weekend links: CupcakKe, Kevin Young, Curved Light
Ruth Asawa, Untitled (S.540, Hanging, Seven- Lobed, Interlocking Continuous Form within a Form) (c. 1958). Image courtesy of Hyperallergic.
Chicago-born rapper CupcakKe released her new album Ephorize on January 5th, and critics are already calling it her best work and one of the best outputs of the new year. Known for her overtly sexual content mixed with conscious lyrics that detail street life and her insecurities and shortcomings, CupcakKe effectively reminds us that she’s a sex-positive and aware goddess from Chicago that won’t be going away any time soon. [Vulture]
Since his death in 2005, the fate of American playwright and essayist Arthur Miller’s manuscripts and other papers had been uncertain—until now. The University of Texas at Austin’s Harry Ransom Center has purchased Miller’s archive following a tumultuous battle with the Miller estate and Yale University. Now classic plays such as Death of a Salesman are available to view in their original form and, as he wished, Miller's heart will stay in the great state of Texas. [New York Times]
African-American poet, writer, and educator Kevin Young recently sat down to discuss his new nonfiction work, Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies, Post-Facts, and Fake News. The book starts by reminding us of the Great Moon Hoax of 1835, when people were convinced that there was secret life on the moon. Young points out that the reaction of America’s citizens and journalists then is eerily similar to the Fake News outbreak in Trump’s America today. Effectively, Young shows us in a cool yet terrible way that nothing is new under the sun. [The Rumpus
The Honolulu Museum of Art recently opened an exhibit titled Abstract Expressionism: Looking East From the Far West that questions and interrogates the notion of Orientalism. America’s historical bastardization of non-Western cultures is a topic worth exploring, and this exhibit proves that—surprise!—there was more to the Abstract Expressionist movement than white men. [Hyperallergic]
Austin-based musician Peter Tran, known better by his stage name Curved Light, is headed in a new artistic direction. Moving beyond ambient music into the more surreal side of modular synths, he's also eschewing tapes for the (relative) big leagues of his first vinyl release. Kudos to Tran and to Switched On, Austin's favorite electronic music haven. [Austin Chronicle]
—Nia KB