Category: Culture Corner

Culture Corner

Culture Corner – June 2014

Geoff W

2014 06-15 Finding Viviane MaierAlthough I skipped last month, this month’s culture explorations definitely make up for it. From my NYC trip which I wrote about last week and you’ll see a lot of pictures of below to my deCordova trip earlier this week and more I have planned over the next few days/weeks.

I’m not going to write much about the photo sets other than where they’re from and first impressions of the museums/experiences. I probably should’ve written this last week when it was all still fresh, but oh well. This first picture is of the postcard and ticket stub from the documentary Finding Vivian Maier. I’ve wanted to see this film for AGES and was very glad that the IFC was still showing it. It was worth every penny and made me even more excited about her as an artist. If you don’t know her story or her photographs I definitely recommend reading more about her above or at the Wikipedia page.

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Culture Corner

Culture Corner – April 2014

Geoff W

 

2014 03-28 When is it Art?Most of this post will be about my awesome Nerd Weekend with Pax East 2014 and Captain America, but to start I’ll pretend to be much artsier than I really am.

If you’ve followed this blog for a while you know I’m obsessed with miniature street art. More recently I’ve been focusing on text and wondering whether text is art and if not where do they merge/diverge. I’m guessing this comes from starting to listen to the 99% Invisible podcasts a few weeks ago. A few weeks before I started listening I had to go to Lowell, MA for the a day long conference (which was actually a lot of fun) and one of the first things I noticed in this former industrial town was all of the text: old industrial signs, old advertisements, building/company sings and street signs. And then I just happened to look down at the cross walk (I was looking for the ridged spinning thing for blind people) and I noticed the above text. And I just thought it was kind of cool and even though it’s totally practical, it’s become a part of public space and to me is a type of art! And now for the nerdiness!

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Culture Corner

Culture Corner – March 2014

Geoff W

If I thought last month was Cultural, this month was an explosion. Seriously I started the day after I posted the February Culture Corner and haven’t stopped. From Oscar movies and video games to live theater and seeing podcasts live, you name it and it feels like I did it! At the very least look at the pictures and if you see something cool read that paragraph, sorry the post is so long! I’m still exhausted from the month.

2014 02-08 The OscarsI’m not sure why I didn’t include my visit to the movies to see August: Osage County in last months’ blog post, perhaps because I was momentarily obsessed with Frozen? Either way it worked out as I saw The Dallas Buyers Club the weekend after that posted. And what do they all have in common? The Oscars! I so rarely see Oscar nominated films, but these three I knew I wanted to see and I’m so glad I did. Both August: Osage County and The Dallas Buyers Club left me emotionally drained, but they are definitely worth seeing. I still can’t get over how much weight Jared Leto and Matthew McConaughey lost for the films! And what was the most interesting part of the film is that it shows a part of the AIDS epidemic that isn’t often highlighted.

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Culture Corner

Culture Corner – February 2014

Geoff W

As promised I have a lot to talk about this month and I’m still excited about next month’s culture corner knowing what’s coming! This past month has been a busy month culturally speaking from an awesome winery tour and tasting to another theater production and a book talk to a sing-a-long movie I did so much. So onward!

2014 01-24 Hairspray @ Wheelock Family Theatre

To start the month off (not really), but culturally speaking, I went to the Wheelock Family Theatre production of Hairspray and it was fantastic! I usually go opening night as I work for the school and get free/discounted tickets. From the opening number to the closing the entire show kept the audience (me) completely engaged. Even though I felt that Jenna Lea Scott did a great job as Tracy Turnblad, I felt that Jennifer Beth Glick, as Penny Pingleton upstaged her and everyone else in the production. From the way she chewed her gum to the interactions with Seaweed I couldn’t take my eyes off her, she is one of those actors that acts the entire time they’re on stage even when they’re in the background (similar to Celie from The Color Purple in last month’s Culture Corner).

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Culture Corner

Culture Corner – January 2014

Geoff W

2013 12-14 MFA Boston - Fired Earth, Woven Bamboo ExhibitWhere to start with this!? Like with my Work Out Wednesdays and Classics Club memes, I haven’t done a Culture Corner since October. Now this doesn’t mean I haven’t done anything cultural, it just means I needed a break and so took one. However, I am DEFINITELY ready to start writing about my myriad Cultural experiences!

The only real thing you missed over those months was I went to see an awesome exhibit, Fired Earth, Woven Bamboo, at the MFA. The way modern artists use these traditional materials was fascinating and stunningly beautiful. The basket is a woven bamboo basket and I definitely encourage you to click the earlier link to look at a few of the other beautiful bamboo and stone works.

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