Arts & Culture

Anniversary of Surrealism 

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A hundred years ago, in a world brewing with change, an idea emerged from the literary and artistic movement of the 1920s. The publication of André Breton’s Surrealist Manifesto in 1924 introduced groundbreaking ideas that challenged conventional notions of reality.

Arts & Culture

Electric Buffalo Records Creates a Home for Campus Musicians

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Every gig is an opportunity. If Alex Korner hadn’t asked his friends Mick Jagger, Ian Stewart, Keith Richards and Brian Jones to fill in for his band’s Thursday night gig at the Marquee Club in 1962, the world might have never seen The Rolling Stones. On a more recent Thursday night in 2024, up-and-coming student artists took to the stage at the Electric Buffalo Records “70s Night” open mic. Bell-bottoms, dusty records, colorful strobe lighting, and an array of extreme talent created an ambiance presumably similar to the Marquee, or one of other venues where rock and roll legends got their starts. As an entirely student-run record label and performance venue under the umbrella of Cornell Media Guild, Electric Buffalo Records (EBR) is a creative hub for all student musicians.

Arts & Culture

Art in a Digital Age: A Walk Through a ‘Winter in Paradise’

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Many of our mental schemas of the fine arts may resoundingly contrast with our mental images of technology. Art is an emotional visual expression through painting or sculpture, while technology is emotionally neutral, aimed at facilitating our daily tasks and advancing human society. To many of us, the merging of modern technology and art is highly unorthodox. Art is a mere pastime, while technology drives human civilization’s progress. I mean, we very well might be wasting $400,000 on our Cornell degrees to end up unemployed at the hands of AI.

Arts & Culture

Petrichor Brings an Elusive and Entrancing Take on Love

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The definition of petrichor is “a distinctive, earthy, usually pleasant odor that is associated with rainfall especially when following a warm, dry period.” 070 Shake spells her own meaning of Petrichor with her most recent album: She bathes in the lush bass tones of a new kind of rain, a new day after a long night out. 

Following her 2022 sophomore album You Can’t Kill Me, Petrichor takes a daunting yet

rejuvenating new look at what love is. Many of the songs in the collection emerge from the witching hours, where 070 Shake thrives in concocting reflective spells. On “Sin,” the opening track, smooth, layered vocals give way to the spacy outro: “chasing after waters, chase the moonlight.” Listeners are sure to be reminded of the  2019 track “Under The Moon” featured on her debut album Modus Vivendi; as long she’s been performing as 070 Shake, Danielle Balbuena has been a creature of the night. As this is the first album Balbuena has released since the beginning of her celebrity relationship with Lily-Rose Depp, Petrichor’s elusive, supernatural takes on love are fitting. In “Pieces of You,” Balbuena infuses misery and wonder within the discovery of another.

Arts & Culture

How ‘Dancing with the Stars’ Balances Its Legacy with Today’s Television Landscape

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The sight of a bedazzled ankle monitor on-screen during the Season 33 premiere of Dancing with the Stars perfectly encapsulated the series for me: flashy, innovative and compellingly self-aware. In today’s on-demand and streaming-dominated world, the live competitive reality show Dancing with the Stars has impressively managed to remain culturally relevant while maintaining its core identity. The show’s celebration of its 500th episode last week, complete with nostalgic reinventions of past show dances and appearances by former cast members, demonstrated its enduring appeal. However, controversial moves like casting con artist Anna Delvey, the aforementioned ankle monitor wearer, as a “star” make me question how far the series will go to captivate viewers. 

In my early days of watching Dancing with the Stars, I was completely captivated by the performances. I loved the spectacle of celebrities competing with their professional dance partners for the coveted Mirrorball Trophy, and the stars’ backstories and the show’s strategies were far from my priorities.

Arts & Culture

Student Artist Spotlight: Alexa Miller

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On Nov. 15, Alexa Miller ’25, a BFA student from Long Island, brought me to her studio in Tjaden Hall to talk about her art. From the moment I stepped into her domain, the walls and floor littered with brightly colored, eye-catching pieces, I was in awe of Miller’s command of color and material. We sat down and she told me about her artistic background, her evolution since coming to Cornell, and how art connects her to her heritage. Miller identified her kindergarten years as the catalyst for her creativity.

Arts & Culture

From Laughter to Reflection: How ‘Yellow Face’ Confronts Representation

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David Henry Hwang’s Yellow Face is a masterpiece that masterfully combines sharp humor with profound introspection. The play’s revival at the Todd Haimes Theatre is a powerful reminder of the importance of spotlighting diverse narratives over the allure of formulaic theater that Peter Brooke would call “deadly.”

Upon entering the theater, I was immediately struck by the sight of a predominantly Asian audience, a testament to the production’s resonance. The thematic core of Yellow Face lies in its “unreliable memoir” format that blurs the lines between autobiography and fiction, allowing Hwang to critique cultural appropriation, racial identity and the media’s role in mongering fear towards immigrant communities. To cement the distance between truth and fiction, Hwang names the character meant to represent himself as DHH. The satire opens with the notorious Miss Saigon casting controversy of 1990, when British actor Jonathan Pryce, a white man, was cast as the Eurasian Engineer in the musical’s Broadway transfer.

Arts & Culture

Cosa Nuestra by Rauw Alejandro: A Powerful Journey Through Time

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Two weeks ago, I reviewed the highly anticipated CHROMAKOPIA album by experimental hip-hop icon Tyler, the Creator. This week, the spotlight is on an artist of similar scale, but whose audience is largely concentrated in Latin America: Rauw Alejandro. The Puerto Rican artist has made his mark in the music industry by refusing to conform to traditional musical expectations. He effortlessly transcends musical genres, employing everything from folkloric beats to electronic sound effects within individual albums. I urge my readers, whether you’re a superfan of boricua tunes or just someone vaguely interested in Latin music, to give Alejandro’s Cosa Nuestra — meaning “our thing” — his newest album and the peak of his artistic creativity, a listen. 

The album’s namesake opener samples “Qué lío,” a song off of one of Alejandro’s favorite albums from which he took great inspiration, Cosa Nuestra by Hectór Lavoe and Willie Colón. This old Puerto Rican salsa album embodies colorful sounds and folkloric beats in a direct contrast to the trap and reggaetón that currently dominates the island’s music scene.