NOTES FROM THE CREW Hello Compass readership! My name is Audrey Sutter, and last month I was a junior studying journalism at Boston University; now I’m writing this and all my assignments from my home in Austin, Texas. I’m the EIC of a magazine called The Beat and the host of two radio shows on WTBU. I’ve also been the Compass’ design intern since the beginning of December 2019. I’ve gotten the unique opportunity to be a part of a massive period of growth for the Compass. In January, we switched up the design of the paper entirely with the help of guest designer and paragraph styles enthusiast Jenny Bergman. February’s issue was our 10-year anniversary issue. We expanded to a full eight pages in March, and I was added to the team of Compass page designers. Then came April, and COVID-19, and the revolutionary efforts from the Compass team to keep our community safe, healthy and informed. In short, it’s been a pleasure to see this paper grow and evolve through some pretty
extreme times. One of the main things EIC Kevin Dacey, founder Sam Potrykus and I talked about at the beginning of my internship was making sure the Compass was doing everything it could to serve its community — the independent arts community, the Dorchester community, the Boston underground community. I believe we’ve risen to that goal and will continue to rise in the wake of COVID-19. Remember to reach out for ways to get involved in your community. We’re still here, and we’re keeping it that way.
AUDREY SUTTER
----------------------------------- KARI VANN THE LETTER
ADVICE FOR LOVERS Q: I’ve been talking to someone online that I’m really into from OkC. I haven’t had such a connection with someone before. Next step would normally be to meet, but that’s not possible during quarantine. I don’t want this to fizzle out but I can only text so much till I wanna meet to see if we have the same chemistry in person. What can I do? A: This quarantine is definitely going to set the dating situation back, but there are ways to get creative. I do think with online dating we tend to say too much through text before
Sometimes, I write letters to corporations. In fact, that was the initial inspiration for this column! In general, I’d like to use this precious real estate talking about more than the fact that everything we buy is garbage, and also focus current issues that matter— much more on Covid-19 next month! But I’m still happy to sprinkle in some of these “love letters” to consumerism. For now, enjoy one angry letter I wrote a long time ago to a company, complaining that their product (which used to be high quality) is crap now. It’s been altered for creative purposes, but the response is intact. Enjoy, and may it resonate with your inner curmudgeon.
we meet as a way to not “waste time” and I think that’s counterproductive. Hopefully you can still get out and meet up with this person for a walk. Send each other pictures of your face masks so you can pick them out for each other and bring a tape measure! If you’re not equipped emotionally or physically to brave the outdoors at a time like this, perhaps the classic video chats or phone calls could hold you guys over for a bit. When relationships are still little seedlings it’s important to have that eye contact or voice to navigate.
------- XOXO HEART SOAKED
-------- Kari Vann
Dear Corelle Brands LLC, My Armenian family has been long time lovers of Corning Ware’s products. In the past, they were always high quality, and simply, but well-designed, from the blue cornflower emblem to the architecture of the dishes. So central to the women of my family are your products that now that I’m starting my own family, I’m inheriting the vintage dish sets belonging to my mother and aunts. I’m pretty stoked on them. My bridal shower recently came around and I was told to create a registry on Macy’s because it is, apparently, the only place the Armenian women in my family will shop. I made a registry, but was disappointed with the options. Everything looked the same. Everything looked like crap. Then, I saw that hopeful cornflower. Though production halted on the model sold during my parents’ generation, Macy’s was advertising a special “60th anniversary edition,” which matched the sets my mother gave me. On the day of my bridal shower, I got the dishes as a gift from my cousin. Later at home, I inspected them next to my old ones. I guess I just want to say: DID YOU THINK I WOULDN’T NOTICE? Even the cornflower ornament looks cheap in the newer version—laminated on top as opposed to baked into the pyroceram. So I did a little research. Much about your company has changed since my parents’ days. The company that started Corningware, Corning Glass Works, was founded originally down the street from me in Somerville, Massachusetts. (I actually didn’t know that—fun fact!) By the nineties, Corning Glass sold its consumer goods division to the owners of World Kitchen and, like countless baby boomer, legacy brands still living in the shadow of their former
glory, shuttered its US factories and moved production to Asian countries. Slowly but surely, the quality of Corningware’s goods eroded. A common complaint in online reviews I found was that the dishes have a habit of exploding in people’s ovens. One review I read said a glass lid shattered when the reviewer took it out of the oven, sending a shard into his brother’s eye. He had to go to the emergency room. So congratulations, Corelle Brands corporation! Using costcutting, shortcut techniques and privileging profit over quality, you have turned a family heirloom into a spontaneously combusting death machine! So how did we get here? To me writing this letter? It’s because the cunning Corelle Brand LLC marketers saw that Corningware’s antique pyroceram casserole dishes, like the ones my mom owned, were making a killing on Etsy and antiques dealers’ websites, where women like me were desperately scavenging for a goddamn high quality casserole dish. So what did they do? Instead of bringing back the quality and craftsmanship of the original dishes, they appropriated a nostalgic brand that means so much to so many people and bastardized it under the guise of a “60th anniversary.” I guess what I’m really wondering is this: Why continue this charade? Who is actually profiting off this? And what does profit really mean in this context? Why not just let the legacy end on a high point? Maybe because the connection between the company and the people it sells to has long been severed. It’s hard to care about the deeper integrity of your product when your sole allegiance is to fiscal growth. But “fiscal growth” can only tell us so much about the well-being of our society. We’re more than just consumers. We are people. We care about traditions and piping hot meals and we have standards—though some of us may have forgotten about them. I’m sad that the world my mother and aunts live in is clearly gone. I mourn for my generation and what’s in store—for the environment, for the economy, and for our poor, little households, for which we have to scour antique shops, just to find dishes and flatware that match the quality of what our mothers once had. ---Sincerely Yours, Kari THE RESPONSE Thanks for reaching out! We’re sorry to hear of your disappointment with the stoneware baking dishes. We’ve forwarded your feedback to our design team for review. For a current listing of our pyroceram products, please see the link below: https://www. corelle.com/search?qry=Stovetop%20 Pyroceram. If you’d prefer to chat with us, we are also available by using the link below. Representatives are available Monday through Friday, 8am to 6pm EST. https:// www.corelle.com/chat. Sincerely, Alana, Corelle Brands
SHARING DIGITAL PERFORMANCE SPACE
I recently attended a limited seating performance of Playback Theatre performed by First Drop Theatre. I wasn’t breaking quarantine: First Drop performed from Bangalore, India and I watched (and participated) from the USA as others joined from China, Australia, Sweden, and elsewhere. We were all on Zoom together. For the uninitiated, Playback Theatre is a performance art whereby the theatre troupe requests stories from the audience and “play it back” to them. Like general improv, Playback utilizes a variety of styles and to guide the series of performances, themes are usually denoted beforehand. Playback shares many aspects with improv, but also includes personal stories from the audience, making each performance unique. This mode frequently provides space for people to drop emotions from their shoulders as the format is extremely freeing; its venn diagram touches expressive arts therapy nearly as much as improv theatre. Playback intends for the audience not to remain passive, but to become part of a larger ‘string’ that connects everyone in the room together. Because the person running the performance, Dr. Radhika Jain, explained at the beginning that they wished to create a safe space, I took no screenshots or videos. This is no different then requesting audience
members not photograph or record video with their phone during a material performance and is crucial for encouraging vulnerability. This digital space immediately cast down any notions of office Zoom chat memes--we quickly felt comfortable with each other. Normally, audience members are encouraged to meet the people around them. During the performance, Radhika split us off into smaller groups to speak with one other in separate virtual rooms. Nothing is perfect, and while our first ‘breakout’ had perhaps too many people at 10, the second was a much more intimate one-onone. The audience warmed up and more stories flowed: anxieties, loss, enthusiasm, frustration and confusion. Bottled up in their homes, people spoke--then we watched the troupe play back to us all. We shared this cathartic storytelling environment facilitated by performance art in a truly unique and contemporary way. As the performance wrapped up, I felt gratitude for the privilege of joining this moment and also excitement; my eyes wide open to new possibilities to connect despite the social distancing mandate. Despite everything, we can still make art together and we can still breathe together and, I think, we can make it through this: together.
-------- DANIEL LLOYD-MILLER
GILMORE TAMNY @GILDEDY