Normally, this is the type of thing we’d put in our High In: New York newsletter, but since that’s been on hiatus for a while, I’ll subject all non-New Yorkers to it as well. I had never heard of Puppetopia 2024, let alone 2023 or 2022, but now I’m very intrigued by the whole thing. The four featured shows—two closing this weekend and two opening next week—have some seriously heady plots that you can read more about out here, meaning only one or two of them are suitable for children. So if you’re an adult who likes to explore the deeper meaning of life through puppetry (not a knock!), you’ve got a lot of theater to take in right now. Maybe go easy on the edibles or mushrooms, though. -DW |
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Also closing this weekend is “Glass House,” an immersive art performance in Los Angeles. The multiday piece is a collaboration between Volta Collective and artist Gbenga Komolafe, and part of this year’s Whitney Biennial. Each performance features audience participation, so if you go, wear comfortable clothes (as if people in LA have any other kind of clothes). -DW |
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Speaking of dance and heady performances, lastly we have “Kangaroo Time (Club Edit),” this year’s annual Dance Your Ph.D. contest winner. Is it the best song ever recorded? No. Is it the best song ever recorded about the intricacies of kangaroo socialization? I have to believe so. It’s surprisingly catchy and has been stuck in my head all afternoon. For what it’s worth, I watched the runners up and, no offense to the very intelligent people behind the videos, but you can definitely skip them. -DW |
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After a very long stint of bong-only smoking, I’ve been having a bit of a pre-roll renaissance lately. At the top of my regular 5:30 PM rotation are Stone Road’s Strawberry Banana Hybrid joints, which deliver a potent and peaceful high that makes you feel just like you, but way better. -VvP |
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Hat tip to Claire and Erica’s A Thing Or Two newsletter for both introducing me to Mr. Wash and alerting me to his show at Jeffrey Deitch Gallery in Los Angeles. Fulton Leroy Washington, a.k.a. Mr. Wash, is a self-taught artist who began his practice while wrongfully incarcerated for a drug conviction. Mr. Wash spent 21 years in Leavenworth prison before his sentence was commuted by President Obama. The exhibition, on through March 30th, features both his current works and many of the pieces he completed while imprisoned. This includes his ongoing teardrop series, which you may recognize from the portrait of C.J. Rice he painted for the November 2022 cover of The Atlantic. For a little more backstory on Mr. Wash, I highly recommend this short film (don’t let the fact that it was made by WeTransfer deter you). -VvP |
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I was very excited to see the long-awaited launch of And Repeat earlier this week, a new platform and brand dedicated to mental health. Co-founded by beauty editor turned advocate Jayme Cyk, And Repeat features carefully and thoughtfully manufactured products as well as “Open Book” interviews on the topics of stress, anxiety, focus, body image, self worth, and more. I’ve also been hunting for a cute travel pill case for a while, so this checks all my boxes. -VvP |
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