8.29.18

August 29, 2018 | 34st.com

August 29, 2018 3 WORD ON THE STREET

A Case of Misplaced Identity

4 EGO

Avril 50 Owner , EOTW: Nick Hunsicker

Nick Joyner, Editor–in–Chief Remi Lederman, Managing Editor Angela Huang, Audience Engagement Director Annabelle Williams, Assignments Editor Autumn Powell, Media Director

Features Staff: Angie Lin, Julia Bell, Paige Fishman, Hailey Noh

Copy Editors: Kate Poole, Kira Horowitz, Sarah Poss, Serena Miniter

Style Beats: Emma Moore, Isabella Simonetti , Jen Cullen, Molly Hessel, Valentina Escudero

Cat Dragoi, Word on the Street Editor Caroline Riise, Ego Editor Jamie Gobreski, Music Editor Colin Lodewick, Senior Features Editor Sabrina Qiao, Special Features Editor Andreas Pavlou, Long–Term Features Editor Naomi Elegant, Developing Features Editor Liz Kim, Style Editor Ana West, Film & TV Editor Sherry Tseng, Arts Editor Eliana Doft, Lastpage Editor Ethan Wu, Photo Editor Morgan Potts, Copy Director Chris Muracca, Print Director

Film & TV Beats: Zovinar Khrimian, Maryanne Koussa

Sofia Price, Analytics Editor Marketing Associates: Brittany Levy, Carly Shoulberg, Daniel Bulpitt, Ha Tran, Lauren Donato , McKay Norton, Merry Gu

Arts Beat: Michelle Wan

Cover design by Sammie Yoon

Design Editors: Lucy Ferry, Gillian Diebold, Ben Zhao, Christine Lam, Alana Shukovsky,

Contacting 34th Street Magazine: If you have questions, comments, complaints or letters to the editor, email Nick Joyner, Editor–in–Chief, at joyner@ dailypennsylvanian.com. You can also call us at (215) 422–4640. www.34st.com

6 MUSIC

September Concerts, Anna Shoemaker

Ego Beats: Sophie Xi Music Beats: Arjun Swaminathan, Sammy Gordon, Sophie Burkholder

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Amazon and UCity Bookstores

16 STYLE

Honest Tom's New Grub, Sweat-Free Makeup

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Book Corner, Arthur Ross Opening

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Staff Writers: Cass Phanord, Emily Schwartz, Lizzy Lemieux, Margaret Zhang, Riley Wagner Illustrators: Anne Chen, Anne Marie Grudem, Brad Hong, Carly Ryan, Catherine Liang, Jake Lem, Reese Berman, Saranya Sampath, Jessi Olarsch Staff Photographers: Emma Boey, David Zhou Video Staff: Jean Chapiro, Abdul Sohu

tktktktktktk©2018 34th Street Magazine, The Daily

Pennsylvanian, Inc. No part may be reproduced in whole or in part without the express, written consent of the editors (but I bet we will give you the a–okay.) All rights reserved. 34th Street Magazine is published by The Daily Pennsylvanian, Inc., 4015 Walnut St., Philadelphia, Pa., 19104, every Wednesday.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

9 FILM & TV

Race & Class in Film, Lauren Greenfield, Skate Kitchen

LOL

Lastpage Beat: Sami Canaan

G

ood morning University City! I hope that it's morning when you're reading this, but if not that's okay. I don't get around to picking up a copy of Street until I roll out of my post–sending–Street– to–the–publisher slumber at noon on Wednesday and stumble over to the newspaper rack in front of Allegro. But regardless of your sleep schedule, I'm glad you picked up Street!

Yesterday was my last first day of college, and I'm feeling better than I thought I would. My old–man bitterness was balanced out by my excitement for this first issue of Street. Most of all, I can't wait to see Street continue to grow as a publication in the coming semester. It's my little foster baby, and I only have custody of her for four more months. In the remainder of my tenure, I'm gonna make sure this semester is a great one, full of special issues, fun events, and damn–good magazine journalism.

For the freshmen out there who saw this hectic little tabloid and decided to pick it up, welcome welcome! 34th Street Magazine is Penn's oldest (we're coming up on our 50th year anniversary in October) and most eminent arts and culture magazine, which publishes online daily and in print every Wednesday. We started as a Philadelphia alternative newsweekly a la The Village Voice, and quickly evolved into a University City staple. Since then, we've grown to focus specifically on Penn and its students. We've got personal narratives and in–depth investigative features, along with stories on movies, TV, food, sex, health, beauty, and every other topic that could possibly be on your mind.

And there's your elevator pitch. Hopefully you're enticed to keep reading on, and maybe even interested in joining us some day! We're always looking for new voices to add to the mix, and Street is a place for any and everyone. That's all for now, folks! And remember, if you have any compliments or wanna join us, email joyner@34st.com. Please direct complaints to contact@ upennstatesman.org.

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WORD ON THE STREET

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STREET

A CASE OF MISPLACED IDENTITY For me, living at 'home' required a student visa Jonathan Lahdo

An answer to “where are you from?” should come easily enough; and for most people, it does. After all, even if you were born, say, to immigrant parents, you can almost always think of home as Genericville, XYZ. I’ve never really experienced that ease.

As children, my Lebanese mother and Syrian father emigrated to Melbourne, Australia, where they met and where I was born some time later. So, at the age of five when my family and I moved to the UAE, I didn’t fully realize that Dubai was where I would spend the rest of my childhood and teenage years.

Growing up in a city so colourful and eclectic was how my long and tumultuous journey in discovering my identity began.

I remember that once I wore an Australia jersey, a kangaroo cap, and a miniature koala to school. It was year 7, at a sort of mixer called the World Food Day, where all students had to proudly represent their respective home countries.

“Why are you wearing that?

You’re not Australian,” said one of my classmates, who was the first to ever call my ‘Australian–ness’ into question. That day, when I was talking to my mother after school, I put my thoughts into very simple words: “Mum, I don’t think I’m Australian.”

Some years passed between that moment and the day I arrived at Penn as a freshman in the Huntsman program. At that point, I had already begun to embrace my Syrian–Lebanese roots: I remember that, on our short trips to Australia, my family and I would visit not granny and grandpa, but Teta and Jido. Their large family barbecues, complete with hummus and other mezza, were radically different from the typical Aussie

Catherine Liang | Illustrator

lunches of vegemite sangers.

I knew I wasn’t Australian— but, turns out, I wasn’t Arab either. My “Arab–ness” was missing two critical components: language and citizenship. My father made it a point to teach me the complexities of written Arabic and its grammar, and although he did help me to grasp them, I never quite developed them.

But it’s not like I didn’t try— my school offered a special curriculum which allowed Arabs to learn Arabic, but the fact that I was not an Arab national kept me from following it. As most Arab countries define nationality and citizenship by patrilineal descent, I was, and still am, ineligible to claim my Lebanese citizenship.

And, while in theory I am eligible to apply for Syrian citizenship, I don't feel comfortable doing so.

Given the current state of world

affairs, as well as the unpredictability of the Trump administration’s foreign policy, the symbolic gain in officially ‘becoming’ a Syrian is not worth the risk. That would, of course, substantially increase the probability of a 'random check' at the airport. But, more importantly in today's world, there's a strong possibility of being denied entry into the United States altogether.

When planning to study abroad in Lebanon, I had to apply for a visa. The feeling of having to do that to study in a country I consider to be my own is painful enough, and to have the government deny my roots in that country only makes the feeling worse.

When I went to the Lebanese Consulate in New York to process my visa, I spoke to the officer in Arabic, with a heavy Lebanese accent. He was confused, assuming that I was a Lebanese citizen.

I did end up spending the spring of my sophomore year studying abroad at the American University of Beirut and was hoping for an opportunity that would help me find home. But that’s not exactly how things went.

Before living in Lebanon for six months, I felt very comfortable in my Arab identity, in a way that everyone recognized. But I was not unlike children born in the diaspora: the tinge of my native English that smeared my spoken Arabic created an invisible divide between myself and the Lebanese that grew up in Lebanon.

I felt plunged back into that unknown that I hated so much, not knowing where I was really from and what my identity really was. Then, surprisingly, I found it.

While in Lebanon, I took a class designed for native speakers; not a language class for foreigners,

but rather like taking a class in the English department. For the first time in my life, I felt that simple comfort I thought of as home. I was in a classroom surrounded by people from my country, speaking entirely in my heritage language. I belonged.

The class was centered around identity, and the professor made a point to initiate meaningful discussions on that theme. Interestingly enough, I didn’t think there would be any. After all, we were, for the first time, all Arabs.

But at the end of the day, nobody’s identity can be boiled down to one word, or even a few of them. As my own experience taught me, there are so many elements that factor into that concept, from language to ethnicity to religion to gender to country of birth, and so many more. But the most important part of our identity is that we get to define it on our own.

I’ve come to realize how important it is for the ‘third culture kids’ to think about how they choose to identify themselves. I spent most of my life allowing others to affect the perception of my own self, until I studied abroad and finally found the simplest way to deal with it: on my own.

So, I am Syrian–Lebanese. Yes, politics and uncertainty in immigration policies deny me the right to the citizenships of my homelands. And yes, other Syrians and Lebanese point out the occasional slip–up in my spoken Arabic. Yes, my identity is a mosaic; but my story is my own to tell, and it is constantly evolving.

Jonathan Lahdo is a junior in the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business. His focus language is Arabic.

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EGO

EGO OF THE WEEK When it comes to performing arts at Penn, Nick Hunsicker, who uses they/them/ theirs pronouns, has done it all. A night owl and falafel truck regular, Nick practically lives in the Platt Performing Arts Center when they're not serving as an RA in the Quad. The busy senior sat down with Street to discuss where they've been and where they're going next.

NICK HUNSICKER

Autumn Powell | Media Director

By Caroline Riise Street: So, what have you been up to lately?

Nick Hunsicker: A few things: I’m in tech week right now for the NSO Show. It’s called Tick Tick Boom and I’m co-music directing. That goes up this weekend, everyone should come see it! And then I’m also gearing up to start music directing the Penn Singers show this semester. I’m also choreographing the opener for Glee Club and Penn Dance.

Street: Take me back to Freshman Year Nick. Why did you decide to join the performing arts community?

NH: I did Penn Arts, which is a pre–orientation program.

It was a really, really, formative experience for me. I met a lot of seniors and juniors when I was an incoming freshman, who really mentored me and guided me through what sort of performing arts I wanted to be involved in. That’s sort of how I landed on Glee Club, which was really foundational for me.

I started in Glee Club as a piano accompanist and then sort of gradually moved more and more towards music direction and things like that.

Street: Do you have a preference between performing and producing?

NH: I definitely prefer music directing, specifically conducting shows. I love the rehearsal process that goes along with it, but to me there’s no other feeling like conducting a show in front of a live audience. That’s my favorite thing.

Street: You were an RA in the Quad last year. What was that like?

NH: It was honestly really fulfilling in terms of helping new students, I really did enjoy that experience, and I loved working with my staff. It was just really difficult to balance being an RA and all the responsibilities that come with it and then doing what I’m doing in performing arts.

Street: Speaking of what you are doing in performing arts, tell me about your senior society.

NH: Yeah, sure! Osiris is a lit senior society. I think right now we have around thirty members, throughout the performing arts that have demonstrated leadership. We try to make sure a bunch of different groups are

LIGHTNING ROUND What was your Common App Essay About?

Me sitting on the northwest corner of my kitchen table.

There are two types of people at Penn…

Competitors and leaders. #1 Item on your Penn Bucket List?

Never been to any sort of Greek Life event, maybe that? Hopefully a sorority, not a fraternity.

What’s your guilty pleasure song?

"Boys" by Charli XCX. (Ed. note: That's not guilty!)

Give your freshman self one piece of advice: I’d say take it one day at a time, and it’ll all happen.

represented, not just in PAC (Performing Arts Council).

We do philanthropy events and a showcase in the spring that showcases all of our senior members one last time before the year ends.

Street: What’s a typical day in the life for you?

NH: I don’t like to wake up too early...ever. So I always wake up around 10 or 11 a.m. with just enough time to get to my first class. This year I only have class on Mondays and Wednesdays, which is very exciting.

So I go to class, then straight to work at Platt House, and somewhere in between I’ll usu-

ally grab lunch at the falafel truck.

MAJOR | Communication Then I’ll leave ACTIVITIES | Glee Club, Penn Platt House, Singers Light Opera Company, grab dinner, and Osiris Senior Society, come back to Vagina Monologues Platt house for rehearsal, usually HOMETOWN | Douglassville, PA every day from 7 that’s up in the air. In the generto 11 p.m. Honestly, I live at Platt House. It’s al future, I’m deciding between ridiculous how much I’m here. going for a PhD program and Street: Any post-grad plans? the theatrical arts. I have no NH: I definitely want to do a preference between producing, gap year. I just want to spend a musical development, directlot of time traveling. I’m think- ing, conducting...I would just ing of possibly doing the Wild- love, in any artistic capacity, to life Conservation Society for a be involved in that. little while with my friend, but

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MUSIC

Best Rock Concerts in Philly This September The next month is packed with some of the best artists from the genre today.

BY Sophie Burkholder With all of the downtowns and frat parties flooding everyone's Facebook feeds, it's easy to forget that Philadelphia is one of the best music cities in the world—especially when it comes to rock. So if you ever find yourself wanting to cathartically dance to something, anything but "Mr. Brightside," these upcoming shows are worth squeezing into your budget.

September 4: Mac Demarco

Returning to Philly for a second time in support of 2017’s This Old Dog, the king of shimmery indie rock will play at The Mann Center after Labor Day weekend. After announcing the formation of his own record label, Mac’s Record Label, and covering some Japanese pop classics at his festival stops this summer, there’s no doubt that this Philly show will be a more in–depth performance than just a feature of his latest work. This concert is a must for anyone who wants to unwind in the late summer haze.

7:00 p.m. at The Mann Center, $32.50

September 8: Yeah Yeah Yeahs + Twin Peaks + Joey Purp + Mannequin Pussy

The Goose Island 215 Block Party is always popular for many reasons—namely cheap tickets and $3 beers—but this year it’s because it brings the return of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs after a far too long five–year absence from Philly. Each band in the lineup is worth attending for, but there are few female rock stars who have reached such a widespread level of praise as Karen O. Known for her frenzied stage antics and unconventional costume, she is the poster child for being yourself, and the kind of performer that everyone deserves to see live at least once.

5:00 p.m. at the Electric Factory, 21+, $22

September 15: Remo Drive

Emo is having a moment,

and this band is leading it. They came to the church last spring as a supporting act and got a full– on crowd–surfing mosh pit going within the first 20 seconds of their set. Their sound is less abrasive and more approachable than most well–known emo bands, so even those who typically shy away from this style of rock will find an appeal in these Minnesota up–and–comers. Not to mention, this BYO venue is the best in the city for dancing to any and all kinds of music.

7:30 p.m. at First Unitarian Church, $14

September 18: Car Seat Headrest

Since signing with Matador in 2015, Will Toledo and his band have risen to immense fame as lo–fi DIY in the mainstream.

Starting as a solo project with songs being recorded in the backseat of Toledo’s car (hence the band name), Car Seat Headrest has always maintained their fuzzy garage essence while slowly add-

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The band will make their stop in Philly on a tour in support of a newly recorded and refreshed version of Toledo’s 2011 self–released album, Twin Fantasy— one of the best indie rock albums in recent memory.

8:00 p.m. at Union Transfer, $25

September 20: The Growlers

These LA–rockers sound like a mix of fellow Californians Shannon and the Clams and Ty Segall, but with a more nasally and frankly, growling, vocalist. They call their music “Beach Goth,” in a perfect strain of their psychedelic surf rock roots. With a driving rhythm section, the vocals of lead singer Brooks Nielsen freely swirl and meander through the twisted melodies of the newly released album Casual Acquaintances.

8:30 p.m. at Union Transfer, $25

September 29 & 30: Alvvays + Snail Mail

Alvvays’ Molly Rankin and Snail Mail’s Lindsey Jordan are undoubtedly two of the women at the top of rock today. Alvvays returns after stopping in Philly

last fall to support 2017’s Antisocialites, while Jordan comes back after playing a July show for her widely praised album Lush, which came out in June. Both bands bring a feminine perspective to rock that felt few and far between in previous generations.

And really, nothing says girl power like two awesome female guitarists shredding it onstage.

8:30 p.m. at Union Transfer, First show is sold out, Second has tickets available for $20

September 30 & October 1: Leon Bridges

Leon Bridges is this century’s iteration of soulful Sam–Cooke– like splendor, but more informed by the rock, rap, and pop that surrounds him. Stripped back songs like “River” from his first album Coming Home drew nostalgic categorizations, but 2018’s Good Thing takes those roots and infuses them with hooks as enticing as those from Bruno Mars or Alabama Shakes. His deeply cutting romantic lyrics and swaying backbeats make his Grammy nominations and top– ten achievements come as no surprise.

8:00pm at The Fillmore, $85

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MUSIC

Artist to Watch: Anna Shoemaker This Philly native and daughter of a Penn alumnus is making genre–blending, Soundcloud-viral indie pop in NYC. BY sophie burkholder Philly native Anna Shoemaker felt a common kind of disenchantment with college as she started to realize the disconnect between her lectures and her actual goals in life. But, unlike most of us, she decided to act on these feelings by taking a leap for what she loved most: writing and performing music.

While she decided to finish college for herself and her family (many of whom attended Penn; Anna went to University of Colorado at Boulder), Anna started growing her music into more than just a serious hobby: “I think what really made me driven was kind of doing it all myself, and seeing how much work it would be, and that got me really excited.”

She's another new musician helping to evolve the modern sound with a unique genre– blending. Some have tried to pin her sound down into one category, but she thinks her defiance of

these simple labels is what makes the music her own. “I’m not necessarily hip–hop or necessarily pop or necessarily really anything at all,” she says. “Just kind of playing around with those genres and writing in those different styles, I think, has actually helped me find my own voice.”

After rising to fame on Soundcloud for her mashup of Chance the Rapper’s “Cocoa Butter Kisses” and Kendrick Lamar’s “Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe,” she decided to start focusing more on original material.

In June, she released the lead single, “What Am I Doing to Me?” in advance of her debut EP, East Side, which will arrive this fall. The song has stream–of–consciousness lyrics that chronicle a narrative of inexplicable anxiety, leading to the synth–backed titular question of the chorus. Rather than succumbing to the chaos of these thoughts, Anna organizes them into a sonic power that is

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the mark of every great track.

Now based out of New York, Anna explains the way that her

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music reflects the formative experiences that she’s had in different geographies. “I’ve lived in all of these random places, and I think that my music is definitely kind of a mashup of that.” She took inspiration from this near constant change of location and wove it into the songs on her upcoming EP. “I wrote almost all of these songs in the transition of moving from Boulder to Philly to New York. I think the main theme throughout these songs is just me trying to figure things out as a young person and me trying to understand myself.”

Her ability to communicate the nervous plagues of adolescence through song is impressive on its own, but Anna also adds another dimension to her art: a visual one. “Whenever I’m writing a song, I’ll know it’s a really good song if I can visualize a music video for it,” she says.

The music video for “What Am I

Doing to Me?” was filmed in and around Anna's New York apartment, an idea which stemmed from the fact that she wrote most of the songs for her new EP in that same apartment.

This and other qualities of her music exhibit a self–awareness that is alluring. As she recognizes emotions in herself, we can draw parallels in ourselves in a way that feels powerful. And, on top of that, her music is perfect for a party of cathartic dancing—the best way to relieve the frustrations she sings about.

As much as she takes inspiration from modern pop stars like Lorde, she still listens to timeless classics like Frank Sinatra in a wide–ranging palette that will most certainly show through on her new EP this fall. Though no official tour has been announced yet, keep a lookout for her around New York and Philly this fall.

FILM & TV

'Crazy Rich Asians' and 'Sorry to Bother You' Bring New Dimension to Class Representation How Cast diversity adds a necessary new element to Class Depictions in film Photo courtesy of Pete Lee / Annapurna Pictures

BY ana west Despite Hollywood ignoring minority contributions to film and, in some cases, actively creating hostile environments to creatives of color, films with racially diverse casts are crushing it right now. The success of recent films like Black Panther, Crazy Rich Asians, and Sorry to Bother You proves that audiences are eager for stories with racial diversity.

What the success of these movies also shows is that audiences are willing to engage with another kind of diversity, more present but perhaps even harder to get right—socioeconomic diversity.

Two recent movies, in particular, spotlight the complicated subtleties of portraying class authentically on film, and how racial diversity can help.

Crazy Rich Asians, the star–studded romantic comedy where the pivotal conflict centers around a Singaporean family’s incomprehensible wealth, has been drawing big crowds and grabbing headlines; as has Sorry to Bother You, a surreal comedy and commentary on capitalism that centers on a young man working at a call center in a warped, dystopian Oakland. Both have featured casts that are majority non–white: Crazy Rich Asians is being heralded as the first blockbuster with an all Asian ensemble in years, while Sorry to Bother You features stars like Lakeith Stanfield, Tessa Thompson, and

The Walking Dead’s Steven Yeun.

Before this moment, we’ve seen more class commentary on film than we have of race commentary. Even films as basic as children’s movies like Cinderella and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory convey simple messages about wealth like the importance of valuing intangible things like family and love over material objects. But incorporating more diversity into the narrative allows these classic storylines to become more nuanced. While Crazy Rich Asians shares its DNA with the classic Cinderella story, Constance Wu’s Rachel is not only first–generation American.

She also comes from a family where domestic violence drove her mother to move from China to America. The diversity of the film adds depth to a once typical storyline by highlighting different Asian experiences. Similarly, on its surface, Sorry to Bother You follows a simple, fairy–tale like arc—Stanfield’s Cash ventures outside of his world to pursue prosperity, encounters evil, and must fight it. However, the racially diverse cast combined with its biting dark comedy allows the film to explore current topics like viral media trends, gentrification, and the relationship between capitalism and dehumanization in America (literally).

But are the messages of these two films—Crazy Rich Asians

with its over–the–top depictions of wealth, and Sorry to Bother You with its equally bold–faced criticism of the corporate world—irreconcilable? Crazy Rich Asians, in particular, has faced backlash for portraying wealth in a way that is neither representative of a “universal” Asian experience nor bold enough when it comes to challenging the negative impacts of ultra–wealthy elites. But in a way, these films are two sides of the same coin. Sorry to Bother You is an outsider’s perspective on prosperity: any attempts to become part of the elite world

prove unsuccessful and destroy those who try along the way.

Meanwhile, Crazy Rich Asians isn’t an endorsement of the world of wealth; in the midst of lavish parties and large mansions, Rachel has to engage in her own struggle against the new social structures she finds herself trapped in. It is a criticism of the elite from the inside, and just because it has a rom–com happy ending doesn’t mean it isn’t subversive.

While they might seem nothing alike on the surface level, it’s worth noting the significance

of both films coming out at the same time, drawing from the same cultural moment. The history of discrimination in America has often involved monetary hardships and barriers, as well as complications that accompany economic triumph for people of color, and diverse films can acknowledge and incorporate that.

The success of these two movies demonstrates that when films are made by racially diverse teams and feature racially diverse casts, the door is often opened for even more narrative inclusivity, and better, smarter stories.

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FILM & TV

Filmmaker Lauren Greenfield on Her Latest Film 'Generation Wealth'

By Cat Dragoi A man sitting on a leather couch, smoking a cigar, and looking ecstatic as he says “I love money” is a sight you would expect to see either in a movie like The Wolf of Wall Street, behind some closed door in the Financial District. Except the scene in question is shot about 4,000 miles away, and its protagonist—whose German accent, if not the gilded background, gives him away—is none other than Florian Homm, the “Antichrist of Finance.”

The last time he set foot in the United States was 2007, when he abruptly resigned as the head of Absolute Capital Management and fled the country with over $200 million. He is now living in his native Frankfurt, as Germany does not extradite its own citizens. An ocean away from charges of investment fraud, he seems to have found penitence as, stroking the rosary around his neck, he waxes poetic about his days as a

“hamster in a diamond–studded, gold wheel.”

It's easy to take the moral high ground and look down on Homm's actions. But such readily available and extreme judgments are exactly what Lauren Greenfield is trying to challenge in her newest documentary Generation Wealth, which explores what lies beneath the post–Reagan culture of egregious affluence.

As Homm puts it, he learned at Harvard Business School that “it wasn’t about who you are, but about what you are worth…

Morals are completely non–productive in that value system.”

Greenfield, who has spent the past twenty–five years documenting the lifestyles of the rich and more–or–less famous, told Street she finds the subjects she investigates “human and compelling in their strengths and their flaws.”

Generation Wealth doesn’t mean to turn the tables on modern royalty and provide a moralistic take on obnoxious

wealth. Instead, Greenfield asks open–ended questions which allow her to “probe deeper where it becomes interesting.”

Generation Wealth is undoubtedly interesting throughout, even though at times it feels like the subject matter is a bit too dense for a documentary film. Greenfield tries to present the accounts of ten different characters in just over a hundred minutes, and their stories, though interconnected by the overarching theme of wealth, are so varied that they become hard to follow. The film shifts back–and–forth between tales of bar mitzvahs drenched in Armand de Brignac, and emotional insights into events where public coverage deeply affected the subjects’ mental health.

Indeed, as expected, that’s where the glossy surfaces crack and what lies underneath is revealed to be either dark, or completely void. Tiffany, a successful VIP hostess in Vegas, recognizes that, in search of wealth, “you

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Hedge–fund executives, porn stars, and rich kids: in her newest documentary, Greenfield delves deep into the lifestyles and mentality of the upper echelon.

sell your soul to the devil.” Suzanne, a hedge–fund executive who prioritized her work in her thirties, eventually hires a surrogate after twenty–five IVF cycles prove ineffective; Homm himself says, in what functions as a thesis statement for the project, “if you think that money will buy you anything and everything, you’ve never, ever had money.”

The hypnotic aura that Homm and the others have experienced firsthand is recreated by Greenfield through the use of what she calls “the language of popular culture and media: saturated colors, dynamic composition, shiny surfaces, provocative juxtapositions.”

What she aims to do isn’t necessarily to add an insightful dimension to consumerism, but to point out some of its indicators that are so present in our everyday lives that it has become hard to recognize them. And, having grown up in this culture, it’s not like we would automatically know how to either: college students today “are heavily engaged with and impacted by social me-

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dia, popular culture, aspirational and commercial pressures, and pressure to keep up with peers,” says Greenfield, speaking about the decline in mental health on campuses across North America.

This last statement is, perhaps, what sums up Generation Wealth best: in a combustive combination of “the inherent drivers of capitalism, media, and the human capacity for both greed and insecurity,” it’s hard to point out a supervillain. In a way, one could say that some of the competitors for that title are society itself, capitalism, television, and Ronald Reagan, amongst others.

On the other hand, Greenfield conveys that it is possible to exit this whirlpool of Hermès bags and diamonds—but quitting itself comes at a cost. Whether we can still afford it, as a society, ultimately comes down to how quick we are to admit that films like Generation Wealth are cautionary tales and not glamorous stories.

‘Generation Wealth’ premiered on 8/3 in theaters across the US.

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F E AT U R E

F E AT U R E

The Amazon

Erik Baranek

Phenomenon Can University City's bookstores compete with “The Everything Store?”

By James Meadows

Ye a r s ago all of the shelves in Penn’s Barnes and Noble store were consistently filled to the brim with books—spines out. Now, employees stack the shelves with the covers out to make the shelves look less empty. If one book is bought, employees will come back later and shuffle the books into a more appealing configuration. Only a handful of books span each shelf in the Art History & Criticism section. In Photography, one shelf has only four books on it. Two shelves in U.S. Travel don't have any books at all.

One employee of four years has watched as the store's book section slowly bled out, its shelves gradually replaced by coat racks of university apparel.

"Every year we send back so many boxes of unsold books,” he said matter–of–factly from behind the Information Desk.

Debbie Stanford (C ‘71), the co–owner of House of Our Own bookstore on 39th and Spruce Streets, started the store in the fall of 1971 as an in1 2 3 4 T H S T R E E T M A G A Z I N E A U G U S T 2 9 , 2 01 8

tellectual escape from the trauma of the Vietnam War and the looming perils of the draft. The store grew to house an arts and crafts section, course books for students, and every other imaginable literary genre. “Prior to e–mail, professors always came in to place their orders for the upcoming semester,” Stanford recalled. “We would go around the store and talk about what books they have been using and what worked. We really enjoyed it. We loved doing it.”

Since the internet became mainstream in the late 90s, book publishers and stores have come to rely on the it for sales. “The world has changed,” emphasizes Greg Schirm, the other co–owner.

Now, Amazon accounts for more than half of all online sales, placing small businesses in a stranglehold. To even allow book publishers to sell on

their online marketplace, Amazon demands steeper discounts, more prolonged periods to pay, and better shipping. The company's approach to publishers was once called "The Gazelle Project" after Jeff Bezos, Amazon's founder and CEO, said that the company “should approach these small publishers the way a cheetah would pursue a sickly gazelle.”

In the face of such strong–arm tactics, bookstores around the country—including those that orbit Penn's campus—have had to drastically reevaluate their businesses. The opening of the physical Amazon@Penn Center—the only one in the entire

city— blocks away from their stores, further compounds the threat.

"Did the Amazon Center coming to Penn have an impact on our business? Yes, yes it did," Ashley Montague, the owner of the Penn Book Center, said with a sigh. "It moved us from being basically in a good position to being in a not good position."

For Montague, that meant stepping away from their highest source of revenue: textbooks.

"We had seen some declines because of Amazon, but once the depot came to Penn it went to 20%," she said. "That was when we said 'Oh, O.K. We can't be bringing in massive quantities of books, employing large numbers of people to manage these books, and simply pack up the books and return them because of the Amazon phenomenon.'"

It isn’t the first time that booksellers have had

to reassess their business—the mass–dissemination of the World Wide Web and the e–reader soon after proved to be formidable hurdles for the industry as a whole. But Amazon is different.

For many small businesses, the company isn’t just a hurdle, or a setback, but an existential threat. It forces stores to not only diagnose what is economically viable but to also look inward and to consider what being a bookstore fundamentally means.

Montague's strategy now, as it has become with many stores, is to become everything that Amazon is not. That means not competing on price or delivery time, but doubling down on trade books and the idea that those who shop at independent bookstores, at their core, are those who want to get a book recommendation for another person, who love to aimlessly comb through the shelves in search of literary gems, who join book clubs.

This emphasis on community–oriented bookselling has resulted in hiring the store's first event organizer—a graduate student by the name of Erik Baranek. Baranek is neither a social media guru nor a public relations specialist, but instead a regular bookworm and an ardent defender of the independent bookstore.

"There are things that Amazon can never beat a brick–and–mortar store in. They can have the most complex algorithms to tell you what books you are going to like because of what you ordered

Ashley Montague

Greg Schirm

Photos by James Meadows A U G U S T 2 9 , 2 01 8 3 4 T H S T R E E T M A G A Z I N E 1 3

F E AT U R E

in the past, and they might even be right most of the time, but it's a really different experience than getting a recommendation from a person," he said. "As for why I was brought on, I think is for people to start having those experiences and that they like those experiences."

It’s a sentiment that Stanford and Schirm from House of Our Own echoed: “Some people now, which never happened in the past, come in an ask, ‘I am looking for something to read, what would you recommend?’ said Schirm. “That never happened in the past."

Penn's negotiations with Amazon started in 2014.

Before then, several Amazon centers had already existed on college campuses across the country. But unlike the other universities, according to Christopher Bradie, the Associate Vice President for Business Services and overseer of Penn's relationship with Amazon, Penn did not want a physical retail extension of the

Amazon’s online shopping experience. It was looking to mitigate the influx of packages coming to campus. According to Bradie, campus package rooms in dormitories were buckling under the weight of a massive flow of Amazon deliveries, while at the same time, packages being sent to students in off– campus housing were being stolen. To Penn, the center would be a solution these problems.

and then eligibility to receive further discounts on Amazon Prime till graduation. Not to mention that if one were to order a Prime– listed item before 10 am, the item would be ready to pick up at the center the next day for free. To promote these benefits, the company has even hired “Prime Student Ambassadors” on college campuses to hold informational events and giveaways where they coax students with free phone wallets and sunglasses in order to While both the Penn sign–up.

Book Center and employees According to Julia Wiat Barnes & Noble were ea- etrzychowski, a Wharton ger to point the finger at the junior and a Prime Student Ambassador on Penn’s campus, her target demographic is incoming freshmen: “A lot of people when they are going from high school to college they wouldn’t necessarily have their own Prime account… so it’s about spreading the word that the first six months are free,” she said. “One of the frames that they want us to go at is that if you need something in a pinch it’ll be there the day of.”

David Zhou | Photographer The company currently Amazon@Penn center for has over 100 million paid all of their woes, Penn Busi- subscribers, with a retenness Services contends that tion rate of over 90 percent, the problems these compa- according to Bloomberg. nies were facing would have That’s higher than CostCo, persisted with, or without, who've long touted their the center. loyal consumers.

The center has brought Both corporate Amazon, additional benefits that have and Amazon@Penn’s manmade its services more and ager, did not respond for more appealing to student comment. shoppers. New Amazon Student Members get Prime The question that remains membership benefits for free to be answered is whether for the first six months— or not small retailers and

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David Zhou | Photographer

Amazon can exist side–by– side within the bounds of University City in the long term.

For Ed Datz, the Executive Director of Penn’s Facilities and Real Estate, the Penn department that oversees the small retailers that operate out of Penn, that answer is yes. He’s confident that small brick and mortar businesses will continue to thrive on Penn’s campus: “If you go ahead and look at it five years ago, with the proliferation of tablets and e–readers, there was a belief that bookstores were going to go ahead and fade away,” said Ed Datz, “But what you have seen is no different for vinyl coming back to records, and people returning to reading from an actual book.”

that operate out of Penn– owned real estate. While the Amazon@Penn center is part of this campaign, small bookstores like House of Own Own and the Penn Book Center have the most to gain because they are now able to get marketing that they never had before.

For Barbara E. Kahn, a professor of marketing at the Wharton School of Business and the author of the recently released book “The Shopping Revolution,” loyalty is what has made Amazon such a disruptive force—for all retail, not just books—and in order for small retailers to continue to stay afloat they need to adapt to the retail game that Amazon is no doubt the master of.

“What used to work doesn't work anymore," she explained. “If you are Part of what will contrib- going to compete on easy– ute to the success of that co- to–deliver and cheap price, existence is the university’s you won’t win against Amanew “Shop Penn” market- zon.” ing initiative. Announced in May of 2018, the marketing JAMES MEADOWS is a Senior campaign is majoring in Communication aimed at reinfrom Washington, D.C. He is vigorating rethe Crime and Legal Beat for tail—both big the Daily Pennsylvanian. and small—

FILM & TV

'SKATE 'SKATE KITCHEN' KITCHEN' brash, lively, beautiful, and This new indie film is all about a girl ganG: it's ballsy, lively, and beautiful, just like its main characters.

BY angela lin When Camille skates, she’s skating against the wishes of her mother. She’s also skating despite the expectations of the

on Instagram announces a girls' skate, Camille ventures into the Big Apple to take matters into her own hands. On the ramps at LES

community. Her home life is a classic single–parent dynamic, her sport is one that’s crowded by boys. This is the premise of Skate Kitchen, director Crystal Moselle's new film. The teenage Camille, played by the very cool Rachelle Vinberg, is skating against stereotypes. As far as she knows, the only place where other girls skate is online.

The film has a lot of similarities to Moselle’s debut, The Wolfpack, which follows the lives of the six Angulo brothers who find strength and solace in movies, despite being forcibly isolated in their family’s apartment.

Skate Kitchen, released August 10th , contains similar ingredients.

Trade a locked apartment for the glass ceiling, six riveting brothers for an equally riveting girl gang, and the freedom of film for the freedom of a flip trick. While not a documentary, Skate Kitchen co–opts elements of the genre for tonal effect.

When a collective she follows

Park ride the Skate Kitchen— there’s ballsy Kurt (Nina Moran), motherly Janay (Ardelia 'Dede' Lovelace), and the rest of the girl gang, all colorful and complex in their own right. There’s also Devon—an aloof amateur photographer who catches Camille’s eye and who sends more than one shockwave through her social circle. It’s a story about finding identity, finding a home away from home, and the strength of female relationships.

The Skate Kitchen is a real group founded by Vinberg and Moran, who first reached out to each other in the YouTube comments section. The group’s members dabble in fashion, videography, and—in this case— acting. They’re also much more open to skating with guys than their film counterparts are. In a TEDx Talk given by Moran last December (aptly titled “Girls Belong In The (Skate) Kitchen”), Moran describes the overwhelming positive feedback

feminist

and gratitude she’s received from young girls around the world.

Many characters are based on the actors themselves; on screen,

er, slices one’s genitals) mirrors Vinberg’s real–life experience of getting credit–carded, twice. Even the reactions to the injury are drawn from reality: the boys at the park assume the blood streaming down Camille’s thighs is due to her period.

The documentary–style film depicts misogyny as routine; unscripted sexism pervades side conversations. Girl skaters aren’t taken seriously. Camille gets her vagina cleaved and the boys diagnose it as “that time of month.” Skate culture itself is so claustrophobically male that collectives like Skate Kitchen are necessary for girls to have the opportunity to skate with, other girls. In a striking conversation the squad has on the subway, one Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures girl recounts blacking out then Kurt is as unfiltered and gay as waking up and realizing she’d Moran is in real life; Devon, been raped. The others chime in played by Jaden Smith, is kind with similar stories. of an ass (we’ll let you decipher At times, the movie gets lost

that one yourself). Vinberg and Camille share the same passion for the board, the same wardrobe, and similar life experiences.

The opening scene where Camille gets credit–carded (aka when the edge of the board swipes,

standard documentary structure.

On the positive side, the film feels authentic—a manufactured story that doesn’t feel manufactured.

On the negative, documentaries are sometimes, well, a bit boring.

For the most part, Skate Kitchen shines, especially in montages of Camille skating. Frustration is evident with each stumble, anger with each jolt of the board.

Camille skitters on concrete when she first meets the girls— she’s nervous. Her board soars when she’s with a crush. And her thrill, her lust for life, is in each outstretched limb, each kick, push, and cruise.

The girls in Skate Kitchen are fierce, funny, and they take no shit.

They smoke weed from halved bananas and play with fidget spinners. When they inevitably screw things up, they own it. They refuse to define themselves by the men in their lives. They have each others’ back. Their flawed

Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures in itself—in overly intense close– efforts are refreshing, believable, ups and rambling monologues. and set to a perfect soundtrack The observational style that by Princess Nokia. Jaden Smith, once lent insight now and then who lends star power to the cast, lazes at the periphery. Casual is likeable enough, but the real star conversations slant banal, and of the film is undoubtedly Skate Moselle borrows a lot from the Kitchen.

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ST YLE

an honest review of the new honest tom's 'plant-based' offerings From 'biff' to 'chucken,' here's what one Street writer thought of the new menu.

BY maryanne koussa

In late June, Honest Tom’s announced a shift to a completely vegan menu, and this Street writer is here to try it for you.

Walking in through the bright yellow doors into the newly renovated Honest Tom’s Plant Based Taco Shop feels comforting and familiar, yet it still elicits the excitement of trying a new place for the first time.

It looks different—those white crowding tables with orange chairs are now replaced with a long wooden picnic bench along the left wall that makes the place seem excessively trendy. The new smiley tomato logo is painted right above it and it’s a reminder that this place is indeed quite friendly. You don’t need a tattoo sleeve and a moody playlist to sit here.

Before, it smelled heavy and greasy with the salty smell of meats, but now, it’s a fresh scent, clean. ICMYI: No meat here. The right wall holds their new menu; it’s not very long but it’s still different, intimidating. While classics like their pico de gallo and guacamole are still available, the real stars are the new protein options. They stepped up the game by going completely vegan, but by avoiding the classic meat substitutes like tofu, tempeh, and basically anything soy-based. It’s a veggie glow–up, and we’re here for it.

While I didn’t try the entire menu, I did get to sample a huge portion of it, and, boy, do I have some thoughts. I wanted to try out the new protein options they

Maryanne Koussa | Staff Photographer

now offer, so I tried them in tacos. Here’s how they rank up: 1. Biff Tacos: This walnut– based meat substitute was by far the favorite. Not only did it have the most flavor, it had that salty aspect you expect when you bite into a classic taco. While it was slightly dry, the seasoning really shined. It had a nice kick and overall, tasted way better than your store–bought taco seasoning. While the texture of it is off– putting and it’s not the prettiest, mixed with the guac, pico, and new cashew–based crema it tastes the most like a classic taco. I recommend this one with a squirt of halloween sauce.

2. Sweet Potato Tacos: This is a classic, and a classic that's been sitting, unappreciated, on Honest Tom's menu for a while. It’s sweet, but that's expected (dude, it’s a sweet potato). It doesn’t taste like much, and lets the sweet potato shine. If we’re going to eat an Oompa Loompa in a taco, I need

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it to be slightly crispy, especially when mixing it with other goopy ingredients. Still, we’re not mad.

3. Carbacoa Tacos: This is their new lentil and carrot barbacoa, meant to replace their carnitas. Not sure if the “c” is meant to stand for carbs or carrots, but they’re both very present. It’s brown, it’s thick, it’s sweet, and it literally only tastes like unsalted lentils. This is the taco that really makes me question the odd texture that really only comes with vegan foods. Warning: this one feels very heavy, so getting though an entire burrito with the carbacoa will probably be a mistake later. It really doesn’t help that this one has no flavor. With the guac, crema, and pico, it just feels wrong; however, it’s great with the hot sauce, but that’s because your taste buds are on fire and you can’t taste anything else.

4. Chucken Tacos: Meant to replace chicken, "chucken" is made of chickpeas and plantains.

Besides the terrible name (Ed. note: Seriously, say it out loud. It just sounds weird.), this is the type of vegan food that keeps me from being vegan. It’s way sweeter than the sweet potato, but the mixture of soft plantains and what tastes like canned chickpeas is just sad.

It’s an odd blend of soft and crisp.

This one also feels under–seasoned, which is unfortunate because I had high hopes. No sauce can save this one, just skip it.

Some tacos were good, some were disappointing, but because they’re all loaded with the extra Nickelodeon-looking green guacamole, you can’t choose wrong because you’ll need to really search long and hard to even notice anything else. On the plus side, they’re gluten free.

Besides the tacos, I got to try the PB nachos. Not peanut butter, plant–based, and these were so good that the sad boy music stopped for a second and Fergie’s “Big Girls Don’t Cry” had to play

to make sure I could contain myself.

The nacho cheese is made of potatoes, carrots, nutritional yeast, etc., but it’s definitely nothing like that vegan cheese recipe you found on Pinterest.

Oddly enough, the vegan cheese tastes just like jarred queso, but it doesn’t all go straight to your thighs. Not mad.

These nachos are covered in their nacho sauce, pico, cashew crema, and black beans. What brought me to the verge of tears was the fresh, NOT pickled, jalapeños (Frontera, take note!).

The chips are super crispy, and although they’re fried, don’t feel guilty—the rest of it is so healthy.

These aren’t the nachos you’re eating at 3 a.m. on the kitchen floor after a night out, but they do taste like it, and that’s all that matters. The small is less than $6, making it completely worth the trip.

While the new menu is good, we’re not going to pretend like we won't miss those huge breakfast burritos that could cure any hangover. If the old Honest Tom’s menu is Beans from Even Stevens, then this new menu is Bella from Twilight. It’s the exact same throughout, but it has its moments. It’s trying.

Overall, the commitment to healthy and clean eating from the new Honest Tom’s is commendable, and it’s a huge step for the availability of affordable vegan food in West Philly. We’re excited to see what else Tom can do.

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ST YLE

Beat the Heat with This Sweat-Proof Look

Summer works hard, but matte foundation works harder.

BY VALENTINA ESCUDERO

One bite and you’ll be a loyal subject for life

On 39th street between chestnut & sansom!

Open late Friday & Saturday 3836 Chestnut St • (215) 921-6494 1 8 3 4 T H S T R E E T M A G A Z I N E A U G U S T 2 9 , 2 01 8

It’s hot, humid, and hellish in Philly. NSO festivities, darties, parties, and long afternoons endure, as does the hustle and bustle of a new semester. But this summer, we will not let the moist heat take over without a fight. This summer, we will thrive, and so will our makeup. I’ve compiled some useful tips derived from experience (my own and that of my close friends), and the internet. Enjoy!

Pre–makeup Before jumping into any makeup routine, it’s essential to backtrack and make sure that your face has been cleansed, toned, and moisturized.

These steps are essential year–round, but more so during the summer when heavy makeup is discouraged in lieu of a lighter more “natural” look. You could save a TON of product and time on makeup by encouraging your skin to cooperate. Cerave’s foaming facial cleanser and skin moisturizer have both proven to be exceptionally great products (and they’re super affordable!).

Most importantly, remember to apply some sunscreen after the moisturizer. Some brands like Neutrogena include 2 in 1 formulas that are perfect for the season—lightweight moisturizers that come with an SPF of 15 which works well for most skin types.

Makeup Start off with a primer or a setting spray to keep your face from melting off at that darty. For foundation, highlighter, and contouring kits, try to stick to creams rather than powders. Under the sun, powdery makeup can easily look a little cakey because of the way the particles settle around creases and fine lines. Because of this, also avoid setting powder! Go for a spray instead and definitely stock up on oil absorbing sheets to blot away when your skin feels dewy or oily (I promise these will become your best friend for the summer).

If possible, when choosing foundations and bronzers, stick to matte!

For blush, I’ve found that balm hold up the best as an alternative to powder, and it’s pretty versatile (I use mine as a soft lip colour sometimes).

A pro–tip for eyeshadow is to dip the brush in water and then into the shadow before applying. This decreases the likelihood of creasing and makes it longer lasting. I suggest sticking to natural shades so as to minimize creasing as well. Mascara holds up well on its own, and I’ve found that liquid or gel eyeliners (waterproof or not) tend to stick well too without much smudging.

And of course, remember to drink lots of water!

Takeaways: 1. Less is more!

2. Creams > powders.

3. Stay hydrated.

ARTS

the book corner: 'the book of laughter and forgetting' is the tale for a new Semester On why bare genitals and orgies are important for the new year.

BY sherry tseng Saranya Sampath | Illustrator

The book ends with a line about bare genitals. To be specific, bare genitals staring stupidly and sadly at the yellow sand. And no, that’s not why this book is fitting to read after NSO. The ending of Kundera’s The Book of Laughter and Forgetting is a showcase of the line between the meaningful and the meaningless, a line crossed by laughing and forgetting.

And that’s why this book is fitting for the new year—past the literal level, past the political jest, and past the tinges of nihilism is a reminder to laugh and to forget, to draw our own lines between what is meaningful and what is meaningless.

This week is a new start: it’s excitement and it’s nerves. It’s joy and it’s stress. And too often lost among all these mixed emotions is the sight of what really matters at the end of the day. That line is blurry. In his novel, composed of seven isolated narratives strung together by their underlying themes, Kundera presents laughing and forgetting as an antidote. Laugh at the past, laugh at the mistakes. Forget the wrongs, forget the disrup-

tions. To move forward, the past shouldn’t be given any more weight than what the future holds. It’s a message synonymous with "just keep swimming” or “don’t look back.”

But at the same time, while laughing and forgetting can be a solution, it can also be a force of destruction.

In the first few pages, Kundera recounts a photograph from 1948 set in communist Czechoslovakia with Vladimir Clementis standing next to Klement Gottwald, the first president of the state.

When Clementis is charged with treason two years later, his image is removed and his fur hat once sitting on his head is no longer his, but Gottwald’s. The message is clearly political and societal, but the same applies to the individual. Laugh at the past, laugh at the mistakes—and erase ourselves. Forget the wrongs, forget the disruptions—and erase our personal histories. As Kundera puts it, laughter originated with Satan, but was learned by angels, making it such that it’s impossible to truly know if it is angelic or demonic.

It is then the balance of the two extremes that allows us to draw the line between the absurd and the meaningful and make sense of what it is that carries significance for us.

Yet even with all the in-

tricate, underlying political and individual implications, Kundera’s words flow easily.

Each of the seven parts contains some drop of inane that makes the book a good read even if just for an amusing

story. Take what you will of it—The Book of Laughter and Forgetting is one for a laugh, for a historical view, and for a personal reminder. And that’s why this is one to read for the start of the new year.

Good luck this semester from your friends at 4000 Spruce St. | (215) 382-1330

Join us for our weekly specials!

Tuesday: Trivia night, Geeks who Drink, 9pm Wednesday: 1/2 price burger day! 11am - 4pm Thursday: Fajita night, $9.99, 5pm - 10pm Saturday & Sunday: Brunch, 11am - 3pm Join us on Wednesday, Sept. 5 for the steel drum band Trinidelphia, 6:30 - 9:30pm featuring Bacardi specials!

A U G U S T 2 9 , 2 01 8 3 4 T H S T R E E T M A G A Z I N E 1 9

ARTS

Finding Uncertainty in Rationality: William Kentridge Exhibit Opens in Arther Ross Gallery The Internationally Renowned Artist Makes a Stop at Penn.

By MICHELLE Wan In a world oriented around order and established roles, William Kentridge captures human experiences of uncertainty and spontaneity, namely, in his words, “an art of ambiguity, contradiction, uncomplicated gestures, and uncertain endings.” His touring exhibit, William Kentridge: Universal Archive, is displayed in the Arthur Ross Gallery from now until November 11.

The exhibit is a series of 79 linocut images printed onto dictionary and encyclopedia pages, each carved into linoleum blocks, which are then inked and run through a press. Because of the nature of the medium, the images of trees, coffee pots, cats,

typewriters, birds, horses, nudes, and self–portraits resemble calligraphic drawings and strokes more so than the typical relief printings. In black ink, the strokes begin with precision, progressing into more and more undefined shapes.

The defining factor of the paintbrush is then further reflected in the entire exhibit, with the images presented in a series. Over a number of images is a gradual transformation of a singular object from a distinguishable and concrete form to one of a different degree of abstraction. It’s once again a show of uncertainty and spontaneity as it is a show of the genuine and unrehearsed

creative process.

There’s no exact form Kentridge aims for: his pictorial manner is rough and expressive. And though the images are mechanically produced through a rigorous carving process, the process is still inexact. Even prints from the same block differ slightly, some in the most minuscule of ways. There’s no full control over the final outcome, further adding to the theme of uncertainty in the context of a society that holds reason and rationality above all.

This motif of uncertainty in a rational world is most likely derived from Kentridge’s own life before becoming one of the most

internationally renowned artists. Born in 1955, the native South African witnessed life both pre– and post– apartheid. Life then was uncertain, even in a system so largely dominated by the structured rules of discrimination.

One could say that the coincidental differences in the prints run contrary to the idea of rationality. After all, the images are printed on the text of the dictionary and encyclopedia pages, which are often symbolic of carefully crafted and defined meanings of rationality. But then again, the relationship between text and images, if such a relationship even exists in the first place, is

subjective and open to interpretation, accentuating the lack of structure and the unknown.

The uncertainties, the spontaneities, and the doubts—these are what make the exhibit all the more powerful even without reaching calculated answers. Through his creative process, Kentridge has expanded on the work of art by opening up its meanings and inviting in new possibilities and multiple, often personal, interpretations. At least, from the first look, that’s what it is: the seemingly digressive, the meandering, and the uncertain. From another perspective, it’s something altogether different.

David Zhou | Photographer

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L A ST PAG E

Welcome Back!

Penn Theatre Arts Program ANNUAL WELCOME BACK PICNIC All invited – Freshman & Current Students

• • •

Meet your faculty Learn about upcoming productions Learn about opportunities in Theatre Arts

FREE FOOD AND DRINKS When: Friday, August 31, 2018 4:30 pm Where: Annenberg Plaza (Rain Location: Theatre Arts Suite inside Annenberg Center for Performing Arts)

AUDITIONS FOR THE FALL PRODUCTION Samuel Beckett’s Late, Great Works Directed by Marcia Ferguson When: September 2nd & 3rd, 7 pm to 11 pm Where: Williams Hall (alongside TAC-e auditions) Join us for the Theatre Arts program's fall MainStage production (Nov. 1-4): a selection of Samuel Beckett’s late, great short works, including a screening of the only screenplay he ever wrote, Film. This "iconic avant-garde" playwright’s extraordinary short plays address humanity reduced to its essence, with characteristic darkness, style, and humor. Playwright Edward Albee famously called these plays “…an experience unequaled anywhere in the universe of words,” and Gilles Deleuze intriguingly describes the final image in Film as “the most terrifying…perception of self by self." Join the Theatre Arts and the Cinema and Media Studies Programs for this unprecedented collaboration, as we engage Beckett’s unique legacy in two distinctive formats.

Roles for men and women are available. Auditions for the Theatre Arts/Cinema Studies collaborative Beckett production will take place concurrently with TAC-e auditions on September 2nd and 3rd in Williams Hall, from 7pm-11pm. Email Marcia Ferguson (marciaf@sas.upenn.edu) if you are interested in auditioning or more information about this collaborative project.

THEATRE IN PHILADELPHIA Freshmen Seminar Go to the theatre every week!

Tuesdays: 1:30 pm to 4:30 pm Fisher-Bennett Hall 323 A few seats still available in the class

Alana Shukovksy | Design Editor

The focus of this course will be on the live theatrical experience: we will learn how to analyze theatre as both an art form and a cultural experience by viewing a wide array of plays and performances in production in Philadelphia this semester. The course will include tours of local theatres and discussions with professional artists.

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