Daily Archives: May 20, 2022

Pulling Through, the title of Chris Kellys show at Gallery 444 in Provincetown, is both a nod to his Provincetown debut hes pulling through town and a reference to the act of pulling ink through a screen. The Eastham artist and designer will show a series of paintings and small sculptures created primarily through silk-screening, a printmaking process using delicate screens to transfer images onto a surface.

Kellys introduction to silk screen printing was at a motocross shop in Tampa, Fla., where he worked cleaning screens used to produce motorcycle graphics. Although the shop was far removed from the world of fine arts, it became a part of his arts education.

Through observation, he understood how they were building up the layers to create imagery, recalls Kelly. I thought it was really cool, because you get immediate results when youre doing it. After establishing himself as a graphic designer and using silk-screening in some of his projects, he returned to the technique when he started to make artwork.

Again, he found inspiration in a small-scale industrial setting. After a friend opened a wood shop in Tampa, I had access to all this wood that he had laying around, says Kelly. And so I started screen printing on it, and I did some blocks, kind of like those in the corner. He gestures to a group of small wooden sculptures in his studio. He set up a workspace on the property of his friends wood shop, eventually turning it into a gallery.

Kelly grew up in South Bend, Ind. and moved to the Cape in 2016 with his wife, Katie Emond, whose family had a house in Eastham. Here, he has continued to work as a graphic designer (including for the Provincetown Independent) and to develop his artistic practice.

In June 2020, he opened the Longstreet Gallery on Route 6 in Eastham with his friend Keith MacLelland, an illustrator and educator. The two transformed a nondescript shingled building into a stylish white-cube space, showing a roster of young artists some local, others from Kellys broad network. The gallery was a bright spot on the cultural landscape, favoring work with a colorful, clean aesthetic and blurring lines between fine art, design, and illustration. It closed in January 2022.

In the rear area of the gallery, Kelly and MacLelland shared studio space, which they lost when their landlord, Willys Gym owner Barbara Niggel, didnt renew their lease, citing an interest in developing the space, Kelly said. It is now slated to open as a beach shop and local artisan market run by Niggels son, Benten Niggel, owner of Paddle Cape Cod MA.

When you have your own gallery, you get so much immediate feedback, Kelly says, reflecting on the experience of exhibiting his own work at Longstreet along with that of other artists. I like the idea of being out with my work in a gallery setting.

At Gallery 444, which rents space to exhibiting artists, Kelly plans to be in the gallery for the two weeks of the show. Ive never worked in Provincetown, he says. Im excited.

Kelly composes his pieces using visual elements with universal recognition. Im using a language that is ubiquitous, he says. It ranges from quilt patterns to elementary circles and squares. In an exuberant orange painting, End of the Day, he composes overlapping screen printed images in a loose grid, working with universal signifiers of Provincetown, like wave patterns, No Parking signs, and Fudge, reproduced in the same font as that adorning the windows of Cabots candy shop.

He freely pulls from advertising, design history, and even the creations of his four-year-old son, Cosmo Kelly. In Blue Notes, an oblong shape reads as the cut-paper creation of a child, its dark form floating in space, engaged in a Hoffman-esque push-pull dialogue with other more hard-edged shapes. This painting, like End of the Day, is a largely monochromatic all-over composition.

Using a ubiquitous form like a circle, Kelly says, you can start to create a conversation with anyone else that used a circle. His painting Bokeh Dots of overlapping multi-colored transparent circles echoes Damien Hirsts market-friendly dot paintings.

In addition to conversing with contemporary artists, Kelly places himself in conversation with mid-century modernists, lifting shapes from Eamess shell chairs and intermixing them with imagery from other times and places. In one painting, Kelly works with a razzle dazzle pattern, a striped design painted on warships in World War I to camouflage a ships movement.

Kellys paintings are very much of the present and owe as much to design as to fine art. They recall sampling in hip hop, but also the collage aesthetic of Robert Rauschenbergs early silk screen paintings.

If you look at different items that have been designed and this goes back hundreds of years you will find this pattern, Kelly says, pointing to a design of interlocking triangles he favors in his paintings. Its very simple, right? Anyone could scratch this into a rock. Im sure people have doodled something like this on a notebook. Its something thats universal. You know it. You might have seen it. Theres something about that that I like.

Pulling Through

The event: An exhibition of works by Chris KellyThe time: May 20 to 31; opening reception Friday, May 20, 4 to 10 p.m.The place: Gallery 444, 444 Commercial St., ProvincetownCost: Free

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Screen Printing the Visual Zeitgeist - The Provincetown Independent

In the late 90s, there was a fear that a new generation who had never known a pre-Roe world was unaware of the threat that abortion might once again become illegal in the US. A group of pro-choice activists came together with the imperative to push back against the notion that abortion rights were sacrosanct, and to motivate women to remain passionately engaged in the pro-choice struggle.

Their great fear was that, with people turning their attention to other battles, the enemies of Roe might gain the upper hand.

Starting in 1998, the group including Naral, Planned Parenthood and the Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice began running ads warning of a dystopian future where Roe v Wade would be overturned. With vivid images, zeitgeist design and provocative language, the ad campaign was difficult to miss.

If I dont get under your skin and if I dont push your buttons in some way, Im just putting some paper out there, says Ellis Verdi, president of Devito/Verdi, the agency that created the ads. I need you to fight me in order to reduce your apathy.

Using the imagery associated with backstreet abortions such as wire hangers and beat-up cars, the ads attempted to embody a bygone era. One image read: Per order of the supreme court, any female who enters into a marriage shall be considered the property of her husband. Another, with a design nod to Barbara Kruger, showed an image of a young woman with tattoos and piercings, warning, Think you can do whatever you want with your body? Think again.

Now, with the court seemingly poised to overturn Roe v Wade, the ads seem chilling and prophetic.

My high school had the most pregnancies of any school in the country, says Verdi. In my teens I was arguing for daycare for these young women so that they could go to school. I actually won the argument and had the high school put in a daycare center. The biggest opposition was from the parents.

Verdi says the campaign also made a splash. The funders were extremely enthusiastic and financed the campaigns three-year run in cities across the US. And on-the-spot interviews of subway riders pre- and post-exposure to the ads showed heightened interest and involvement in pro-choice issues.

I think everyone was feeling that, postRoe v Wade, there was a tremendous increase in apathy, says Verdi. If you went to college campuses, the movement didnt have the same support system. In an environment like that, you can pretty much assume it would be easier to pass legislation or overturn Roe.

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'Think you can do what you want with your body?': vintage pro-choice ads in pictures - The Guardian

Inside a coffee shop in Silicon Valley, Palo Alto, California, a man writing code has transformed a ... [+] cafe table into a standing desk, using a portable computer rig which incorporates an ultra-thin laptop, reticulated laptop stand, and split keyboards, which the man operates with both hands, September 20, 2017. (Photo by Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

Though statistically the pandemic is starting to recede, the work-from-home culture is statistically looking like it is going to stay. Known societally as The Great Resignation, how much will this cultural phenomenon affect the media industry and society at large.

The rise in remote working is set to have an impact on numerous fields. Before the pandemic, the opportunity for remote work at high paying jobs was just over 3%. Today its at 15%. The pandemic acted as a seismic catalyst to workplace policy, with potential proof of concepts being found that people work longer and more efficiently remotely, with the next step potentially being to decrease the standard workweek to four days instead of five.

The 2021 edition of the State of Remote Work Report from Owl Labs found that 90% of 2,050 full-time employees that partook in remote working said that they were just as productive - if not more - remotely. 84% said that working remotely after the pandemic would make them happier. Most were even willing to take a pay cut.

Ultimately, numerous reports found that hybrid working conditions - with freedoms predicated around work completion - were what respondents were most satisfied with in regards to their mental health, happiness, and productivity.

Employees have left companies in droves over the past twelve months - across sectors - because of an unwillingness from firms to evolve their collective thought process when it comes to working conditions.

With the change in societal conditions, media budgets are being spread very differently juxtaposed to pre-pandemic times.

A study from Forrester Consulting, on behalf of Microsoft MSFT , found that 81% of brands now feel that social media is a much more important part of their marketing strategy than ever before due to the change in consumer habits.

75% of brands surveyed thought that search engines were more important, with online display, online video/OTT, and influencers hovering around the 60% mark among company respondents, in terms of importance.

With changing habits comes an opportunity for technology to aid in the adaptation. AI, Web3, conference calling, and cloud staffing entities have made massive gains due to the change in the zeitgeist.

BE started as a company aiming to create opportunities for people to live, learn, and earn anywhere they want. Its now on a mission to create a workplace for 1 million people from their smartphones.

BE uses AI to empower its users to run their businesses from their phones anywhere in the world. Capitalizing on the market, the company experienced sizable growth during the pandemic.

We're excited about the assets that BE has in the areas of education, fintech, travel and lifestyle. We were able to develop such rapid solutions in the face of unpredictability in these extraordinary times, and this is hopefully just the beginning of our growth. Moyn Islam, CEO of BE, affirms.

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK - Moyn Islam outside of his office building.

Ehsaan B. Islam, Chief Technology Officer of BE, continued, Exponential growth in business means developing rapid solutions over efficiency in the face of unpredictability. We will continue to seek growth as long as there is space for technological evolution in the world.

The company is specifically built to capitalize on the current market trends and with a surge in revenue, the firm is well-placed to have foresight on the future.

On the reticence of large global corporations to adapt to the new global remote working movement, Monir Islam Chief Visionary Officer of BE added, The industry is stuck in its ability to leverage modern technology to reach new people. Throwing in-person events, cold calling people, are all outdated modalities of reaching the masses. BE helps its affiliates reach more people through its advanced marketing techniques.

The Great Resignation hit many sectors in the world because people are beginning to value their quality of life more than their job. That is a major change in trend and I dont see it ever going back to the way it was, where people based their entire life around their career.

Freedom is now what workers number one goal is, and many have realized that it is very much attainable.

The pandemics effects have coincided with the furthering of the technology around web3 also, perhaps allowing more freedom and opportunity for individuals to start businesses or work remotely for a company in the future.

Moyn Islam concluded, My brothers and I are proud that were playing a pivotal role in helping hundreds of thousands of people unleash their potential.

Our company BE is all about digital innovations that harness the power of artificial intelligence, which not only allows people from all walks of life to succeed but also better their lives in general.

With our concept of Live & Learn, we have created an ecosystem that revolves around unique e-learning, live streaming and travel platforms. With our hard-earned experience, weve put together a system for others to have a taste of success.

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How Will Remote Work Effect The Media Industry - Forbes

Last night, Pennsylvania Republicans nominated a Big Lie proponent and January 6th "Stop the Steal" attendee namedDoug Mastrianoto run for governor of Pennsylvania in November. Mastriano is so MAGA that even Donald Trump was afraid to endorse him until it became obvious that Mastriano was going to win so he jumped on the bandwagon last Friday in order to keep his followers from wondering where his loyalties lie.

Kathy Barnette, the other super MAGA GOP candidate running for the open Senate seat, made a late surge but was unable to overcome her opponents, the Trump-endorsed TV celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz and his arch-rival David McCormick, a wealthy hedge fund executive with establishment credentials. That race remainstoo close to callthis morning and could be decided bylate counted mail-in ballots. Funny that.The irony is so thick it would take a chainsaw to cut through it.

So, in the big marquee primary races in Pennsylvania, it appears that one undisputedly far right MAGA candidate won despite not being endorsed by Trump himself until the last minute and the other will be won by a hair by either the Trump endorsee or a man pushed hard by the GOP establishment.

Naturally, the big question among all the political analysts is whether or not Trump still has any clout.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

He did seem to push JD Vance to the top in last week's Ohio Senate primary, but as you can see, it didn't seem to mean that much in Pennsylvania. Last weekhis chosen candidate for Nebraska governor (a fellow accused sexual abuser) lost badly, and last nightTrump's choice for Idaho Governor(a far-right candidate in the Mastriano mold) also went down in flames.

RELATED:Cawthorn's loss highlights Trump's waning influence but election deniers win big in GOP primaries

Congressman Madison Cawthorn, meanwhile, in North Carolinalost his race, after a brutal barrage of negative opposition from the GOP establishment in D.C. which decided that he'd crossed their red line whenhe publicly mentionedthat he'd been invited to cocaine-fueled orgies by members of Congress he'd always looked up to. Trump had endorsed Cawthorn and even stepped in belatedly on the day before the election to appeal to voters togive Cawthorn a second chance.So that's another one in the loss column. Soothing the wound, however, wasthe big win by Ted Buddfor Senate in North Carolina. Trump had endorsed Budd very early against the wishes of the state GOP.

So, the Trump endorsement clout game has been a mixed bag.

You can see that Trump obviously did not want to offend the MAGA voters ...

He, of course, will take credit for the wins and ignore the losses as he always does and his followers won't even notice. In fact, it seems pretty clear at this point that while they remain enthralled by Trump himself, MAGA is bigger than he is and Pennsylvania's Mastriano is its poster boy. He's more Trump than Trump.

RELATED:Leading GOP candidate for Pennsylvania governor opposes health exceptions for abortion

If there is an important story coming out of the primaries so far it's that there are two kinds of candidates in the Republican Party, those who are led around by the nose by the MAGA base and those whoarethe MAGA base. Ironically, Trump himself is one of the former. He's always been tuned into the right and far right's zeitgeist and he follows it closely. Take for instance what he said about the insurgent candidate Kathy Barnette in the days just before the election:

"Kathy Barnette will never be able to win the General Election against the Radical LeftDemocrats. She has many things in her past which have not been properly explained or vetted, but if she is able to do so, she will have a wonderful future in the Republican Party and I will be behind her all the way."

That mealy-mouthed comment was worthy of Rep. Kevin McCarthy at his most unctuous. You can see that Trump obviously did not want to offend the MAGA voters who were flocking to her. They aren't his. He is theirs.

In fact, every Republican candidate has to ensure that he doesn't antagonize the base and even if he or she is trying hard to walk the line between the less doctrinaire Trump voters and the true believers in statewide races, some positions are non-negotiable.

RELATED:Is Pennsylvania losing it? Hate groups proliferate as state GOP descends into MAGA paranoia

For instance, no GOP candidates are allowed to admit that the Big Lie is a big lie otherwise they risk alienating a huge portion of the GOP electorate. Trump started that, of course. But it's no longer really about him. It's now a MAGA litmus test a sign of respect, a sort of loyalty oath to the movement. If you aren't ready to deny reality in service to the cause, you simply aren't MAGA.

Candidates like JD Vance and Dr. Oz are willing to follow the base and do a fairly good job of sounding like they mean it. If David McCormick ekes out a win you can bet he'll have to do some fancy footwork to keep the base happy. But if you want a candidate who is the real deal, it's Doug Mastriano. Heisthe MAGA base. He's a hardcore evangelicalChristian Nationalist, retiredArmy Colonel,far-right insurrectionistandQAnon conspiracy nut. He's got it all.

And if he wins this race, he will be able to choose his own secretary of state to administer elections in the important swing state of Pennsylvania. We don't have to guess what will happen:

There is nothing curious about it. They are saying that if elected Mastriano will ensure that Pennsylvania's 20 electoral votes will go to Donald Trump or whomever they choose. They aren't even trying to hide it.

Doug Mastriano is the perfect reflection of today's GOP and you can bet they are thrilled that he has won such an important election. But just as the evangelical base happily made common cause with the libertine Trump in order to get their social conservative courts, the base will back others who are clearly inauthentic as long as they follow the party line. In the end it really doesn't matter what theybelieve in their heart of hearts, the end result is the same. The MAGA genie is out of the bottle and it's unclear if the American people will be able to put it back in.

Originally posted here:

2022 GOP primaries prove that MAGA is now bigger than Donald Trump - Salon

My friends, it has been very difficult to produce enough brain juice naturally to function as a normal person. Even things that I usually enjoy a lot, like video games, dont achieve what they used to be too much Reasons. But after spending some time with escape academy By playing around a bit and talking to the developers, I think I have the serotonin delivery system that I desperately need.

escape academy From Coin Crew Games is a narrative puzzle game curated to look like real escape rooms. You play as an escape room enthusiast who is invited to a secret academy where students can train to become the best escapees. The people at Coin Crew games actually worked on real character escape rooms, and during the bout of cabin fever caused by the pandemic, they went looking for games that recreated that experience. But they didnt really find the type of toys that scratched that particular itch, so they decided to make their back scratcher work.

It can be difficult to move something originally designed for a physical space into a digital one. There will always be a part that cant really faithfully translate from the real to the unreal, and its our brains job to suspend disbelief enough to fill that gap. One of the most attractive things about escape academy is that it sounds like a lost semi-translation of the escape room experience. I didnt feel like I was missing anything or was limited by the fact that I wasnt in a physical place. I remember feeling the same awkward angst peeking over the run counter every now and then as I made my way through a majestic looking room as I would in real rooms with real people.

The ace lawyer A series of puzzle games that I enjoyed a lot, but one of the biggest puzzle games that bothered me, Especially the latest version, is that solving questions or puzzles sometimes requires huge leaps in logic. Its a lot of A + B = D and you have no idea how the game designers got there.

One of my favorite puzzles in the demo.Coin Crew Games

But all the puzzles I played in it escape academy makes sense. It wasnt so easy but not so complicated that I couldnt follow the games logic to get to the correct answer or figure out the next step in the puzzle series as is often required in ace lawyer.

I love this kind of midstream approach to confusion because it makes you feel like a brain god. Yes, you followed the clues not too difficult and not too simple to solve this puzzle correctly. I am the Queen of Mind, salute. This kind of good vibes is priceless and hard to come by, especially in a game design culture that seems to be happy to have them The voice of the player character you have to do right away While you are recording something to do. (Im looking at him directly you Forbidden horizon west.)

While escape academyThe designers trust the players intelligence enough to let them decide this themselves, and theres also a powerful hint system that pushes players in the right direction without explicit solutions being revealed. I was actually a little annoyed because its really easy to accidentally hit the help me button when I dont need it, messing with my results.

I havent noticed the keyhole yet.Coin Crew Games

another bothers you ace lawyer is that these games will require you to go through every step of solving the puzzle even if you have already figured out the answer. Its like if I knew the answer to 32 + 3 = 9, the game would still require me to do the work of multiplying three by two and then adding three again instead of just being able to answer nine. Its slow and frustrating and at least sometimes in ace lawyerthe game will make you take even more Strange steps to get to an answer youve already come up with.

escape academy He doesnt care if you can show it work, he cares that you know the answer. In my play there were puzzles I didnt complete or clues that I could completely ignore because the game allows me to jump to the answer. I appreciate this kind of confidence to the player to solve puzzles without friction.

Im the kind who knows theyre having fun when they start mumbling to themselves. Im a square scorer, very satisfied with marking metaphorical squares and realizing that while I was talking about puzzles, I need to turn this map upside down. Movement up is movement down, movement to the left is right, I was ticking the boxes . These puzzles will definitely require some pen and paper, and having the sense of touch to write things down and cross things while solving puzzles enhances the games already very satisfying gameplay loop.

Escape Academy also offers some interesting stories as well as puzzle solving.Coin Crew Games

Escape rooms, once the pride of strip malls and the culmination of any corporate retreat, have recently lost their popularity. They had a brief, bright moment in their late teens before the pandemic made intimate gatherings where people tossed out so many solutions to breathing puzzles and yelled at each other in cramped quarters that an extremely unappealing option. And even as these activities slowly return to the zeitgeist for good or evil I dont think the escape room industry will ever return to its pre-pandemic glory. But the idea of escape rooms is still really alluring, which makes escape academy An early favorite of one of the most charming and well-rounded entries on the 2022 gaming calendar.

escape academy Releases June 28 on Xbox, Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation, and PC. But! If you are like me and need a good brain scratcher like escape academy and more ImmediatelyIt will be available to try from today until May 23 as part of Steams Cerebral Puzzle Showcase.

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Escape Academy captures the fun of escape puzzles, without the cramped rooms - BEAM Media

by

Chinasa Afigbo

Every now and again, preceding trends return to add glam to the existing culture. The latest to make a comeback is the Y2K fashion that dominated the late 90s to mid-2000s. From low-rise jeans, monochrome outfits, baby tees, and halter tops to dark lip liners, leather skirts and over-the-top everything, the retro style is back in demand thanks to the young crowd and certain creatives. We have compiled a list of six Nigerian artists living and building loudly on Y2K fashion, a trend that reminds the millennials and Gen zs of their early childhood with a zeitgeist of nostalgia and deviance.

Ayra Starr

Mavins upcoming diva is into Y2K style big time. From her music videos to her onstage looks, she loves to be in boot cut trousers, monochrome tops, baggy jeans, and all. In an interview with Notion Magazine, the self-proclaimed celestial shares the inspiration for her style,

With my fashion, I feel like growing up in two different places has influenced me, you know? Having two different cultures, two different styles, two separate, thats two worlds. Both Benin and Lagos think contrasting things about what beauty is. Having two different beauty standards in the back of my mind has blended my mind in a way thats made me very diverse. I know how to mix other things together, and I know how to express myself through art and fashion. Its so natural to me because I like to express myself through art, and music is art. Fashion is art, so it just comes very easy to me. Its not hard at all. I enjoy it a lot.

Rema

Rema is another fast-rising act from Mavin Records that embodies the Y2K style effortlessly. He can be seen in primarily baggy jeans, bumpa jackets, head warmers, baseball jerseys and more; outfits depicting the ultimate Y2K cool kid. Speaking with Dazed magazine, the Benin prodigy traces his retro style to his childhood when he used to rock his elder brothers chains and clothes. In his words, The clothes were bigger, and I was looking really different in the era of skinny jeans. I look like 2pac!

Lady Donli

Nigerian alternative artiste, Lady Donli, has built her identity, fashion and art around the distinct demeanour that identifies with the Alte lifestyle. Invariably, her style depicts the Y2K fashion; and one of her music videos, Corner is known to be highly themed around the Y2K fashion. Donli is unarguably one of the championing creatives in the Y2K movement.

TG Omori

Fondly referred to as Boy Director, TG is one of Nigerias finest and most influential music video producers. He embodies the techniques and creativity of Y2K aesthetics so well from the old school glasses to the outfits; infusing his Y2k style into his videos which makes his work stand out. The industry has come to respect TG for creating some of the edgiest and most creative videos in the country.

Cruel Santino

Santino is another fast-rising alternative singer and rapper who stands out for not conforming to the norm when expressing his art in fashion and music. Formerly known as Santi, he is credited as one of the artists at the forefront of the alte movement, who is not afraid to sound and look different. His Y2k inspired style often blends into his music and visuals because as he puts it in an interview with DJ Booth; Style goes hand in hand with the music. Its very essential and gives you the full form of expressing yourself. Visuals allow people to connect the dots and grasp the message fully. The same goes with style.

BOJ

Born Bolaji Ojudokan, he is one of the leading faces of eccentric fashion and one-third of the musical trio DRB; the originators of the alt lifestyle. Freedom to express yourself without boundaries, without the constraints of the mainstream in whatever sector, whether thats fashion, whether thats music, whether thats photography, whatever it is man, he explains in an interview with GRM Daily.As a pioneer of the movement, he lives by this; consistently repping the Y2K look and general aesthetics in his style and visuals.

Chinasa Afigbo is a creative freelance writer and a lover of nature.

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6 Nigerian Artists Riding On the Y2K Fashion Big Time - The Culture Custodian