Film Review: Emerica’s MADE – Chapter One

Banner for Emerica's Made: Chapter 1 skate video.

The video flashes the names of the three main skaters before showing an unfamiliar face. It introduces Jeremy Leabres, a half-white, half-Philipino maniac. Leabres is relatively unknown and up to this point, I had no idea he would have a part. When a kickflip to 50-50 on a 12-stair hubba is someone’s fourth trick—you know they mean business.  … read more

Guerilla Girls Lecture @ UMFA 09.12

For nearly thirty years, artist activists The Guerilla Girls have been a thorn in the side of the art establishment, working methodically, humorously and anonymously to cast light on the dismal fortunes of women and minority artists. Two of the groups’ founding members, Kathe Kollwitz and Frida Kahlo, guided Utah audiences through the Guerrilla Girls story. … read more

Jimmy Cliff @ The Depot 09.15 with Cool Jordan, Ethan Tucker

Album art courtesy of Jimmy Cliff

As I am ever the hopeless-romantic, the iconic image of Jimmy Cliff as the outlaw Ivanhoe “Ivan” Martin with the ready, go stance with guns drawn plays into my love for the rebel. My true appreciation for Cliff began with seeing him star as an aspiring reggae artist who turns outlaw (Martin) in the legendary film Harder They Come. … read more

Neko Case @ Red Butte 09.16 with Pickwick

“Summer is Over,” Case had sung as the night grew its coldest, warning us that the warmest of days are behind us. In many ways, the final concert of the Red Butte Concert Series did indeed harken the end of summer. The air is steadily cooling and the outdoor venues are steadily closing. The Twilight series has ended and USANA Amphitheater will close its doors for the season on Friday. I can’t think of a better way to welcome the sweet autumn air than with Neko Case. … read more

Film Review: Never Not Parts 1 & 2

On Monday, September 16, Nike Snowboarding hosted a 24-hour online premiere of their newest shred flick, Never Not. Directors Joe Carlino and Per-Hampus Stalhanske split the film into two parts. Part 1 is your traditional snowboarding movie with backcountry pow scenes and city rails, while Part 2 has a documentary-like focus, bringing clarity to the snowboarding wizards behind the curtain … read more

Porcelain Raft @ Kilby 09.17 with Silver Antlers, The Circulars

By the time the third song rolled around, lead singer Mauro Remiddi let the small, but active audience know that somehow his next song, “Shapeless and Gone,” had something to do with the Rocky Mountains—even though the song wasn’t written with them in mind—and that he was blown away with the landscape of Utah and Colorado.  … read more

Staging The Self with Martha Wilson

How does one begin, in this progressive moment, to speak of the work of Martha Wilson? How to explain the beauty of the work’s relentless exploration of selfhood and its defiant feminist declaration of the body as the site of art to an audience whose ideas of art have been formed by technological saturation—a material reliance on electronic screens and an everything all at once attitude towards, well, everything? … read more

Genral Jackett @ Urban Lounge with Giraffula, Max Paine and the Groovies 09.16

The stage was already set up with various props and canvasses by the time I arrived at the Urban Lounge for the Genral Jackett show on Monday night in SLC. Everything was already prepped for the small but elaborate “Hot Rod Acid Blooze” show that Genral Jackett has been performing versions of for 40-some years.  … read more