Arts

Arts

Best albums of 2022

By Henry Chandonnet, Ellie Lester, Jack Clohisy and Odessa Gaines | December 12

Just in time for the end of 2022, our editors are revealing their top moments of culture for the year, from the films that rocked their worlds to the television shows that drew them in. For today’s ranking, arts editors Jack, Henry, Odessa and Ellie give their takes for the best albums of 2022. As Ellie notes, her list is “unsolicited and sometimes incorrect opinions from a girl whose No. 2 artist this year was Bo Burnham.”

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TV

Best songs of 2022

By Henry Chandonnet, Jack Clohisy, Odessa Gaines and Ryan Fairfield | December 12

2022 was the year of music! We all had songs that drew us in, entering our rotation and populating our playlists. For the end of the year, arts editors Henry, Jack, Ryan and Odessa list their top songs of 2022. As Odessa notes, “I literally write a K-pop column, what more were you expecting from me?”

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Local

The Boston Pops bring cheer to the holiday season

By Ethan M. Steinberg | December 12

Symphony Hall was buzzing on Dec. 9 as the Boston Pops took the stage for the eighth time in as many days, in a tradition that now dates back nearly half a century. The Boston Symphony Orchestra offshoot, performing in a string of holiday concerts now through Christmas Eve, showed no signs of fatigue in their first of two concerts on Friday, as they played through the two hour show with gusto and holiday glee.

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TV

'High School' is an intimate, moving take on Tegan and Sara's 1990s adolescence

By Madeleine Aitken | December 12

Three years after Canadian indie-pop duo Tegan and Sara released a memoir called “High School” (2019), a limited series by the same name debuted, receiving a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. The show, which premiered this October, carries us through Tegan and Sara’s high school experiences. Set against the backdrop of an alternative adolescence in Calgary, Alberta, it tackles the ups and downs of their relationship as twin sisters alongside their journey into music and their queer identities, all while they learn how to be themselves. 

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Local

The importance of art education in the Greater Boston area: Artisans Asylum

By Jack Clohisy | December 8

Art education: a topic of contention in the American education system. Why is it that art education fell by the wayside when it came to institutional priorities in school programs nationwide? An emphasis on STEM? An emphasis on 'conventional' careers? The cuts to funding for art programs across the country is why some organizations and companies are pioneering new paths to provide an education to students that encompasses a broader scope of disciplines outside of the conventional academic setting. In relation to Tufts, there are many local groups who are committed to fostering a meaningful art education to anyone of any age interested.

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Arts

Artistic vandalism in the modern age: Why soup does not mix well with Van Gogh's paints

By Siavash Raissi | December 8

On March 10, 1914, 32-year-old Mary Richardson visited the National Gallery of Art in London in hopes of finally being able to view Diego Velázquez's “The Rokeby Venus” in person. Depicting a naked woman as she reclines across a luxuriously draped bed alongside a representation of Cupid, the work has a prominent place in the National Gallery’s collection as one of the only portrayals of nudity from 17th century Spanish art. Yet Richardson, a prominent suffragette of her time, did not intend to solely admire the painting at a distance. Enraged by the recent arrest of another suffragette, Emmeline Pankhurst, she began to wield a meat cleaver smuggled into the museum and attacked the canvas, leaving several gashes on the painting’s surface. Though the painting was successfully restored, contemporary writings and criticisms of the action featured heavily charged language, accusing Richardson of having committed an act as reprehensible as murder.

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Arts

Best films of 2022

By Siavash Raissi and Carl Svahn | December 7

Siavash Raissi’s top 10 movies of 2022:

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Columns

The Art of Good Soup: A hard soup to swallow

By Ellie Lester and Cole Reese | December 7

Good morrow, losers old and new. This is a little fireside chat, if you will. But instead of fire (like the literal kind … like FDR during the Great Depression core), we have fire roasted tomato soup (what they fed people during the Great Depression). We have that on absolutely no good authority … don’t fact check us. 

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Columns

K-Weekly: 'Indigo' – the portrait of Kim Nam-joon

By Odessa Gaines | December 7

“From the colors of nature, human, etc. … the last archive of my twenties.”

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TV

Best TV shows of 2022

By Nate Hall and Emmy Wenstrup | December 6

There was a lot of great TV in 2022. As the number of networks and streaming services continues to grow, it can be a challenge to decide what to watch, so we’re singling out 14 shows that caught our attention this year. With a mix of new and returning series, comedy and drama, cable and streaming, there’s something on the list for everyone.

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Columns

Queeries: I can’t have everything, but at least my mom loves me

By Saba S. | December 6

During a recent icebreaker, I was asked what my favorite arts moment of 2022 was. Not only did I not have an answer, but I could not even think of a single arts moment that occurred in 2022 that held any notoriety. I skipped my turn and the next person to answer said, “It has to be ‘Everything Everywhere All at Once.’” 

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Arts

Pop culture moments in 2022 that altered our brain chemistry

By Odessa Gaines, RaiAnn Bu and Ryan Fairfield | December 5

RaiAnn Bu’s most memorable arts moments of 2022:

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Music

Spotify Wrapped 2022: Here's what happened this year

By Jack Clohisy | December 2

On Nov. 30, Spotify released its annual streaming report popular among listeners: Spotify Wrapped. Every year, users anticipate receiving their own personalized playlists detailing their most-listened-to 100 tracks of the year, alongside a comprehensive recap of their listening trends, top genres and favorite artists. Let’s dive into some of the highlights from this year’s Spotify Wrapped.

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Columns

Looking Through the Met: China

By Ryan Fairfield | December 2

After almost a full semester, we will be concluding this column with the Met Gala that inspired it all, “China: Through the Looking Glass.” In case you were unaware, yes, the title of this column is taken from this 2015 theme, so it is a wonderful full-circle moment to end with this gala. Though the “China” gala was met with controversy, it was a night that gave us some iconic notes. “China” was also one of the most thoroughly-documented Met Galas ever — the documentary “The First Monday in May” chronicled the entire process of putting it together. The documentary is a must-see for fashion enthusiasts and Met Gala lovers everywhere.

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Columns

The Art of Good Soup: Souper grateful

By Ellie Lester and Cole Reese | December 2

You know the drill, babes. We’re back. After a brief hiatus, there were concerns that we were getting too close to the truth (the information police were after us (and by information police we mean our families (and by after us we mean we were home for Thanksgiving))). 

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Arts

Weekender: ‘The Menu,’ ‘Kimberly Akimbo’ and the death of high-concept media

By Henry Chandonnet | December 1

A gaggle of ultra-wealthy customers voyages to their private island restaurant, with courses and courses of whimsical fine dining in store. They’ll see bundles of microgreens, hits of foams and gelées, plus thousands of other incomprehensible words that are worth their weight in gold. The twist? They all must die by the end of the meal. Of course, that’s still unknown to the oblivious consumers as they set sail on their culinary dreamboat. The ensuing bloodshed and theatrics are left as a shocking dramatic irony, fated and yet unforeseen. 

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Columns

The Book Nook: ‘Just As You Are’ is a witty and hopeful lesbian rom-com

By Layla Noor Landrum | December 1

Camille Kellogg’s upcoming debut adult rom-com, “Just As You Are,” is a sapphic “Pride and Prejudice” retelling that will be published next year by Penguin Random House. Liz Baker dreams of being a novelist and telling the kinds of queer stories she never had growing up, but due to her current job as a columnist at queer magazine The Nether Fields, she barely has time to write outside of work. And just as the magazine is about to shut down for good — which would secure Liz the opportunity to work on her novel for the first time — it gets bought by two wealthy women. The two investors are Bailey Cox and Daria Fitzgerald, the latter of whom is an attractive butch lesbian. Only, when Liz meets them, she discovers that Daria is not only determined to cut costs but also hates Liz and her “fluff articles.” But the more Liz and Daria’s paths begin to cross, Liz discovers another side of Daria, one that’s much softer than she expected. And rather than hating Daria, Liz finds herself falling for her.

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Columns

K-weekly: End-of-year awards season

By Odessa Gaines | December 1

As fall finally changes into winter and the weather starts to drop (unless you live in New England, unfortunately), the end-of-year Asian award shows start to announce their nominees. One of the biggest shows, the Mnet Asian Music Awards, has been eagerly anticipated by fans around the world. This year’s MAMA theme is “K-POP World Citizenship.” 

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Arts

'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' and legacy

By Odessa Gaines | November 30

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (2022).

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Columns

Queeries: A brutally honest form of storytelling

By Saba S. | November 30

As of recently, my daily life has become an endless abyss of job applications, rent payments and checking to see if I can afford to Uber Eats some dumplings to cheer myself up. I reminisce about my golden days of carelessness and boredom: my teen years. So naturally, whenever a new teen drama comes out on Netflix, Hulu, HBO Max or any streaming platform of your choice, I binge-watch it.

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