Around Town
Gut Flora
"Gut Flora (Cerebrobacillus)," "Gut Flora (Lactogalaxius)," "Gut Flora (Glossococcus)," 2022. Installation view: Symbionts: Contemporary Artists and the Biosphere, MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, 2022. All works courtesy of the artist. Photo: Dario Lasagni
Candice Lin, Memory (Study #2),
Candice Lin, "Memory (Study #2)," 2016. Installation view: Symbionts: Contemporary Artists and the Biosphere, MIT List Visual Arts Center, Cambridge, 2022. Photo: Dario Lasagni
Autophotosynthetic Plants
Gilberto Esparza, "Plantas autofotosinthéticas (Autophotosynthetic Plants)," 2013–14. Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery.
Stripped Down: A Look Inside the Harvard Undergraduate Pole Dancing Club
The newly formed Harvard Undergraduate Pole Dancing Club seeks to "empower" its members, particularly people from "historically disempowered identities."
Dayna Altman
Dayna P. Altman, mental health advocate and the founder of Bake it Till You Make it, at her recent Nailed It decorating event in Somerville.
Baking the World a Happier Place
Bake it Till You Make it LLC, a “community based organization dedicated to destigmatizing mental illness, normalizing mental health conversation and promoting authentic healing and recovery,” seeks to connect people through food.
Jukebox Cover
The Jukebox at the Cambridge Foundry houses the voices and stories of Cambridge residents.
Vegetal Otherness
Špela Petrič’s “Confronting Vegetal Otherness: Skotopoiesis,” a video installation portraying the artist standing over a bed of cress, blocking the sun in front of her body for 18 hours and 52 minutes. Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery.
Brighton Bazaar’s Retromania: A Market ‘By Vendors, For Vendors’
Items at Brighton Bazaar’s Retromania market are engaged in a constant conversation with one another, and the line between creation and curation is often blurred.
Unicorn Cake
An attempt to recreate a reference photo unicorn cake, visible in the middle picture, during the final round of event.
Snowman cupcakes
Snowman cupcakes from the first round of the event, decorated by the winning team.
The Jukebox that Shares Stories, Not Songs
These stories are part of Jukebox, a participatory art project created by Elisa H. Hamilton, who describes herself as a “socially engaged multimedia artist.” Hamilton intends for the project to create a hub for sharing and saving Cambridge residents’ stories, especially those of the city’s residents of color.
BioArt Grows in Popularity (And on its Own)
Both Sutela’s and Lin’s works are known as BioArt, an emerging field at the intersection of life science and creative expression. The pieces are often metaphors, using biological media to make a statement and redefine the boundaries of art. Much of the BioArt on display at MIT’s Symbionts exhibit criticizes the way humans interact with the natural world.
retromania not vintage
True vintage markets tend to only take items 20 years and older, putting up a barrier for contemporary creators. Gifford and Robertson chose the name "Retromania" because the term “retro” encompasses a wider range of pieces.
Retromania Cover
Brighton Bazaar’s “Retromania: A Retrospective Expo” was held Feb. 18 and 19 at the newly opened Roadrunner music venue.
Pole Dancing Club
The Harvard Undergraduate Pole Dancing Club, which was formed this spring, offers free pole dancing classes to curious students.
retromania shopping
Items at Retromania are engaged in a constant conversation with one another, and the line between creation and curation is often blurred.
Algae Art
"Living and Dying in The Bacteriacene" by Anicka Yi, Courtesy of the artist and Gladstone Gallery.
ManRay FM
This January, ManRay nightclub returned to Central Square after 18 years since last closing its doors. We sent MMFW to investigate if its own revival has succeeded in reviving the Cambridge LGBTQ+ subculture.
The Road to ManRay’s Resurrection
ManRay NightClub originally opened in 1983, attached to another venue, Campus, which was a gay club. Therefore, at least initially, ManRay was LGBTQ+ adjacent. It was a place for the self-identified freaks and geeks, the goths and the sloths. They had more mainstream nights, New Wave and techno for the normies on Saturdays, but they also had nights for all kinds of weirdos (non-derogatory): BDSM and fetish nights, fashion shows, art exhibitions. It was a big deal.
With Sound Museum Set to Close, Allston-Brighton Musicians Seek New Stage
As Allston-Brighton’s Sound Museum prepares to close in late February, neighborhood musicians are seeking alternative rehearsal spaces.
Behind the Scenes at Lowell Tea
It’s a Thursday afternoon in the Lowell House Faculty Deans’ kitchen, and bakers are whisking, sifting, and pre-heating in anticipation of a beloved house tradition: Lowell Tea.