‘1989 Taylor’s Version’ Collaborator Predictions

With the highly anticipated release of 1989 Taylor’s Version only a little over a month away, countless theories about potential featured artists have been circulating. Unlike  previous albums, 1989 TV has an air of mystery surrounding the featured singers. For Red TV, Ed Sheeran and Gary Lightbody were obvious choices (although Phoebe Bridgers and Chris Stapleton were also included), and even for Speak Now TV, many fans were able to predict Hayley Williams and Fallout Boy. However, Taylor has recently been seen interacting with so many prominent artists that it is becoming increasingly difficult to tell the signal from the noise. For a while, fans speculated that Swift’s most recent ex, Matty Healey, would be featured, but Swift’s representatives have since shut this theory down, much to the relief of most of her following.

Big Red’s Next Icon: After Six

Cornell recently held its annual Big Red Icon to determine which student band will get to play on Slope Day as an opener. I spoke with Josh Sokol, the saxophonist of this year’s winning band After Six, about their musical style and what makes them unique. 

The Sun: How would you describe the type of music that After Six makes? Josh Sokol: I feel like we have a diverse style. We also change what we’re going for depending on the event, but we keep it centered around what After Six is. A mix between neo soul, funk and hip hop.

The 2023 Academy Awards Return to the Mellow Ceremony We Know Them As

The 2023 Academy Awards marked the 95th anniversary of the annual award ceremony, and unlike last year, the night was calm and drama-free. The previous year’s ceremony gained attention for the “slap heard around the world” when Will Smith, who won “Best Actor” later that night, slapped actor and comedian Chris Rock on stage while he was presenting an award. This year’s Oscars were much more mellow, with celebrities on their best behavior and no real surprises as far as who took home awards and who left empty-handed. Of course, host Jimmy Kimmel made a few references to last year’s drama in his opening monologue, but luckily, nothing like that incident was seen this year. Instead of being overshadowed by scandal, this year’s ceremony celebrated some deserving and historic wins across all categories.

Conversation with a Curator: The Cornell Arts Biennial

Futurity — an alluring and daunting prospect — requires us to orient ourselves toward the unexpected and brace for new events, experiences and sensations. It was an exciting year in art, and, importantly, art at Cornell was no exception. Among the most memorable shows was the 2022 Cornell Arts Biennial, a selection of installations and exhibitions featuring wide-ranging artistic mediums and a number of artists and collectives. The works powerfully reflected on eras current and future, transforming futurity into art with a spirit of collaboration and optimism. Professor Timothy Murray, Department of Comparative Literature and Literatures in English and Director of the Cornell Council for the Arts, was the curator of the 2022 Cornell Arts Biennial.

2022’s Llhuros Symposium to Honor Artist and Cornell Professor

The Llhuros Project will hold an online symposium in honor of the 50th anniversary of the debut of artist and Cornell professor Norman Daly’s multimedia project “The Civilization of Llhuros” on Oct. 8 at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. “Llhuros Symposium 2022 will be a one-day symposium marking the 50th anniversary of ‘The Civilization of Llhuros,’ first presented at the Andrew D. White Museum of Art, at Cornell University in 1972,” the project explained in a press release shared with the Cornell Daily Sun. “Created by long-time Cornell University art professor Norman Daly, ‘The Civilization of Llhuros’ is recognized as the first multimedia work of archeological fiction.”

According to the Llhuros website, Norman Daly was born in Pittsburgh and joined the Department of Art at Cornell in 1942, simultaneously embarking on a successful career as an artist. He created “The Civilization of Llhuros” as a multimedia installation and exhibition composed of artifacts discovered from the titular fictional civilization along with an accompanying set of explanatory texts and commentary.

A Goldfinch-Eye View on “Ammons & The Falls” 

Located in an unobtrusive part of the bridge, near the end towards North Campus, the display featured a brief biography of Ammons himself framed by a photo of the falls in winter, while one of them in a warmer season provided a backdrop for the poem, “Triphammer Bridge,” which Gilbert read aloud.