behind the complex mark-making of Mauceri’s artwork lie algorithms generated by careful computer programming.
Music
Alana Morrison ’20 launches new album ‘Oh Boy’
Sitting in 24 College Street, the atmosphere is electric. Alana Morrison ’20, a model-turned-singer, taps the microphone, and it echoes throughout the room. Other members of Alana’s team test background beats from the computer set up in front of rows of empty chairs.
Books
Author Bernhard Schlink on historical entanglement
The clock ticked slowly past seven p.m.—when the event was scheduled to start. Amidst struggles to get the microphone functioning for the evening, Bernhard Schlink was prepared to go on. He called for the crowd to gather forth.
Visual Arts
Fall Art Show to showcase student creativity at Ladd
Members of the Bowdoin Art Society have studied masterpieces of art in the context of the classroom, and now that cultivated lens is turned towards work of a slightly different nature, as student curators transform Ladd House with art created by their peers.
The Aux Cord
Mixed feelings on MisterWives
I showed up to the show at 10 p.m. on the dot, hoping to catch the opener. When I arrived, there were give or take, 30 people there. The opener, Sweet Anne and the Milkmen, played a fun set, but there were clear issues with the acoustics immediately.
The Aux Cord
Weezy does Weezy on new album ‘Tha Carter V’
Remember when Kobe Bryant tweeted about “Carter V season?” Neither do we. It was part of a promotional campaign back in 2014, when “Tha Carter V” was originally set to release that May. Lil Wayne promised the album three more times in 2014, all in vain due to legal battles with Cash Money Records.
Visual Arts
Roux Center scholar to integrate art and science at Bowdoin
Seductive, playful, spectacle—these are words artist Stephanie Rothenberg uses to describe her work. As the inaugural Roux Scholar, she will work with a group of students to create a Bowdoin-specific installation of that nature later this year.
Live Music
MisterWives rolls into Bowdoin with flare
The grand finale of the suite of events celebrating the opening of the Roux Center will be a concert by indie pop band MisterWives in Morrell Gymnasium tonight. As an email from President Clayton Rose noted, the concert was suggested by David and Barbara Roux as a fun way to close out the week’s celebrations.
Visual Arts
Landscape painter Joel Babb explores his Renaissance
On October 3, Joel Babb, a renowned landscape painter based in Sumner, Maine, presented his art and creative process in the Edwards Center for Art and Dance. Referencing Roman monuments and Baroque landscapes, he guided his audience through his decades-long journey in capturing nature and culture.
Portrait of an Artist
Portrait of an Artist: ‘Love Theories’ ponders relationships
Ben Painter ’19 and Meghan Parsons ’19 collaborated on a photography project titled “Love Theories.” Recipients of the Richard P. Martel Jr. Memorial Prize from the Visual Arts department, their work has been previously featured in the Annual Maine Photography Show as well as a pop-up show at Frontier Cafe and Cinema.
The Aux Cord
Noname finds her own space
Noname doesn’t need your labels. In the years since her breakout mixtape Telefone, she’s been called “the anti-Cardi B” and “the female Kendrick” by fans eagerly awaiting a second project. While her soft spokenness suggests the former and her lyricial knack the latter, she detests both of these backhanded compliments, telling the Fader, “I’m just Fatimah.” Some already know Fatimah (better known by her stage name Noname) from her stand out features on Chance the Rapper’s early material, or her solo work as Noname on Telefone, a brilliantly warm tape about love, loss and joy in her home Chicago.
The Aux Cord
On Brockhampton’s ‘Iridescence’
My 17th birthday was on a Friday. I woke up to some lovely cards from my family, happy birthday messages from friends and a couple posts on Facebook. I went to school. Around early afternoon, an hour or so before classes let out, I received a text from a friend of mine: “Dude listen to this shit now, it’s insane.” I went into the bathroom, turned my earbuds up, and listened to “HEAT” by Brockhampton (which I soon discovered had no relationship to the Hamptons), off of an album called SATURATION.
Portrait of an Artist
Portrait of an Artist: Farradas ’19 redefines womanhood
Camille Farradas is a member of the Bowdoin Class of 2019 and a visual arts major. She received two Bowdoin grants to work on her art this past summer and will be featured in the Kaempfer Grant show on October 10.
Museum
Line and sound converge in immersive installation
Like undulating ripples of water swept by a lingering breeze, swirls of black lines converge and disperse in linn meyers’ site-specific drawing “Let’s Get Lost.” Complemented by an interactive sound installation “Listening Glass” by Rebecca Bray, James Bigbee Garver and Josh Knowles, the piece transforms the Walker Gallery at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art into a multi-sensory metaphor for artistic process, ephemerality and time.
Museum
Museum’s new art historian bridges disciplines
Paintings and artifacts are not the only treasures one can find in the Bowdoin College Museum of Art (BCMA). Behind the exhibition walls, a passionate team of scholars and creators embody the institution’s wealth of culture, resource and opportunity.
Theater
‘Geel:’ interactive performance opens mind and body
The lights go down, and the whole room is black. Walls, floor, ceiling—everything black. A figure, dressed (you guessed it) in black, emerges from the right, singing in Afrikaans. After nearly 90 minutes of intense interaction and emotional performance, the theater will return to this: everything black.
Museum
‘In the Round:’ a new angle for approaching ancient art
When we think of art museums, an image of lonesome paintings hanging on pristine, white walls often comes to mind. However, Associate Professor of Classics and Curator for the Ancient Collection James Higginbotham challenges this conventional approach in the new exhibit on display at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, “In the Round.” “We have a tendency in the modern era to relegate art to the walls.
Visual Arts
Evelyn Beliveau explores presence in portraiture
Upon walking into the Lamarche Gallery in David Saul Smith Union, it’s hard to not be immediately absorbed by the creative world of Evelyn Beliveau ’19. Titled “Presence,” the exhibit is filled with charcoal and pastel portraits, sculptures and line drawings that explore the dynamism of color and form.
Books
Author Heather Abel discusses inspiration, politics and disillusionment
Rural Colorado becomes the backdrop for a new kind of utopia in veteran journalist Heather Abel’s first novel, “The Optimistic Decade,” which delves into themes of disillusionment and idealism. On Thursday evening, Abel came to campus to read from the novel and discuss her inspiration, politics and Judaism.
The Aux Cord
Four songs to celebrate the lasting legacy of Mac Miller
To read more about Mac Miller’s personal journey, click here. We’ve grown up with Mac Miller. From his first mixtapes in 2009 until just last week, late teens and 20-somethings have watched Mac grow from a middle school frat rap sensation into a dedicated connoisseur of hip-hop with a passion for experimentation, jazz and introspection.
Portrait of an Artist
Portrait of an Artist: two women on jazz at Bowdoin
Ariana Smith ’21 and Flora Hamilton ’21, members of the Bowdoin jazz program, are creative partners in writing and performing original music on campus. Smith is a singer-songwriter, and Hamilton is a jazz pianist. The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Museum
‘A Handled History:’ five centuries displayed through medals
Political propaganda, classical tales and five centuries of history are on view at the student-curated exhibition “A Handled History,” showcasing the prestigious Molinari medals collection. Not to be underestimated for their intimate scale, the selection on display is a compact cultural testament to object-collecting and materiality.
Museum
Looking through the lens of Winslow Homer
For the last 27 years of his career, the 19th-century artist Winslow Homer lived and worked amongst the jagged outcrops and tempestuous tides of Prouts Neck, Maine. The new exhibition at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art, “Winslow Homer and the Camera: Photography and the Art of Painting,” reshapes visitors’ understanding of the iconic American painter.
Writing
Bolster ’19 writes subversive animations for the screen
Callye Bolster ’19 spent her summer following four young recent college graduates as they travel in a van across the country—from Maine to Los Angeles—through the vehicle of her imagination. In her eight-episode animated series, “Vanity,” Bolster brings to life four protagonists who are traveling to a Hollywood audition, engaging with themes of fame, politics and gender.
Brunswick
Mix up your day at the Grand Orange Arts Center
The Grand Orange Arts Center might be just the place for students looking for a way to explore their artistic sides off campus. Leslie Beattie opened the new studio space in the vacant apartment above her art supply store, The Mix, on Maine Street this summer.
Theater
Preview: ‘Journey to the Center of the Stage’
At most shows, audiences see what is on stage but not how it gets there. In his latest work, Professor of Theater Davis Robinson inverts this model, showcasing everything else that might happen just a bit offstage.
Film
‘Call Me by Your Name:’ deconstructing the universal utopia
Fruit always ripe, gentle chords on the guitar, dancing to The Psychedelic Furs and teenage bodies glistening under the Mediterranean sun—vivid colors and ’80s music set the scene for the sensual gay romance of “Call Me by Your Name.” However, in his Monday night lecture, Associate Professor of Italian and Cinema Studies at University of Oregon Sergio Rigoletto unearthed the hidden symbolism beneath the film’s beautiful imagery, haunting the picture-perfect love story.
Alumni
Alums’ original musical to open in New York
Olivia Atwood ’17 and Maggie Seymour ’16 learned plenty at Bowdoin, but they never nailed down the details of what happened during the Watergate scandal. That absence of knowledge is exactly the premise of the alums’ original musical, “Dickie in the House,” which premieres at the Peoples Improv Theater (PIT) in New York on Thursday.
Performance Art
Yoo ’18 caps Bowdoin career with ‘Puberty II’
As she prepares to graduate in a few weeks, senior Jae-Yeon Yoo will present the final incarnation of her capstone project “Puberty II,” a musical centered on the experiences of three fictional Asian-American women at a predominantly white liberal arts college, in Studzinski Recital Hall at 7 p.m.
Dance
Queer choreography takes center stage in Spring Dance Concert
In preparation for the Spring Dance Concert, the Department of Theater and Dance enlisted change agent Katy Pyle as guest choreographer. Though the annual concert typically only showcases the work of the department’s students and faculty, this year, Pyle collaborated on the performance with faculty choreographers Aretha Aoki, Gwyneth Jones and Vanessa Anspaugh.
A Cappella
Miscellania to appear on TV show ‘Sing That Thing!’
Life imitates art. Or rather, for Miscellania, life just might imitate the hit 2012 movie “Pitch Perfect.” The group, Bowdoin’s only exclusively female a cappella group, will appear on the Boston television show “Sing That Thing!” tonight at 8 p.m.
Portrait of an Artist
Portrait of an Artist: Jaegerman ’16 blends 2D and 3D
Isaac Jaegerman is a 2016 Bowdoin graduate who majored in visual arts. He was recently selected as one of 10 Emerging New England Artists by Art New England magazine and currently works as a technician in the visual arts department.
On PolarFlix
On PolarFlix: ‘The Wolf of Wall Street’ delivers
Welcome to the fifth and final week (for the year) of On PolarFlix, a column meant to do exactly what it sounds like: review films on Bowdoin Student Government (BSG)’s movie streaming service, PolarFlix. This week, we are reviewing Martin Scorsese’s “The Wolf of Wall Street” (2013).
On PolarFlix
On PolarFlix: Make your Ivies like “Project X”
Welcome to the fourth week of On PolarFlix, a column meant to do exactly what it sounds like: review films on Bowdoin Student Government’s movie streaming service, PolarFlix. Given that (if you haven’t heard) it’s Ivies week, we’re reviewing a true party film: “Project X” (2012).
Music
A strong start: Gingersnap to open Ivies
Although the student band Gingersnap is relatively new to the Bowdoin music scene, it is already leaving its mark on campus. Last week, the group won first place for its performance at Battle of the Bands—only its second performance together—and earned the spot as the opening act for D.R.A.M.
Theater
Senior studio projects reimagine theater
Beginning this week, the Department of Theater and Dance will present a selection of senior studio projects in Memorial Hall’s Wish Theater and in other spaces across campus. Featuring original works, improvisation and new arrangements, the series will highlight the talents of each student in the culmination of their theatrical careers at Bowdoin.