‘Arts’ Archives
CHROMAKOPIA Is A Gorgeous, Wowing Album That Encapsulates the Time We Live In
By ARABELLA FRACISCO Part III of III Part II Part I Arabella Fracisco’s original review first appeared in the November 2024 issue of The Southerner, a student-written and student-produced newspaper at South High School in Minneapolis. The Southerner can be found online at www.shsoutherner.net. Editor’s Note: The last 2 months the alley featured the first 10 tracks of Arabella’s thoughtful and inviting review of CHROMAKOPIA. This month we conclude with the final four tracks. Thought I Was Dead is the eleventh track on the album and is about Okonma embracing his provocative persona, bringing up past controversies and expectations addressing them in his own playful yet rebellious way. “Everything I said I do, I did. Talk my shit? I sure damn will. You ain’t like that shit? I’ll do it again.” The track also features ScHoolboy Q and Santigold, their verses elevating the song. The twelfth track on the album, Like Him, featuring Lola Young, beautifully [...]
LOST AND FOUNDRY
By DAVE MOORE I picked up a brick from the edge of the demolition,carried it home and set it on my porch,one small piece of that hated Smith Foundry. Forty years of smelling its burnt iron reek,closing windows in summer, eyes smarting,hearing my sensitive partner coughing::::Talked to pollution agency ginks,went to meetings, marched in protest,the whole neighborhood wheezing with asthma.Finally resigned to accepting the horrible stench,either live with the bitter fumes or move.And then:::: and then::::after decades of violations,initialed regulators finally heard us.Smith Foundry shut down. With barely any notice::::heavy scoops began to batter the walls,pouring water on noise and concrete as it crumpled.Now its tall stack lies smokelessly sideways::::Spring air carries the last remnants of dust. So I picked up the brick and brought it home,As if I had torn it out with my own hands.The air, of course the air is still dirtyfrom combustion engines whizzing past the site,but [...]
Thrones Eye View- Part IV The East Bench
The East Bench. Photos by Laura Hulscher The city has announced it is dismantling Touchstone Plaza at Peavey Park due to deterioration and safety concerns. Also known as “The Thrones,” the Phillips landmark sits at the northeast corner of the park, at the intersection of Franklin and Chicago. The sculptures were the product of a multi-year collaboration between the late artist Rafala Green, community members, and more than 80 local youth employed by the project in the 1990s. “Thrones” is a reference to a poem by Louis Alemayehu mounted on a plaque near the entrance. As a goodbye, the alley is featuring photos of each of the Plaza’s sculptural elements every month through June.
