Category Archives: Entertainment

Books/Art

Rhythm 0: Risking your life for performance art

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By: Annika: Getz

*Note, this article may have material that could trigger individuals (violence against women), therefore, we present a trigger warning here.

Performance art is a style of art which was created and developed throughout the 20th century. The idea is that rather than a painting or a sculpture or something of that nature, the art is a live performance done by the artist.

Marina Abramović is a performance artist who did most of her work in the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Most of her work puts her in very dangerous situations, and ends with her being cut, burned, starved, or some other form of harm being inflicted on her physical being.

Her career began with the ‘Rhythm’ pieces, ‘Rhythm 10’ (1973) involved her playing a Russian knife game, and cutting her fingers repeatedly. A year later ‘Rhythm 5’ followed, where she layed in the middle of a burning star, until she eventually lost consciousness, and had to be taken out of the performance. She remarked later about being angry with the results of the performance, saying “I was very angry because I understood there is a physical limit. When you lose consciousness you can’t be present, you can’t perform.” In the same year she performed ‘Rhythm 4’ and ‘Rhythm 2’ where she invoked her own unconsciousness in a way which would not interrupt the performance.

Still in 1974, Abramović performed her final piece in the ‘Rhythm’ series. ‘Rhythm 0’. In this performance, Abramović placed 72 objects on a table, and invited the audience to do whatever they’d like to with her and the objects. She left written instructions which read “There are 72 objects on the table that one can use on me as desired. I am the object. During this period I take full responsibility.” For six hours Abramović remained completely passive, not moving, or speaking.

Some of the objects were ordinary, everyday objects. A hat, soap, cake, a rose. Some of the objects however, were less tame. A knife, scissors, a gun, a bullet. Abramović took the ultimate risk, knowing that if the audience wanted to kill her, they could. She said later that she was fully ready to die in the performance, and counted herself lucky for coming out alive.

For a little while, at first, the public remained calm, they put a rose in her hand, fed her the cake, kissed her cheek, etc. However, as the night went on, the audience became more aggressive.

They at one point used the scissors to cut off her clothing. They placed her on the table and stabbed the knife between her thighs. The artist recounts someone even cutting her near her neck and drinking her blood, then covering the wound with plaster from the table. She also remembers that at one point, the gun was put in her hand, and later even pointed at her head.

Abramović recounts the night as being almost six hours of pure horror. At the end of the six hours, when the performance was over, she began walking towards the audience, covered in blood and tears, and the people ran away from her. It was as though the public realized that it had been a real, living person who they’d been torturing for hours, and they couldn’t face her.

This remains to me, one of Abramović’s most important works. Showcasing the sadistic nature of people when given the chance to hurt others without repercussion. There were probably people there who went without the intention of hurting the artist, but once put in the environment, found themselves doing just that. I think the psychological aspects of the performance similarly mirror those of the Stanford Prison Experiment, an experiment done by the psychology students at Stanford in the 70s. Through a hyper-realistic prison simulation, with college students playing the parts of guards and prisoners, they found that perfectly normal people became cruel when put in positions of power where they were given the chance to do so.

I think it speaks to our human nature, that these people became so sadistic in such a short time. The issue was that they didn’t see Abramović as a human being during this time, and so they felt they could treat her however they wanted to. The moral of the story is really just to treat everyone with the basic human decency that we all deserve.

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Movies/TV/Theaters

What happened at Astroworld?

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By: Sarah VonBerge

“I realized people were dying”, said one concert goer after the Astroworld festival while being interviewed by CNN. What was supposed to be a weekend full of music and fun, quickly turned and became the deadliest concert since 1979, on the night of November 5, 2021.

Astroworld is a music festival founded by Travis Scott and was first held in November of 2018. It consists of 2 main stages where many different artists from all different music genres preform.

On November 5th, 2021, around 9 pm, Travis Scott began his main set. There were an estimated 50,000 people attending. Around 9:30 pm, Scott brought Drake on stage, which caused the crowd to surge forward. Everyone became crushed and those who lost their balance were trampled. Scott looked at his audience confused as he watched an ambulance with its lights on drive through the crowd and then continued to perform.

The crowd was so packed that some people began suffocating and others got heat stroke. Since everyone was so crowded, the paramedics were not able to get to those who needed help, so unconscious bodies were crowd surfed in an attempt to get them to the paramedics. Attendees who were in pain themselves had to help others since no one could get in or out of the crowd.

Scott continued performing as he stared at the fans in distress below. It got to the point where fans started chanting “Stop the show,” but he still continued to perform. One fan even climbed onto the stage to tell the cameraman that people were hurt and that he needed to find a way to get the show to stop and he told them to get off.

Hundreds of people were treated on scene, 8 were pronounced dead on scene, and 25 others were taken to the hospital, 5 of which were under 18. Those pronounced dead on scene were: Danish Baig, 27; Rudy Peña, 23; Madison Dubiski, 23; Franco Patiño, 21; Jacob Jurinke, 20; John Hilgert, 14; Axel Acosta Avila, 21.

Brianna Rodriguez, 16; Bharti Shahani, 22; and Ezra Blount, 9, were pronounced dead after they died in the hospital while in medically induced comas.

Laws and policies are put in place where organizers, promoters, and performers need to stop a show if they see even 1 person in danger. Thousands were in danger, crushed together, telling Scott to stop the performance, passing out and begging to be let out of the crowd by security, but the show continued. In the past, Scott has been known to put on extremely intense and dangerous concerts.

As of November 20, 2021, $2.75 billion worth of lawsuits from 177 victims have been filed against Travis Scott.

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Movies/TV/Theaters

The Bachelorette recap

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In Season 18, Episode 3 begins with Michelle trying to recover from the drama of last week when Jamie told Michelle that the guys were questioning her character. 

During the first group date of the episode, in which, Martin, LT, Olu, Spencer, Clayton, Nate, Joe, Rick, Will, and Peter were all invited, there was a drama between Peter and Will, when Peter gets mad that Will copied his idea on the group date. 

At the after-party, Peter and Will get into a screaming match with one another, while Nate and Michelle we’re having a heart-to-heart. The fight ends with Peter throwing Will’s jacket into the pool.

The next date goes to Rodney, on their date they played Truth-Or-Dare and opened up to one another. They also rode out in a canoe where Rodney opened up about growing up with a single mother. 

The last group date of the night goes to Jamie, Leroi, Chris G, Casey, Mollique, Chris S, Brandon, and Romeo. On this date, they were all asked to do a performance where they had to give a speech where they had to open up about themselves. 

At the cocktail party, the guys found out that Jamie was the one who was behind all last week’s mess that left Michelle upset. She immediately sends Jamie home, and at the Rose Ceremony, Michelle gave Joe, Rick, LeRoy, Nayte, Casey, Chris G, Chris S, Clayton, Olu, and Romeo roses, so they all got to stay another week.

The next episode starts with a one-on-one date with Martin. He joined Michelle at the BMW Performance Center and spent the afternoon doing stunts and racing. After that, the two cuddled up in a hot tub. They ended the night with a dinner where he was rewarded with a Rose, so he’s saved for next week. 

The next day 12 men attended a group date; they had to wear pajamas, because it was a sleepover themed date. They played board games, made teddy bears, and ate snacks. Later in the date, they participated in a fight contest where the winners got to spend additional time with Michelle. During the date, Olu stood out and he was awarded the group date Rose. 

For the one-on-one date the next day, Rick got to go with Michelle in a gondola ride up a mountain, and they spent the afternoon on nature walks around the park. At the end of the night when they were having dinner, he shared that his dad passed away three years ago. They opened up to each other about their feelings and he go Rose. 

After a week full of dates it was time for the Rose Ceremony and Romeo A, Will U, and Chris G were eliminated. The remaining men packed their bags because they were heading to Michelle’s hometown of Edina, MN.

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Books/Art, Editorials/Student Voice

Art vs. Artist

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By: Parker Rowen

“Should art be separated from it’s artist?” is a questions that has come up in recent times. This has begun to re-emerge, with Hollywood being shown to have more and more morally questionable people to be within the industry than was once known, or believed. This is an important question to answer, it brings in a question of morality, and whether it is moral to consume art made by an artist who has committed something heinous.

When researching for a paper, or some kind of formal piece, you always question the source of the information, whether it’s reliable, if it is to be trusted, or provides something which before was unseen. Art should be viewed in the same manner. When you see a piece of art, it is paramount that the artist and their intentions get discussed.

If you look at the works of someone such as Vincent Van Gough, you’ll see how it paints a picture of Van Gough’s life, and view of the world. Without this art as context, we wouldn’t have nearly as much of a view into the world of Van Gough.

Good art is often reflective of it’s artist. It is hard to put passion into something without that thing becoming part of you, and vice versa. Art is meant to be passionate, so naturally it would show the person you are to the world. 

To separate the art from the artist would be akin to stealing the sun from the sky. The artist defines their work, and sets up their themes, they are the ones to decide what their art should mean. It often reflects an opinion, or sends a message in which the artist believes in. While this opinion may not necessarily be harmful, it should be a truthful one, and help paint a picture of what the artist is like, and whether it is someone to look up to.

In capitalism, the phrase “speak with your wallet” is a common, and very true one. People have a monetary value attached to everything, and are willing to do whatever it takes to achieve success in that regard. So, by this logic, when you buy something you are supporting it. Generally, art has been sold at a price, helping to support the artist living, and to encourage more of that type of art. When you buy a piece of art, you are supporting the artist, and encouraging them to continue behaving the way in which they are.

A piece of art is crucial in learning about an artist, therefore, the artist must be crucial to understanding the art. To separate the art from the artist opens a blank space in the context, and message of the art. With this assessment in mind, I feel that to consume art, such as buying a painting, or CD, made by someone who has committed a reprehensible act is immoral and something to be avoided, because supporting that art also supports the negative behavior in which they have practiced.

Movies/TV/Theaters

‘Dune’ Movie Review

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By: Eva Olsen

This movie is set somewhere very far into the future in space. It follows the story of a boy named Paul Atreides, who has to go to a very dangerous planet to guarantee the future of his people and family. A war erupts over spice, the most precious substance in the universe, which is only found on this dangerous planet called Arrakis.

I thought the plot of this movie was very interesting but also kind of confusing. The most confusing part for me was remembering all of the names for the different planets, characters, languages, and objects. All of the advanced and futuristic technology was also really cool to see.

A lot of conflict was shown throughout this movie and most of it was revolving around politics. There were a lot of fighting scenes but they weren’t too bloody

I loved the characters and how they all had such different personalities from one another. It created a lot of suspense not knowing what characters were loyal to Paul and which ones weren’t. There were a lot of sad scenes where characters I liked died or sacrificed themselves. There were also a lot of plot twists in the movie, most of them revolving around betrayal.

The casting of this movie was good in my opinion and I recognized a lot of the actors in it. I thought the acting in it was very good. All of the costumes were very cool and I loved the attention to detail. The special effects were also very captivating and looked very realistic.

Overall, this movie was really good even though it was a little bit confusing at times. I recommend this movie if you like suspenseful action/adventure and science fiction movies. I give this movie a 9/10 rating.

If you were interested in seeing ‘Dune’, it is available in theaters, and online at HBO Max.

Tech/Games

‘Sky: Children of the Light’ game review

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By: Annika Getz

‘Sky: Children of the Light’ is an open-world, indie adventure game, available in the App Store, on the Nintendo Switch, and on the PS4. It was developed by thatgamecompany, a company famous for it’s indie explorer games, the most well known of which being ‘Journey’, which was released in 2012. ‘Sky’ was originally released for iOS in 2019. ‘Sky’ has a rating of 4.5/5 on Google Play, and 4.8/5 on the Apple App Store.

The main goal isn’t to “beat” the game, in fact, there’s not really a way to beat it at all. The game is simply about exploring, and communicating with other players. Throughout the game, you search for what the intro calls “fallen stars” which are spirits scattered throughout the map.

The lore of the universe is a bit ambiguous, though enjoyable nonetheless. The spirits are beings trapped in statue-like forms. Your objective is to find them, experience one memory of theirs, and learn from them. From each spirit, you learn a new action, such as hugging, clapping, waving, etc., as the game progresses, the actions get more complicated and fun. You can learn to flip, play hide and seek, blow kisses, and more.

There are also figures made of pure light in many places on the map. When you find these spirits, you receive wings. The more wings you get, the longer you can fly for. There are also options to customize your character’s outfit the more you progress.

There are seven realms in the game, the first being “Isle of Dawn”, the second “Daylight Prairie”, the third “Hidden Forest”, the fourth “Valley of Triumph”, the fifth “Golden Wasteland”, the sixth “Vault of Knowledge”, and the seventh “The Eye of Eden”. Eye of Eden is the final and most difficult part of the game, and the first time you face a real life-or-death situation (there are similar perils in the “Golden Wasteland” area, but it’s less high-stakes).

Overall, I think this game is great, the visuals are beautiful, and the music and sound effects do a great job immersing you in the world. The large scale of the map, and frequent editions of new seasons keep you from getting bored too quickly. The concept, though mysterious, is intriguing and enjoyable.

My main critique is that the controls aren’t the greatest. I’ve only ever played on a touch-screen, so I can’t speak as to what it’s like on the Switch or PlayStation, but as far as mobile devices go, I and others find it to be difficult to control. Moving your character, and moving your perspective, is basically the same movement, just on different sides of the screen which makes it difficult to control your movements at times.

Overall, this is a game I’d highly suggest to anyone looking for a calm, and visually beautiful adventure game: 4.5/5.

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Movies/TV/Theaters

Bachelorette Recap

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In Season 18, Episode 2, the day begins with Michelle waking up feeling great and ready to start her journey to find love. The first date is a group date with Brandon, Romeo, Rick, PJ, Will, Olumide, Casey, Danny, LT, and Peter. The theme of this date is a teacher theme.

On this date they have to answer math questions without a calculator and spell three-syllable words.

After that date, they all went to a party with Michelle. At the party, Peter got heated with Will for making fun of him for losing. At the end of the date, Brandon J. got the group rose.

The second group date involved Joe, Clayton, Rodney, Martin, Mollique, Chris S., Chris G., Pardeep, Nate, and Spencer on the basketball court. Joe shows off his moves and got invited to the after party even though his team lost, and he also got the group date rose.

The real drama began later in the episode when rumors started about whether or not Joe and Michelle dated before the show. So, Jamie decided to tell Michelle, this turned her into an emotional wreck because Jamie lied and told her everyone was talking about it all day and that some of the contestants were questioning her character.

She then confronted the guys about it, but no one knew what she was talking about so she canceled the cocktail party and skipped right to the rose ceremony. She sent home Alec, Daniel, Pardeep, and PJ. Jamie got to stay because Michelle had no idea that he lied to her, but looking at the next week promo, it looks like it might be his last.

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Tech/Games

How social media affects self esteem in teens

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By: Liv Miller

In the past decade social media has taken the world by storm. If you ask any teenager today they will tell you that they have at least one social media app downloaded on their mobile device. Social media is a great way to connect with friends, family, and meet new people. We are now able to share videos, photos, and ideas with one another faster than ever through these platforms.

Even though the creators of the most popular social media websites created the platforms to bring people together, there is a very serious issue developing through social media, specifically affecting this generation’s teen population.

With social media comes influencers. Urban dictionary defines influencer as “a prominent figure on a social media platform whom generally exchanges financial instruments or special benefits for enforcements.” While this is correct, there is another aspect of influencers on social media. To typically become an influencer you have to fit today’s societies standard of beauty.

Instagram influencers in particular focus their brand on themselves, or their looks if you will. These influencers gain a following because of how “perfect” they appear online. When people, especially young teen girls, see these influencers they start to compare themselves.

The thought process this encourages is “If she looks like that and has 100,000 followers telling her how perfect she looks, that is what I should look like to be viewed as attractive.”

Nobody is at fault for this outcome but it is what’s formed over the years on social media. A study done by a college student at Duquesne University shows to what extent teens are affected by this. When asked if they have ever been left with low self esteem after viewing someone else’s post on Instagram, 83.3 percent said yes.

This is true for other social media platforms as well. The newest and most popular social media app right now, TikTok, has various trends that people partake in. For the most part TikTok trends are harmless, usually dancing, acting challenges, ect. but these certain trends focus on unrealistic beauty standards. An example of this would be people comparing side profiles, waist size, bust, and butt size, ect. When these trends show up on teen girls pages they start comparing themselves to everyone they see, which is not good for self esteem.

Even though social media was created for good, these new issues need to be taken care of for the sake of the mental health of our youth.

Movies/TV/Theaters

‘Inception’ review

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By: Eva Olson

This movie follows the story of a spy (Dominic Cobb) who steals secrets by entering people’s dreams and extracting information. He is tasked with doing something that is nearly impossible, inception. Inception is where instead of taking something from someone’s mind, you plant an idea in someone’s mind.

This movie was very suspenseful and kept me intrigued throughout the entire movie. I loved the way the movie messed with your mind and made you question everything. I thought the pacing greatly added to the suspense and made it feel very stressful.

I thought they did a very good job with the casting and I recognized a lot of the faces. I thought the acting was also very good and made the movie feel more real.

This movie had a lot of fight scenes in it that kept me on edge the whole time. This movie definitely had a lot of scenes that used guns and knives. Although the movie was very action packed there wasn’t a lot of blood and gory violence shown up close which I liked.

The plot was very interesting and captivating. I loved how everything didn’t go exactly as planned for the characters. There were a lot of unpredictable scenes and plot twists throughout the movie.

This movie was kind of hard to follow at some points but I think that added to the anticipation of what was going to happen next. The ending of the movie was also a cliffhanger and made me wonder what would happen next if they made a sequel.

Overall, I loved the movie and it exceeded my expectations. If you are looking for an action movie that is very suspenseful and will get you thinking, I recommend this movie. I give it a 9.5/10 rating.

COVID-19, Tech/Games

How does social media affect the way people view COVID-19?

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By Ella Sutherland

Fear is a big component of COVID and social media. There is a lot of different, wrong, exaggerated, and misleading information on social media apps.

The main social media apps that became a source of that information were Twitter and TikTok. Both of the apps allow anyone to post anything on them, and a lot of the information is false. On TikTok you can make short videos, and it is mostly Gen Z. On Twitter you can make short messages called “tweets”.

Before COVID was super well known there were a lot of accusations about what COVID really was. When there was wrong information out there, it scared a lot of people, and the reason for that was that we didn’t have a lot of information from real scientists.

Social media also helped influence people in different ways on how to handle the coronavirus. Lots of people looked to popular influencers on how to handle the whole situation. Many influencers were not doing a good job of staying safe and even with them knowing that they have a big fan base that looks to them for guidance, they didn’t really seem to care. They were still going to parties and going out to eat at busy restaurants, while some of them still weren’t wearing masks.

When the COVID vaccine came out I’m guessing many of them got it, but they didn’t make that clear. However, there were a few influencers that were promoting the vaccine and making it crystal clear that they were all for it and had gotten it. Many celebrities were promoting and talking about the vaccines and masks a lot more than influencers were, which definitely increased the amount of people getting vaccines and wearing their masks. Many politicians also joined celebrities in spreading the word about masks and vaccines.

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