Culture

Culture

UNM's Arita porcelain studio honors process and history

Maddie Pukite | March 20

  Students at the Arita Porcelain Studio, located in the art annex at the University of New Mexico, are unique in their study of the traditional 400-year-old Japanese art of Arita porcelain; UNM is the only university in the United States with faculty authorized to instruct in this art form outside of Japan. Arita porcelain is moreso about the practice and tradition that goes into the process rather than the final product, according to Kathy Cyman, the professor of practice who leads the program. Arita porcelain is a practice out of Arita, Japan, a town in the Saga prefecture, where Izumiyama Kaolin Quarry was founded, the first source in Japan for the raw material that goes into making porcelain clay. 

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Culture

Magic: The Gathering Club offers unique gaming experience to UNM students

Elizabeth Secor | March 20

  On Monday evenings from 5-10 p.m., University of New Mexico students can immerse themselves in a different magical world at “Magic: The Gathering Club,” which focuses on building a community at UNM centered around the card game. “Magic: The Gathering” is a collectable trading card game by Wizards of the Coast built around deck-building, where players can cast spells and summon different creatures to try to eliminate their opponents, according to Daniel Kinghorn, club member. “There are many different ways to play, but they all allow a lot of creativity to build decks that are fun and exciting for all kinds of players,” Kinghorn wrote to the Daily Lobo. “It’s one of the only places where 15 birds can fight an eldritch monster and win.”

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Culture

UNM alum celebrates home and family in solo art exhibition

Zara Roy | March 20

  On Tuesday, March 21, “Poems From Kay Pacha,” a solo exhibition from University on New Mexico alumnus Rosalba Breazeale, will open at the Strata Gallery in Santa Fe. The show centers around the idea of homeland; Breazeale pulled from their own identity as a member of the Ashkenazi and Peruvian diasporas, as well as their journey in finding a sense of home in Albuquerque. “‘Poems from Kay Pacha’ is a collaboration between my body and my plant relative,” Breazeale said. “Since moving to Albuquerque, I’ve been trying to establish more of a sense of home for myself, so in order to become more rooted in this place, things like getting to know the lands and things like foraging respectfully have been really important for me.”

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Culture

REVIEW: 100 gecs are slimier and sillier than ever on latest album ‘10,000 gecs’

John Scott | March 20

  Oh, how we’ve missed you, 100 gecs. If you’ve been present in the online sphere since the duo, made up of Laura Les and Dylan Brady, released their first single, you’ve probably had at least one conversation with friends about whether the pair’s music is genuinely good or just a grating, mildly funny joke. Regardless, the group’s latest outing “10,000 gecs” proves that they’re here to stay, retaining the skilled production and irreverent self-awareness that made their debut so captivating while proving to have even more tricks up their sleeve.

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Culture

REVIEW: ‘In the Camp of Angels of Freedom’ is a passionate, but messy read

Addison Key | March 20

  In Arlene Goldbard’s book, “In the Camp of Angels of Freedom,” published on Jan, 24,, Goldbard asks her readers: what does it mean to be educated? In her book, she mixes personal narrative, political observation and portrait paintings; the combination of these highlights how her ideas of education have shifted and formed through personal experience; however, the final product is murky. The book has eleven essays, each focusing on one of her angels. Goldbard explains that her concept of angels comes from the Hebrew word “malakhim,” which, in Jewish mysticism, “are messengers between worlds, translating spiritual energy from the highest realms to the earth bound,” according to the book. Goldbard organizes her angels in a camp, in which the angels communicate a singular message that embodies a specific aspect of her personal ideology. 

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Culture

OPINION: Bring mess back to set design

Spenser Willden | March 9

  There’s a certain lifeless element to the modern blockbuster that’s difficult to pin down. Culprit not discussed often enough are the set designers and dressers; when done well, their work lends a deeper and more nuanced understanding to the characters and themes. When done poorly, it can kill a film. Though our on screen characters are hotter than ever, there’s an increased sterility in the way they move through their worlds; their arcs feel flat, their emotional situations contrived and their relationships to each other underdeveloped. Some of these issues originate from the performers themselves, but even more from the directors, screenwriters and producers who push out low-quality schlock with little regard for culture or art. There’s no question about it; something is rotten in the state of the blockbuster.

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Culture

Marginalized communities face double standards, stereotyping through appropriation

Sierra Martinez | March 7

 As an ever-changing industry, hairstyles, clothing and makeup techniques go in and out of style in the blink of an eye. Though it may seem as if trends are born out of thin air, they are often born of the appropriation of styles from marginalized communities toward the creation of mainstream fashion. 

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Culture

OPINION: How to be an ethical thrifter

Jordyn Bachmann | March 6

  The past decade has seen a significant uptick in the popularity of secondhand shopping. Thrift stores have seen more traffic than ever due to an increase in trendiness and a decrease in the taboo of buying used, according to NPR. Run-of-the-mill thrift stores are now seeing a new generation of shoppers with different ways of thrifting, and the industry is having to shift in response. According to ThredUp’s Resale Market and Trend Report, the secondhand resale market saw an uptick of 58% in 2021, meaning supply and demand, as well as inflation, have caused these “shifts” to affect a good portion of low-income households.

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Culture

ABQ Street Meet fosters creativity and community

Zara Roy | March 6

  Since 2018, Street Meet New Mexico has been an avenue for local creatives to build connections and strengthen both their professional lives and community ties. Street Meet is a monthly scheduled meet-up in which local models, photographers and cosplayers — hobbyists and professionals alike — come together to take photos. The Albuquerque event was first started by former University of New Mexico student Megan Kamauoha as part of the larger Street Meet collective, which exists in several other cities including Los Angeles and Seattle.

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Culture

OPINION: Sensory-sensitive and style-conscious fashion: a guide

Detroit Kallunki | March 6

  Tactile sensitivity associated with sensory processing disorder can be make-or-break when it comes to personal fashion style and choices. And still, when you look online to find solutions for sensory sensitivities, the answers have a practically nonexistent range between “meeting sensory needs for kids” and lists of colorless, shapeless adult clothing. Neither of these solutions genuinely address the issues or acknowledges that people with sensory sensitivities might still want to express themselves with fashion. If you like wearing a beige strip of fabric every day, more power to you — for the rest of us, there are some simple changes to maintain levels of sensory comfort while still wearing the things we like.

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Culture

Local designers push back against the fast-fashion cycle

Jordyn Bachmann | March 6

  In recent years, discussion around the ethics and practices of fast fashion has expanded: what it is, where it comes from and what it looks like. Fast fashion — clothing manufactured to reflect a trend — directly contributes to climate change, waste and overconsumption. Slow fashion, which is the more environmentally and ethically conscious approach to clothing production, places its emphasis on well-paid labor, good working conditions, handmade pieces and well-made garments, according to Forbes. In order to combat the popularity of fast fashion, it is important to figure out how we can all fit ourselves into the slow-fashion movement, according to Joey Wagner, a senior at the University of New Mexico studying journalism who has made their own clothing since 2020.

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Culture

Meow Wolf: Corporatized cash grab or subversive art experience?

John Scott and Addison Key | March 6

 The Meow Wolf artists collective, initially founded in 2008 “as an informal DIY collective of Santa Fe artists,” has had a successful last few years with the founding of their flagship branch in Santa Fe in 2016 and opening subsequent locations in Denver, Las Vegas and a recently announced location in Grapevine, Texas, according to their website. With this expansion in popularity and monetization comes questions of authenticity — is Meow Wolf still the homegrown art exhibit it started as in 2008? 

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Culture

Hit or miss: Isotopes jersey review

Zara Roy | March 6

  As we jump into the 2023 season for the beloved Albuquerque Isotopes, now is the time for fans, both casual and die-hard, to think about what they’ll be stepping out in on their way to the stadium. The Isotopes are known for their unique array of jerseys which are rotated in and out for special occasions (and available for sale for lovers of the game). But which jerseys knock it out of the park, and which are a swing and a miss?

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Culture

UNM costume designers fashion their visions for the stage

Gabriel Garcia | March 6

  It takes a lot of people to stage a production. Many, such as costume designers, remain behind the scenes even as their creations draw audience attention center stage, according to three costume designers at the University of New Mexico who want to educate audiences about what goes into costume design. Because they work offstage, the general public makes certain assumptions about what happens in costume shops, according to Emma Harrison, a student at UNM majoring in design and technology for performance with a concentration in costumes.

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Culture

OPINION: Incorporating red carpet looks into your 2023 fashion

Sierra Martinez | March 6

  As the new year is well under way, so is award season. Whether you love or love to hate celebrity culture, there is no doubt that you have stumbled across some of the season’s most memorable red carpet looks. From Zendaya to Michelle Yeoh to Jenna Ortega, the biggest stars in Hollywood have given us all some much needed inspiration for our 2023 wardrobes. While many of us may never get the chance to walk a real red carpet (sigh), that doesn’t mean we can’t incorporate some of the glitz and glamour that we see on our favorite celebrities into our own outfit rotation.

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Culture

The Vintage Hippie Joint takes Old Town back to 1960s Americana

Elizabeth Secor | February 27

 The Vintage Hippie Joint, located in Albuquerque's Old Town, offers a variety of goods from the 1960s, including clothes, books and more. Owned by Tonya Taylor-Ducker, who also designs for the store, and David Ducker, the namesake, opened the shop in the latter half of August 2022. The Vintage Hippie Joint is packed with items for sale and decorations covering any empty space left over, leaving the owners with the struggle of finding space to put new inventory. “We have to stay on top of it because it is a small space. I'm constantly nip-tucking and moving things around,” Taylor-Ducker said. “‘We should put this thing over here, there's about two inches over there that'll fit’.” 

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Culture

Dance concert ‘Monstro/us’ explores the monstrous

Gabriel Garcia | February 26

  As artists have long known, beauty can be found as readily in a study of the grotesque as in the sublime. “Monstro/us,” the 2022-2023 University of New Mexico faculty dance concert, demonstrates this with four original dance compositions that examine the horrors of war and the darker side of the human psyche. Playing for six performances from Feb. 24 through March 4 in the Rodey Theatre, “Monstro/us” consists of two flamenco and two contemporary pieces in an alternating repertoire. A production of the Department of Theatre and Dance, “Monstro/us” features choreography from both resident and guest faculty and performances by students in the UNM dance program.

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Culture

‘Chocolate: The Exhibition’ shares global history of beloved treat

Addison Key | February 26

  The New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science near Albuquerque Old Town explores the local connections and the global history of chocolate in “Chocolate: The Exhibition,” which opened to the public June 17, 2022 and is set to close March 12, 2023. The exhibit was originally developed by The Field Museum in Chicago. It tracks the history of chocolate through a multisensory experience. It leads viewers from the bitter cacao seed grown in the rainforest to the sweet spot it commands in our global marketplace and personal diets. As part of the exhibit, The Museum of Natural History and Science also hosts family days and lectures that investigate the local connection to the story of chocolate.

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Culture

Nuclear Science and History museum exhibit highlights Black scientists

Miyawni Curtis | February 26

  On Friday, Feb. 17, the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History opened their Black History Month exhibit. The exhibit, which focuses on the achievements of African Americans in the fields of science, engineering, technology and math, will be on display through Tuesday, Feb. 28. With the exhibit, the museum hopes to promote diversity in the sciences by highlighting some of the many contributions African American scientists have made to our world, according to curator James Stemm. “We feel it is important for people from many diverse backgrounds to see themselves represented in the sciences and to encourage an interest in science in all our visitors,” Stemm said.

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Culture

Grad students share their stories at ‘Works-in-Progress’ reading series

Gabriel Garcia | February 26

  The University of New Mexico’s creative writing program hosted its first “Works-in-Progress” reading of 2023 on Friday, Feb. 24 at Tortuga Gallery from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Approximately 50 students, faculty and community members attended the reading that featured three master’s of fine arts students and one English faculty member: professor Dan Mueller. As the name implies, the reading series offers writers a chance to share their works in the process of being developed and revised, according to Mueller.  “The purpose of the series is really to create community. It’s the most popular reading series that is associated with UNM’s MFA program, and it always has been. Graduate students, undergraduate students, and faculty members all really come together to share their work. I think it is one of the great things our program has going for it,” Mueller said.