Frank Ocean is known as one of the most frustratingly reclusive artists today. After releasing the critically-acclaimed “Channel Orange” in 2012, the Odd Future singer quickly became one of the biggest names in R&B. Fans anticipated a second album after an announcement from Ocean in 2013. However, the album — or rather albums — would not arrive until 2016. Despite the successes of “Endless and Blonde,” fans were annoyed at the four-year gap between releases with no solo work in between.
The kind of films shown in smaller local movie theaters such as Amherst Cinema possess a unique and identifiable mood to them. True, there is remarkable diversity in both content and origin not found in the box offices, but such an abundance of life is communicated in an equally rarified manner. The films almost always nibble at life, reluctant to chow down upon any grand sweeping statements about society or the universe.
The recently-founded Reproduction Justice Aliance is organizing a 5K trail run or walk here at Amherst to raise funds for the “Prison Birth Project.” The PBP, based in Holyoke, supports and educates formerly incarcerated mothers and “trans*” parents about reproductive justice and community organizing regarding the intersections between parenting and the criminal justice system. Sam O’ Brien ’18 and Kamini Ramlakhan ’17, two staff members at the Women’s and Gender Center, founded the RJA in the wake of the new presidential administration.
I sat down with Helena Burgueño ’19 who organized the Amherst ChalkWalk — an artistic, community-wide event taking place on downtown Amherst sidewalks this Saturday, April 29.
Abstract artwork boils an idea, a thought or an emotion down to its basic essence. But its universal aspect can also be frustrating because it lacks individuality, an intimacy that brings one closer to the artist. Abstraction generalizes emotion, simplifying it to a universally shared kernel. But no one experiences their sorrows and blisses the same way. To generalize the emotional experience is to make it recognizable to everyone but not belong fully to any particular person.
Following a leadership transition of the college-affiliated Book & Plow Farm from founders Pete McLean and Tobin Porter-Brown to former assistant manager Maida Ives at the end of last semester, the farm has undergone some changes and has new plans for the future.
The changes and transition to “Book & Plow 2.0,” along with letters outlining the farm’s previous history and future goals by Tobin, Porter-Brown, Ives and Director of Sustainability Laura Draucker, were published on the college’s website.
Katia Perea gave a talk titled “Girl Cartoons, Bronies and the Princess Paradox” on Thursday, April 20 in the Friedmann Room, discussing the ways in which both classic and contemporary cartoons reinforce the gender binary.
A professor of sociology at Kingsborough Community College, part of the City University of New York system, Perea received her Ph.D. in sociology from the New School for Social Research. Her talk was sponsored by the Women’s and Gender Center.
