Everyone is already buzzing with anticipation for the third annual Sidewalk Festival of Performing Arts, which takes place in Detroit’s vibrant Old Redford and Brightmoor neighborhoods. An area devastated by the mass exodus from the city, Brightmoor has quietly transformed itself into a utopia of urban gardens, public green spaces […]
DETROIT — In 1989, while a postgraduate at Cranbrook Academy of Art, Nick Cave developed the first of his Soundsuits, for which he has become world-famous — sculptural bodysuits constructed from a range of found objects, which transform the wearer into a figure both highly visible and completely obscured. The […]
Artist: Kirsten Lund Location: Honest ? John’s Breakfast: KL – The Special (eggs, bacon, hash browns), coffee (cream) SRS – Corned beef hash, eggs over medium, rye toast with grape jelly, coffee (cream) I met Kirsten Lund the way all introverts meet other introverts—via an extrovert. In this case, Heather […]
Artist: Rose E. DeSloover Location: Whistlestop Diner (formerly Mae’s) Breakfast: RED – Breakfast burrito, coffee (cream) SRS – French toast, eggs over hard, sausage patties, coffee (cream) Before I even get to the artist part, let me say that breakfast was a major letdown. Mae’s was a great breakfast place, and somehow […]
DETROIT — It’s a quiet Sunday in Brightmoor, a northwest Detroit neighborhood that’s about as good an example as any of the city’s fall from grace — and its unofficial rebirth via urban agriculture, grassroots activism, and community-based intervention. The coming weekend will bring the third annual Sidewalk Festival to […]
Artist: Marcylen Bennett-Carpenter Location: Great Lakes Coffee Breakfast: LBC – Coffee (black) SRS – Coffee (black), croissaint (almond) Let me say that, through my own scheduling deficiencies, this coffee date with Lynn fell at the end of a particularly intensely-packed week (those keeping close score will note it is my […]
There are a number of ways to make art that is visceral and gripping. In a new body of work being presented at Playground Detroit, Cristin Richard takes a direct approach; she uses literal viscera as her starting point. Working with animal casings—translucent skins that are used to make sausages, […]
For the Creative Capital workshop I had to put together some kind of 3-minute presentation on my work. NBD, right? Well, it’s kind of hard to sum up the work of an art critic, other than to read some arts criticism, which I was definitely not going to stand up […]
Artist: Greg Fadell Location: My house Breakfast: GF – Soda water SRS – Coffe (black), soda water Here’s what happens every time Greg Fadell and I get together: two hours or more disappear. We are a deadly combination of myriad keen interest, philosopher spirit, and probably a touch of the ability […]
DETROIT — “Somewhere between architecture and a party” is one of the ways Thing Thing member Simon Anton describes his collective’s aesthetic. The rest of his fellows — Eiji Jimbo, Rachel Mulder, and Thomas Moran — smile and laugh at this assessment. We’re in the garage of the Mobile Homestead, […]