Boston Compass #151

An

MICE, the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo, is back, live and in person

Since 2010, MICE has been an annual community celebration of creativity and expression – the biggest and longest-running independent comics festival in New England. Now, after a 2-year pandemic hiatus, the show will return on October 22 - 23 to a new venue: Boston University’s Fuller Building, at 808 Commonwealth Ave. Boston, MA. As ever, MICE will host a dazzling and diverse crowd of independent comics creators from Boston and beyond. Over 180 exhibitors will gather to share and sell an enormous range of comics, from hand-crafted zines to published graphic novels. Best of all, MICE is free and open to all ages!

Not to be missed is MICE’s free-to-all extensive programming which includes hands-on workshops, where beginners can get an introduction to the medium of comics, and even experienced creators can explore the craft from inking to Risograph printing. Panel discussions explore themes and issues in independent comics today such as challenged LGBTQIA+ graphic novels and a spotlight on the Puerto Rican comics scene.

Special Guest creators include Sara Alfageeh (Squire), Gale Galligan (The Babysitter’s Club), Joel Christian Gill (Fights), Malaka Gharib (I Was Their American Dream), Alex Graudins (Improve), Maia Kobabe (Gender Queer), Jarrett J. Krosoczka (Hey Kiddo), Marika McCoola (Slip), Dave Ortega (Días de Consuelo), Aatmaja Pandya (Slip), Steenz (Heart of the City), and Molly Mendoza (Skip).

Don’t miss this fun and inclusive community arts festival with free admission! MICE will be held on Saturday, October 22 from 11am6pm, and Sunday, October 23 from 11am - 5pm, at the Fuller Building of Boston University, 808 Commonwealth Avenue in Brookline. Masks are required!

www.micexpo.org

When: October 22 - 23

Where: Boston University

Arts and Culture

Enter the Boudoir: Queer Arts Collective Keeps the Beat Alive w/ Monthly Events

Boudoir is a queer arts collective that organizes unforgettable underground events, blending dance music with other art forms to foster a vibrant and sustainable queer community in Boston. Founded in 2019, the collective consists of five of the city’s hottest and most beloved DJs: Adam Unknown, Bricklayer, Math3ca, Ms. Mango, and Mx. Blaire. “Having five of us on the team allows us to combine our individual creative inspirations and come up with something that feels fresh and unexpected,” Bricklayer notes. Boudoir’s music tastes, grounded in house and techno, mirror the dynamism and diversity of the collective as well as the trendsetting audiences who come to dance the night away. After all, the dance floor is a site of possibility and transformation. As Mx. Blaire says, “we build spaces for queer folks to gather, to be in community, to love. It’s important because so much healing can happen.” Besides its monthly parties at Union Tavern in Somerville, Boudoir has hosted popup events at some of the city’s most desirable venues, from the ICA Boston to Garage B to Boiler Room at Big Night Live. “We’ve grown,” Adam Unknown observes, “but our core party ethos hasn’t changed in terms of intended audience, music, and freedom of expression.” Nevertheless, the party is a response to the scarcity of queer spaces in the cityscape. According to Math3ca, “the lack of dedicated queer spaces has to do with gentrification as well as hyper-restrictive liquor laws. Allowing underground events to have access

to more venues will allow a new queer scene to thrive.”

How does Boudoir envision its future? Ms. Mango, for one, is excited for the party to expand while it continues to meaningfully use art to cultivate pleasure, intimacy, and togetherness: “Whether it’s more folks coming to our parties or having the opportunity to play at larger venues, I hope we can continue to give more safe spaces to queer people who want to hear good music.”

See you at Union Tavern on October 1st!

—Boudoir,

LAYOUT

Phoebe Delmonte: p.1, 4,

Hannah Blauner: p.2, 3, 7

Adrian Alvarez: p.6, 8

I simply couldn’t let 2022 pass by without writing about Diz’s ULTRA.VIOLET. This album blasts sonic realms with soulful, compelling rhymes and masterful rhythms and melodies combined. Released in February, Diz created melancholy masterpieces in the local and online underground rap world. The former member of a teen hip hop collective, Illegal Advisory, Diz shows off his individual creativity and evolving solemn lyricism. With features from Cambridge local Young Wabo and Louisiana artist/rapper Wakai, ULTRA.VIOLET makes for an enthralling and profound journey track-to-track.

A remarkable factor of this album is how skillful the single selection is for this album.

Starting off the promo is REST. Evoking what we all need right now, REST is an immersive track that soothes the body and mind better than any strain on the market that I’ve tried. With smooth vocal samples and light percussion, this track makes it perfect to lay

down and close your eyes. Following that is One Step Closer. Featuring Young Wabo, this track is the ray of light awakening you from your 1-minute and 55 seconds power nap: just enough to get you out of your bed or couch without being too bright. One Step Closer signifies another step toward the next single, Fair Weather. This song is ULTRA.VIOLET’s signature symphonic epic; passionate energy and delivery embodies every second of this track, in production, lyricism, and vocals. Masterfully crafted and marketed, yet spares no authenticity in the process.

ULTRA.VIOLET as an album flows just as well from start to finish, making an anomaly I’m all here for.

P.S. The songs are available on TikTok, so if you want to see segments of Fair Weather, All Is Good, and more, used in creative and sometimes hilarious ways, do tune in.

AFFECTED ACCENT

I first heard of the LA-based band Automatic when a song from their debut album Signal was played on NJ free-form radio station WFMU. I was immediately hooked. More recently, I was able to visit Soul Jazz Records in London, and Automatic was predominantly displayed among their expertly curated selection. And now, Illegally Blind (who never books a bad show) is presenting Automatic at the Lilypad in Cambridge on October 18th. That is three gatekeepers of good taste giving their endorsement—more than enough to warrant a listen.

Automatic hits that sweet spot of being simultaneously catchy, gritty, punk, newwave, DIY, polished, danceable, and chaotic. There was a magical time in the history of music when the 70s underground met the mainstream pop of the 80s, when for a brief moment everything that was great about 70s punk was able to coexist with a more catchy, polish, slower, mainstream sound. Automatic takes that moment as inspiration, and they hit the mark perfectly.

A sparse three piece, drummer Lola Dompe lays out steady, driving, mid-tempo beats, creating a perfect foundation for Halle Saxon’s bass lines, which are the star of the show. Both Signal and Automatic’s new album Excess start with brilliant bass lines that immediately draw you into the album and set the tone for everything that follows. Layered on top of this incredible rhythm section is Izzy Glaudini’s synths that run the spectrum from expansive sonic blankets to startling hammer blows.

Automatic named themselves after a song by the Go-Go’s, the only all-female rock band to have written and played instruments on an album that reached #1 in the US. I am not sure if Automatic will reach such heights, but it is incredible to me that they are playing in a space as small as the Lilypad. By all accounts they should be selling out larger venues in Boston. And hopefully they will one day, and those of us with enough sense to see them at the Lilypad on October 18th will be able to say we saw them before they got big.

Los Angeles DIY Band, Automatic, Brings Eclectic Indie Rock To Cambridge

-------------------

MICHAEL MAMBRINO

STEVE B.

REP HOUSE RECOMMENDATIONS

Tsai Ming-Liang Retrospective • Harvard Film Archive, until 10/21

Part of what interests me about director Tsai Ming-Liang is the fact that he’s been able to have such a long and productive feature film career making the kind of difficult, outlandish work that he does. His movies bridge the gap between gallery video art and narrative commercial cinema in a way I haven’t encountered in any other single film, let alone an entire body of work. These films, which he started making in the early 90s, are mostly set in Taiwan, focusing on listless outsiders in beautifully decaying environments (such as the ticket seller in the cavernous movie theater of “Goodbye, Dragon Inn”). His characters are often crushingly lonely, and this loneliness is heightened by the fact that it’s often unclear how (if at all) these people are connected in the narrative.

I think it’s safe to say that most general audiences would consider Tsai Ming-Liang’s work to be particularly difficult. His films have long stretches with no clear action or emotion, bursts of negative emotion when feelings are expressed, and a fascination

with the abject (puking, mysterious illnesses, chronic pain/injury, and strange sexual encounters, especially in “The Hole” and “The River”). They also contain precisely composed static shots of characters barely moving or speaking for several minutes at a time, and in one case the film lingers on an empty room long after the protagonist has left. The final shot of “Vive L’Amour” is a close up of a woman crying on a bench for 6 minutes. These elements might not sound that demanding if you’re familiar with other works of “slow cinema.” But I’ve found that films by other directors in that “genre” reorient your expectations and put you on their wavelength in a way that doesn’t happen for me while watching Tsai’s work, possibly because elements of his movies (especially the earlier ones) are packaged in a way that more closely resembles the usual non-slow Hollywood cinema.

Andrei Tarkovsky films are slow too, but they carry you along with hypnotic music, dreamlike imagery, and grand movements

that are absent from Tsai’s aggressively hyperreal work. Apichatpong Weerasethakul stages locked off wide shots for extended periods as well, but the settings tend to be mythic/supernatural in a way that makes them more charged. And Béla Tarr, along with the two directors mentioned above, has movies so immediately different from usual non-slow cinema (such as his 8 hour plus “Sátántangó”) that you have some idea what to orient your expectations to. Tsai’s movies feel slower and more frustrating to me than almost anything else I’ve seen, but I find myself still thinking about them (and looking at images from them) long after they’re done. The frustration I get from them can be exciting, and I feel attentive to their amazing visuals and sound design in a more open way than when I’m watching other films.

His one film I unreservedly love and recommend is 2003’s “Goodbye, Dragon Inn,” a love letter to moviegoing set in a Taipei cinema during a torrential downpour as it shows King Hu’s wuxia classic “Dragon

Inn.” With almost no dialogue it follows the movements of the ticket girl, the projectionist, a gay Japanese tourist cruising for other patrons, and various audience members, some of whom may or may not be ghosts. “Goodbye, Dragon Inn” is one of the first movies showing as part of the Harvard Film Archive’s Tsai Ming-Liang retrospective this October. They’ll be showing several of his features through the 21st, along with some of the video art that he’s created since announcing his retirement from narrative filmmaking in 2013 (a retirement he broke with 2020’s “Days”). Tsai himself will be at the HFA for Q&As following screenings on October 10th and 14th, along with actors and producers from recent projects. I’ll be interested to hear about how he’s been able to navigate such a seemingly unlikely career, crafting so many deeply weird and iconoclastic films that have been able to be seen in cinemas and festivals around the world.

PLATFORMS is back! I been struggling to keep up with my writing (you writers & content creators know what I’m talking about!) but I’m back in the paper for issue #151 with two outstanding platforms you cannot be sleeping on. The first is a biweekly, in-person event in Brockton covering artists all over MA and New England, putting them in a room with influencers and media champions for real feedback and genuine connections. Introducing THE TESTING LAB, presented by The SoundLab and TheMuseumTV. Second, we give a nod to the super-consistent and exceptionally tied-in community podcast SHOW AND TELL BOSTON out of Nubian Square. Both platforms share a lot in common, namely that their organizers and activists are staples in the community and doing great things for their people. Check em out, support em— and thanks for picking up BCN #151.

“10 artists, 1 panel, 1 million connections” is a pretty ambitious description, but when you consider that The Testing Lab (TTL) was created by scene pillars at TheMuseumTV and The SoundLab, it’s entirely accurate and inspiring, to say the least. There is really nothing else like this special event in the region. There are some dope networking events, competitions, panels, and regular shows out there spotlighting artists, but none of them are all-in-one like the Lab. Another reason TTL is unique: this epicness is BIWEEKLY, which again, isn’t surprising given the consistency the two platforms behind it demonstrate, but it stands out as a regular thing artists can count on because we need that! It’s now been about 9 months since TMTV and SoundLab launched this platform, and it’s already responsible for millions of

connections and limitless inspo. If you’re an artist or creative, do yourself a favor and tap in to THE TESTING LAB, every other Tuesday evening at The SoundLab in Brockton, MA. Whether you’re an artist, writer, photographer, or a fan trying to discover the next great talent in our community, you now have your next must-attend event lineup. Scope the links below, subscribe, follow, smash the likes and hit us up to organize a carpool out there some Tuesday. October Testing Labs should be October 11th and 25th but always double check your dates, friends—things happen. BIG things!

THE SOUND LAB @thesoundlabma

THE MUSEUM TV @themuseumtv

#TheTestingLab

#BrocktonMA #BostonArtists

#NewEnglandArtists

#Platformsfortheculture

Show And Tell Boston Podcast

We are fortunate to have so many great podcasts in Boston and they should all be a little more like Show And Tell Boston. They started in 2021 as a couple friends from Boston coming together to share their work and talk about their artistic journeys. Soon after the event was finished they realized there was a demand for creative individuals that needed an outlet to express themselves. They promise and deliver live showcases and “Boston’s most honest conversations,” a much-needed platform for community members, artists,

and independent businesses. Beyond the content itself, we just admire the consistency and commitment to covering an exceptionally diverse mix of people and culture, hosting weekly discussions on fun and tough topics and quarterly showcases for artists to display their work. In the few months alone they have shared deep convos with a local amatuer fighter, elected officials, and dancers celebrating the rich history of Krump in Boston. “Facilitating the tough and fun conversations nobody wants to have” can’t be easy, but this crew sure makes it look easy with their impressive output, thorough dives into the culture, and coverage of artists and activists we know and love in the community. Subscribe, follow, and like their stuff to discover a little bit more of the city you didn’t know about, thanks to real, hard-hitting conversations with extremely engaging visuals to match. Show & Tell Boston values the community & its members, honest dialogue, and the freedom to express your voice in harmony. It has become a safe haven for local artists to come together. We love to see it!

SHOW AND TELL BOSTON

@showandtellboston showandtellboston@gmail.com

#ComeMeetTheFamily

#BostonPodcast

#BostonArtists

---------------------------------------------------- LOU COLLIER

THE TESTING LAB (Presented by The Soundlab & The MuseumTV)

more

**We strongly encourage all to take careful precaution when going out to public events! Follow the venue’s requirements regarding vaccination/ negative Covid tests! Always double check the event online just in case they need to cancel!**

10/18 Absurd Condition, The Kulling, Manuel Barbara, Sadha @ Midway Cafe 7:30pm 21+ $5

10/19 Songwriters in the Round. Four songwriters, trading songs and swapping stories. @Arts at the Armory 7PM All Ages $10 **every first and third Wednesday*

10/20 FIND OUT Event series for musicians & artists to try out new ideas every 3rd Thursday of the month. Every show is a partial benefit for radical community orgs @First Church, JP 8PM All Ages $10 @f_i_n_d___o_u_t

local new music you need to check out!! I hear they take submissions too! @itslitboston Also on Youtube and SoundCloud

performance art

10/5-10/16 Step Afrika! brings their inspiring percussive show Drumfolk to Boston, exploring the history of how stepping evolved when African Americans had their drums taken. Tix at ArtsEmerson. org $25+

10/31 Halloween (1978)

@Coolidge Corner Theatre 7pm All Ages $13-15

10/31 Arts at the Armory and ONCE Presents: The Rocky Horror Picture Show with The Teseracte Players @Arts at the Armory 7pm All Ages $25

Wenham Street Cinema is a free theater in a JP garage. They aim to build community through film and informal gatherings. Donations very optional! Showtimes at @wenhamstreetcinema

(informal) weekend of experiencing art, growing friendships and enjoying all our neighborhood has to offer! Come view what our members have been making! On view 10/1410/16 12PM-6PM @FPAC Gallery, Boston

Shared Habitat Earth is an art exhibit and a call for action, and it is returning to Boston’s Waterfront! SHE suggests cross species respect, intercultural solidarity, and a shared sense of responsibility. It celebrates the beauty of nature and exposes the dramatic impact of human activity on the environment. On view 9/1712/10 Sun-Sat 7AM-10PM

music & audio visual art

10/1 Pine St Inn Benefit with The Welch Boys, Chris Doherty of Gang Green, and more @Midway Cafe 8pm 21+ $25

10/2 Bat House, MAITA, Kind Being @O'Briens 8pm 21+ $12-15

10/4 Bars Over Bars Hip Hop Showcase featuring local artists! Every first Tuesday of the month @ Midway Cafe 7:30PM 21+ $10

10/5 Rong, Sink, Foxfires, Death Defier, Zipper @Distant Castle, Worcester 8PM $5 18+ Masks required inside

10/5 Songwriters in the Round. Four songwriters, trading songs and swapping stories.

@Arts at the Armory 7PM All Ages $10 **every first and third Wednesday**

10/6-10/9 HONK! Festival of more than 20 Activist Street Bands is back with its irresistible sounds and spectacle of outrageous and unruly brass bands and percussion ensembles, accompanied by gigantic puppets, flag twirlers, street dancers, stilt walkers, hula hoopers, and bike ballets. 4 days, many performances! Check out their website for the schedule and if you’re looking to help out they are looking for volunteers!

www.honkfest.org @Outside all over Cambridge and Somerville! All ages FREE

10/6 bedtimemagic, Fracture Type, Dropbear, Miracle Blood @O'Briens 8pm 21+ $10-12

10/7 Vertebrae X Break-fast Present: Morelian, Adam Unknown, Brianna Paon, MX. Blaire and more! @The Lowell Level, Cambridge 10PM-2AM $15-25 21+

10/7 Illegally Blind Presents: SPLLIT, Birthday Ass @Lilypad 10PM All Ages $12

10/8 Roger Clark Miller: "Eight Dream Interpretations for Solo Electric Guitar Ensemble."

@Lilypad 7:45pm All Ages $ome Cost (tix at door)

10/8 Electronic Eclectic w/ Brandie Blaze, Andre Obin, Violet Nox + more @O’Briens 8pm 21+ $10-12

10/9 Mega Mass Presents: Artist Showcase! Every second Sunday of the month! Sign up to perform!

@The Jungle 9PM-12AM All Ages FREE

10/9 Non-Event Presents: Greg Stuart (solo percussion)

@Goethe-Institut Boston 7:30pm All Ages $10-15

10/12 Fully Celebrated Orchestra w/ Steve Fell + The Lonesome Land Trio @Midway Cafe 8pm 21+ $10

10/12 Stud Count (PA), Utmost (NYC), PCP & The Knives, Fraud, Perfectly Lethal @O’Briens 8pm 21+ $12-15

10/13 Illegally Blind Presents: Snooper, Silicone Prairie, Waste Man @Lilypad 10PM All Ages $15

10/17 JRCG (Performed by Dreamdecay Music Group), DJ Eight, Gastric Lavage, Velvet Dreaming @O’Briens 8pm 21+ $12-15

10/18 Illegally Blind Presents: Automatic @Lilypad 7PM All Ages $15

10/21 HALLOWEEN BASH: Local performers compete for best performance and best costume! Expect local vendors and food too! Presented by Hustle Killer @Sammy’s Patio, Revere 8PM-2AM 21+ $10adv/$20door

10/22 4752 FEST featuring Blues Dream Box, Garrison Fortress, Germ House, Milky Maze, Picniclunch, Jacquelyn Roy, Shock Value and more! A one day 9 hour music festival featuring 13 acts, 6 venues all in downtown New Bedford, MA. FREE

10/23 DNA in the Lab Cypher #18 Calling all MCs and rappers if you got 32 bars & $25 hit up @cuberef on Instagram. Check out past episodes by searching DNAMUSIC57 on Youtube.

10/23 Lady Pills, Little Fuss, and Olivia Sisay @The Rockwell 6pm 18+ $15

10/23 Nightfeeder, Mountain Man, Black Beach, Chained, Sink @ Ralphs Rock Diner 8pm 21+ $10

10/26 ONCE Presents SKALLOWEEN: Sorry, Ma! as The Replacements, Battle Mode as Daft Punk, Threat Level Burgundy as Aquabats and more! Costume contest is happenin’ so throw on your best! @The Rockwell, Somerville 7PM $15/20 All Ages

10/26 Duma, Masma Dream World, Xen Chron @O'Briens 9pm 21+ $17-20

10/28 Open Mic presented by Fort Point Arts Community Last Friday of every month!

@Assemblage Art Space 70a Sleeper St. Boston 5PM-9PM All Ages @fortpointarts

10/29 Rosewater Records Presents Paper Lady, Babehoven, Joyer, Mingko @The Tourist Trap 8PM *Costumes required!* $7-10 18+

10/29 ONCE Presents Halloween Cover Extravaganza: The music of David Bowie, The Cure, Siouxsie & The Banshees, and The B52’s performed by some of your favorite Boston all stars. @The Center for Arts at the Armory Performance Hall, Somerville 7PM $15/20 All Ages

10/30 Scrunchies, Pink Lids, BAABES @O'Briens 9pm 21+ $10-12

Darry’s Corner Bar Open Mic hosted by The Mastadonis Project Open to all vocalists and instrumentalists every Thursday 7PM @Darry’s Corner Bar + Kitchen, Boston. Reservations encouraged.

Queeraoke: Join EVERY Thursday and break into song with supa dupa karaoke tracks and bursts of ferocious dance sets by our own DJ Summer's Eve & DJ Moxie.

@Midway Cafe 8PM 21+ $8

TheMUSEUM TV + The Soundlab present The Testing Lab a bi-weekly event where local musicians can perform their original music and get feedback from a panel of experts! Spots fill up fast so make sure to stay in tune @thesoundlabma or email thetestinglabma@gmail.com

ItsLitBoston Podcast has a dope new Spotify playlist called “ItsLitBoston Presents: VIBES FROM THE STATE” updated weekly with

Thru 10/8 Heroes of the Fourth Turning by SpeakEasy Stage Company @BCA. Tix at Speakeasystage.com $25

Thru 10/9 The Lyric Stage brings the laughter in Lynn Nottage’s Fabulation, or, The Re-education of Undinea, a comedy about a woman who seemingly loses everything only to move back home. Tix at LyricStage.com $15+

10/7-10/8 Common Circus: Boston Dancemakers Residency Showcase: a three-ring exploration of the mundane, in which common tasks and notions will be shown through a lens of performance and spectacle by Kimberleigh Holman @Plaza Theatres, Boston 8PM $25 All Ages www.bostonarts.org

10/29 ALIVE: An original, dynamic dance-theatre experience with immersive elements and live music @Hibernian Hall, Boston 7:30PM9PM $20-25 All Ages

10/5 Open Armory is an open mic for all performance practices. Sign up at 7PM. Every first Wednesday of the month @Arts at the Armory 7PM-10PM All Ages Free

9/9-10/8 Heroes of the Fourth Turning by SpeakEasy Stage Company @BCA. Tix at Speakeasystage.com $25+

10/21 Subcontinental Drift Boston (SubDrift) Open Mic Through regular open mics on the Third Friday of each month and other programming, they create space for powerful artistic expression and collaboration. All are welcome! Please fill out the form at www. subdriftboston.contactin.bio/ if you're interested in performing. @subdriftboston @Democracy Center 7PM-11PM

Thru 10/23 Head to the Central Square Theatre for Ada and the Engine, the next installment of MITproduced plays that feature littleknown women in the sciences. Tix at CentralSquareTheatre.org $19+

10/26-10/30 Bill Irwin’s one man show, On Beckett, delves into the cultural impact of legendary playwright Samuel Beckett @ Arts Emerson. Tix at ArtsEmerson.org $25+

Comedy At The Jungle Peter Lio hosts a comedy open mic with a lineup of great Boston comedians every Tuesday

@The Jungle 9:30PM 21+ $ome Cost

Duck Duck Goofs Presents Night School $4 Drinks. The funniest comedians. A true late night show. Enter through the hidden door on the side of the building, and walk into an abandoned classroom that we've transformed into a speakeasy. Every Saturday night! @Cambridge Community Center 8PM + 10PM 21+ $15

Duck Duck Goofs Presents Goofs Underground: Comedy Under the Cantab Every Thursday enjoy local comedians, live music openers, and drink specials @Cantab Lounge Basement 8PM 21+ $10

&

10/7 Friday Night at the MoviesBeetlejuice (1988)

@Loring Greenough House Lawn 7pm All Ages $5-7

The Great Camouflage by Joiri Minaya features three new largescale photographic collages; never before exhibited paintings, photographs, and wallpaper; and the video Sábila / Leche. In this exhibition, Minaya explores her relationship to changing landscapes as a migrant, a diasporic subject, all while grappling with the contested and intertwined colonial histories of the Caribbean and the Northeast United States. On view 10/5-11/13 with opening reception 10/5 6PM8PM @Praise Shadows Art Gallery, Brookline

Project Room No. 2: Azadeh Tajpour is a multidisciplinary artist born in Tehran and based in Boston. This installation is based on camera footage that documents an encounter with a US border patrolman in front of a library, while he was preventing a family from meeting inside the library. Each piece in this installation represents a part of that footage. On view 10/8-11/12 Wed-Sat 1PM-6PM @ BCA Mills Gallery, Boston

10/9 Shapeshifting Pop-up Group Show & Joint Performance: a group show & performance piece in a constant state of change. Chosen artists will install their work where they wish prior to the public showing. During the event, a certain song will play every 20-30 minutes advising artists to pause what they are doing and move the location of their piece again and again. The show aims to place these works in a transitory process. Readings and performances will take place between shifts. Curated by Maya Rubio & Gabi Abrao @ Gallery 263, Cambridge 6PM-9PM

10/13 Life Drawing a monthly drawing session, which features a live nude model and a fun & welcoming environment for people of all skill levels to hone their craft. Artists must provide their own materials. Proof of vaccine is required. @Jameson & Thompson Picture Framers, JP 6:45PM $15

Dreamscapes: Finding the Light Through Immersive Design Boston-based artist and filmmaker Jaina Cipriano constructs emotive and enveloping experiences for viewers with her installations and photographs. Through illusionistic set designs – devoid of any digital manipulation – Cipriano’s work wrestles with themes of trauma, grief, and self-discovery. On view until 10/13 Tues-Sat 11AM-5PM

@808 Gallery

Hopscotch, layered with meaning, is imbued with physicality, psychology, entertainment, and challenge. This multimedia exhibition marks the grid in a child’s game of Hopscotch as a starting point. It quickly diverges into various topics, including play, gender, mathematics, philosophy, literature, and art history. The exhibition plays Hopscotch by evoking movement and conveying a sense of passing through geographical areas or fields of endeavor. On view 10/5-10/29 with opening reception 10/16 4PM-6PM

@Wedeman Gallery, Newton

Fort Point Arts Community Open Studios will welcome Boston area residents, as well as visitors from afar, into their spaces for a casual

@The Gallery at Atlantic Wharf

“Art Therapy” features works by Meclina and Amy Ford that will focus on the important theme of art as therapy, for both the artist and the audience, through their unique figurative styles. Their colorful works illustrate the explorative role that art can play in our lives, while also providing a sense of shared emotional connection with the viewer. On view until 10/30 @ Beacon Gallery, Boston

10/16 MICE Preview Party Celebrate the return of MICE with the Boston comics community! Featuring MiniGrant Winners, new comics debuting at the show, and local special guests: Dave Ortega, Alex Graudins, Joel Christian Gill and Marika McCoola. @Hub Comics, Somerville 4PM-7PM

10/22-10/23 The Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE) is New England’s premier independent comics event focused on celebrating comics as a creative medium and expressive art form. MICE runs hands-on workshops for cartoonists of all ages and skill levels, engaging panel discussions on the craft and creation of comics, and features acclaimed special guests from around the world. @The Fuller Building at Boston University. Sat 11AM-6PM Sun 11AM-5PM All Ages FREE Masks Required

An Empty Zine is a collection of art, photography, poetry, and prose, inspired by a specific theme with the intention to explore and experiment with the ways that texts and images can interact and intersect with each other and most importantly, get the work of incredibly talented artists, poets, and writers out there in the universe. The fourth edition “Cosmic Compost” will explore the way that decay feeds life creatively.

www.decadentcosmos.com

COMIXSCAPE LJ-Baptiste, art educator and cartoonist, runs this vibrant comic book series featuring the adventures of a bright-eyed, perpetually preteen boy and his raccoon sidekick. Learn more and buy a copy

www.comixscape.net @xscapistlj

Gay Ghost stories seeks anything queer, spooky, and printable for a full color Halloween zine. Trans ghosts? Queer campfire tales? Haunted gay clubs? Anything spooky goes! Email submissions to Lavendermenacepress@gmail.com

How to Fight Hundutva from the Diaspora & more! Payal Kumar creates powerful, unique digital zines that are available for free online! Explore these beautiful pieces and learn tools of knowledge to expand your notion of a “zine”.

www.riotlrrrkhi.contactin.bio/

LONER Magazine is a publication that strives to showcase the raw, unfiltered and saturated life we experience on a daily basis. This publication aims to be a creative safe space for Artists, POC, LGBTQ and those who have a desire to change the world with their work. Read at www.lonerofficial.com and follow @loner.magazine

Middle of Nowhere (Part One) This is the journey of two main characters; Andre and Tracey. The story is true to its title, as you are

dropped in a random point of their lives. You literally navigate the timeline with them as their journeys intertwine. What seems like nothing, or nowhere, wherever you are... means something. Book created by Mechillwave. Grab a copy here and check out other cool wares! www.mechillwave-collection. myshopify.com @chillwvy

Stay Kind! publishes and distributes creative works including zines and buttons. A portion of all sales are donated to initiatives supporting positive change in our communities. Shop multitudes of zines at www.staykind.com and connect with @staykinddistro

Visual Magazine provides a platform for creative spirits to tell stories through visuals. As growing proof that people want substantive artistic media in their hands, the quarterly platform is proving again and again that people want to lift the veil on uncomfortable and fascinating topics with art as the hand. Purchase their latest issues at www.visualmag. ink and connect with @visualmag_

Wisteria Magazine beautiful digital local art and music zine published weekly with love! Peek now at www. wisteriamag.com @wisteria.mag

community

10/16 Bartlett Square Makers

Market is a summer/fall monthly market featuring local creatives, artisans, and craftspeople. The goal is to bring together the local artisans of JP in a safe, accessible space where people can meet, share their skills and materials, and learn from one another.

@18 Bartlett Square, JP. Every 3rd Sunday 11AM to 3PM from May to November

10/16 5th Curated Vintage Market

Some of the best vintage vendors in the area (including our friends High Energy Vintage) will be there slinging their finest goods! Spruce up your fall & winter wardrobe, or get a jump on your holiday shopping! @Bow Market, Somerville 12PM-8PM

10/23 We Thieves Presents Clothing

Swap + Repair Day A down-anddirty, community-focused clothing swap and fundraiser for your gently used clothes and accessories. Sign up + more info www.wethieves.com @Warehouse XI, Somerville 11AM-4PM $5 Suggested Donation All ages

Chez-Vous Skating Halloween Weekend: 10/29 Family Halloween Costume Party 12PM-3PM + 4PM7PM $15 All Ages. 10/30 Silent Halloween 8PM-12AM $ome Cost 21+ @Chez Vous Roller Skating Rink, Boston

Melanin Owned Business Vendors

Flea Market is back at a new location 1351 Hyde Park Ave every Saturday 12PM-5PM. Spoken Word open mics too! Contact 585-237-8487 for vending opportunities. Vendors of color please reach out! @m.o.b_vendors21

The Somerville Flea happens every Saturday Vintage, artisan, fresh produce and live music smack dab in the middle of Davis Square Somerville. @56 Holland St, Somerville 10AM-4PM

Egleston Farmers Market is back every Saturday 10AM-2PM at the Community Servings parking lot

in JP! The market is expanding to include a bunch of low waste living resources like textile recycling, DIY workshops, bicycle repair, live tailors and lots more! On 10/22 bring old Halloween costumes to participate in Mendi’s Monthly Swaps!

@eglestonfarmersmarket

Original Markets Presents Fenway Flea every Sunday in October vintage clothing, vinyl, jewelry, sneakers, live DJs and games!

@Check Instagram for location

@fenwayflea

Greenway Artisan Market happens every 1st + 3rd Sunday A vibrant open-air market featuring talented area artists, makers, and independent designers. @Rose Kennedy Greenway, Boston 11AM5PM

Popportunity Pop-up Shops every weekend, shop local and get to know Central's newest small businesses. All operated by local entrepreneurs and artists. Open Sat + Sun 12PM5PM, weather permitting. @Starlight Square, Cambridge

Central Square Farmer’s Market open every Monday 12PM-6PM from until 11/21. Their footprint, like last year, includes Norfolk Street and Starlight to increase space for vendors and distancing for shoppers.

Lucy Parsons Center, your favorite radical bookstore and community space, is moving back to the South End (Into MakeShift’s former spot). They need your help fundraising to make the transition smooth and help keep this Boston staple going! To donate visit

www.tinyurl.com/lpcfunds or check their social media

@lucyparsonscenter

Hatch Makerspace Workshops Tons of free with registration workshops all month long. From programming to sewing to making paper flowers, Hatch is a really cool community spot you have to check out!

www.watertownlib.org/hatch

Community Fridges! There’s a bunch of these popping up all around the city and beyond! They provide food for all and are totally volunteer-run! @dotcommunityfridge is not open but does regular food drives. The following are now open!

@allstonbrightonfridges @bostoncommunityfridge @brooklinecommunityfridge @cambridgefridge @cambridgecitygrowers @matcommunityfridge @newtoncommunityfreedge @numutualaid @roslindalecommunityfridge @somervillecommunityfridge @southendfridge @southbostoncommunityfridge @watertowncommunityfridge

advocacy

10/9 Mass Struggle October

Organizing Forum Public aims to bring together tenant, labor, student, LGBTQ+ & womens rights organizers @Democracy Center, Cambridge 2PM-5PM

@mass_struggle

10/15 Cambridge Equity Ordinance

Memorial Join Big Hope Project for the commemoration of the historic 2019 Cambridge, MA Cannabis Business Permitting Ordinance which led to the first Social Equity Priority Period in the nation. Learn about key events that led the Social Equity MA cannabis equity community to triumph over the corporate greed of medical marijuana giants. @ Democracy Center, Cambridge 6PM10PM

BDS Boston recognizes that Israel has been involved in the oppression of not only Palestinians, but people in the Caribbean, Central, South, and North America, Africa, and Asia. Israel and the US have been jointly responsible for developing the infrastructure of surveillance and repression of people of color and immigrants. They are committed to building alliances with other groups to fight this oppression. Join the movement! @bdsboston

Community Care in Reach is a free medical mobile clinic providing STI testing, pap smears, check-ups, HIV testing, wound care, and vaccines to Boston youths under 24. This program was created by the Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program who drives this service TO YOU on Tuesdays 3PM-7PM and Thursdays 5PM-8PM. Reach out to them by dming their Instagram @harmreductionists or text/call us at 617-645-7649

Creatives of Color Boston is a collective dedicated to the creation of intersectional safe spaces for BIPOC artists to connect and create together, while also celebrating and uplifting the voices and work of BIPOC artists from around the Boston area. They plan three main events each year including concerts, workshops, and exhibitions. More at www. creativesofcolorboston.com

DeeDee’s Cry provides resources and education on the importance of mental health and wellness within communities of color. They collaborate with organizations and agencies to create events, programs, projects and activities within communities of color that are centered on family, mental health and wellness. Find out about upcoming events at www.deedeescry.com

The Eastern Mass Abortion Fund provides assistance to people who live in or are coming to Eastern Massachusetts for an abortion and provides people with funding and practical support to access abortion care. They help them get onto MassHealth quickly or find doctors that will take their insurance. They negotiate with abortion providers and pay for callers’ bus or train tickets, car rides, hotels, childcare, and translation services. www.emafund.org HAWC (Healing Abuse Working for Change) strives to help abused women, children, men, and nonbinary people live free from violence and fear. As a leading domestic violence agency in Massachusetts, HAWC provides a domestic violence helpline, emergency shelter, legal services, advocacy and counseling services to more than 2,500 families in the North Shore area each year. @hawcnorthshore www.hawcdv.org

North American Indian Center of Boston Their mission is to empower the Native American community with the goal of improving the quality of life of Indigenous peoples. They honor Indigenous people who may or may not be part of a federally recognized or state recognized tribe, as well as the peoples whose tribes have been split by the U.S.-Canada border and the U.S.-Mexico border. Lookout for all kinds of awesome community events and gatherings! www.naicob.org @naicob91

Cambridge Arts Grants three funding opportunities: Art for Social Justice Grants, Local Cultural Council Grants, and Organizational Investment Grants. Total funding for the program is $250,000. Deadline to apply: 10/17

www.cambridgema.gov/arts/ Programs/Grants

Mass Cultural Council’s Cultural Sector

Recovery Grants for Individuals are unrestricted $5,000 grants to creatives and gig workers to support recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and set a path for growth. Opens: 8/15 Info sessions: 8/23 + 10/6 Deadline to apply: 11/1 Apply at www.massculturalcouncil.org/ artists-art/cultural-sector-recovery-grantsfor-individuals

Voyage with Space Ukio

WHO IS MACKY UKIO?

Macky Ukiyo is a 17 year old, Haitian-American, rapper/songwriter from the Boston neighborhood of Mattapan. He also boasts the title of “Creative Director & Ambassador” of hip-hop collective Ethereal Visions. But today Macky is the Captain of the Space Ukio which departs to the Crimson Galaxies. So what can you expect on your voyage? Be prepared for a journey exploring the ups, downs, joys, miseries, conflicts, and finally…resolutions of love.

In all seriousness though, Crimson Galaxies is an amazing 13 track project released August 26th, 2022 with a run time of 35 minutes and 16 seconds. Not counting the narrative interludes we got 10 out of this world (wink, wink) tracks. Here's a quick take of some stand out tracks on the project:

#2. SPACESHIPS+BATTLES=PRETTY CATASTROPHE

This song is like the sci fi movie scene when the astronauts just leave G-force/ the planet's atmosphere and are like “Wowwww SPACE!!!!” The beat is hella wavy with Sonic-Sega era synths, kicks, and snares. I feel like with this song Macky is asking the question of where is this love taking us? And he kind of answers indirectly with the chorus, the song title: Spaceships and Battles and Pretty Catastrophe. Back to the track though… Macky picks the song up mid way and switches the vibe, killing it with a fast ass somber flow. From there hes like “next destination fuck it”.

#3. SOMETHING OF A MUSE ft HAILE

Keeping up the somber vibes track 3 is a love sick ballad about time’s toll on love. Macky adopts an unorthodox flow discussing how he’s not over his ex and is willing to sink to the depths of heaven or hell with them. Shoutout to whoever did the production on this whole project but this beat is definitely my favorite. It's got a sick synth in the background the whole time and a sample singing ♫ you abandoned me ♫. Feature HAILE comes in and really shines with a couple self harmonizing riffs asking “What can you do when it’s out of your control?”. This song is top 3 for Macky really gets in his bag and you know we love the sad boi vibes!

#8. LOOKIN’ ft MaceyOMaze, Ajary

I had to put this masterpiece of a track in especially because it features Ethereal Visions members MaceyOMaze and Ajary. This track is some real boom bap with MaceyO coming right off the bat with the flow, setting the tone for the chorus ♫ Look into your eyes, I see It ♫. Ajary follows up and goes off giving us more of the player/uncommitted perspective ending his verse comically with ♫ Baby im just looking ♫ (at ass fool! lmao). Macky uses more metaphors than usual but never forgets to let us know he can rap with his out-of-left-field flow. I love how you can't put him in a box and never know what to expect on a song.

I could really have put all 10 tracks up here but some honorable mentions are ORANGE SODA POP, LOVE LETTER 2WHOEVER, LOVE+CONNECTION=UNKNOWN, & SO ABOVE, SO BELOW. This project was really surprising with how full it felt and diverse the production was. Go stream Crimson Galaxies Now!

*TLDR* Macky Ukio a 17 y.o rapper from Mattapan just released one of the best projects I’ve heard from Boston this year titled Crimson Galaxies! This project is space themed and all about the wicked journey of love. This project is for anyone with an extra 30 mins, a beating heart, relationship problems, or fans of alt rappers like Saba, Jaden Smith, KYLE. Go stream Crimson Galaxies now!

Deadline to apply: 10/17 www.boston.gov/arts-grants

Boston Cultural Council Grant Program

Up to $5,000 available for organizations that benefit the public by offering arts programming in Boston’s neighborhoods.

—Yuhraeus

of

Bin by Yi Bin Liang

Written Analog by Kit Collins & Suhayl

@ kitschcollins, @ birdnyc

Young Love by Daniel Alejandro

dumpis.splaniel

@ lavendar menace press

Gay Ghosts by Abby Neale

Snooze Junkie by Alex Dunn

@dunndrewit

Art by Tak Toyoshima

Presented by the Massachusetts Independent Comics Expo (MICE)

"Women"

The title Is already misogynistic.

What would you know About goddesses,

Son of God? We hurl the stones You spared us back in Your face, dig the holes Ourselves, and backfill

The sand above our breasts. Have you ever seen

The red head of a stoning victim? Your light burden, the crown of thorns,

Pales in comparison. Men, Claimants of universal

Misery, the everyman Is not the Everygirl. Let your

Father’s grandsons Attend to housewifery,

For it is you all that are forsaken Of us. But one thing

More we ask— You to throw a stone.

JUSTIN BURNETT

Justin Burnett (they/she) now goes by Marion. Their work has been featured in Survivor Lit, Montage, Neologism, and Willows Wept.

This poem was edited by Raquel Balboni and Ben Mazer.

Guest Starring!

Hunk!

Grave Robert and, of course... VORE

Race is the strongest predictor of water and sanitation access. This finding, attributed to a study conducted by the US Water Alli ance, is the result of a long history of discrim inatory practices entrenched in water infra structure development, as well as a decline in federal funding. As the effects of climate change accelerate before our very eyes, glob al water access will continue to suffer due to extreme flooding, rising sea levels, prolonged droughts and disrupted ecosystems. Com pounding upon these ecological threats, there are the terrors of racial capitalism in which the human right to safe and accessible water is endangered by privatization, discrimination, corruption, pollution and unchecked depletion of this most irreplaceable resource.

This past August, residents of Jackson, Mississippi were warned by the state health department to follow a strict boil-water advi sory as heavy rain had caused the Pearl River to flood, crashing an already outdated water treatment system and leaving Jackson’s water supply undrinkable. This current water crisis is unfortunately not rare for the state capital. In 2020, Jackson’s water system failed an EPA in spection, which concluded their drinking water had the potential to be host to harmful bacte ria or parasites. 80% of Jackson’s residents are Black and 19.6% live below the poverty line, according to the US Census Bureau. Decades of government disinvestment in communities of color, red lining, segregation, and Jim Crow legislation in Mississippi have directly led to this systemic crisis of environmental racism.

In 1982, civil rights leader Dr. Benjamin Chavis coined the term “environmental rac ism” following an event in which residents of Warren County, a predominately Black North Carolina town, were arrested by riot-clad high way patrol officers for protesting a state-sanc

Who are you?

tioned dumping of toxic soil in their town. The conceptualization of terminology for this particular violence helped to formalize the environmental justice movement, primarily led by people of color, within US law and policy. In her essay “Defunding the Police as Environ mental Justice” Alexandrea Wilson argues that the anti-black violence inherent to policing is itself an environmental hazard. “Like racist environmental policies, policing is deliberately life-threatening. Policing can be wielded by government institutions to incriminate Black and Brown communities in the same way these institutions can pass policies that pollute the local water systems of a community.”

Under the political and economic system of racial capitalism, police are the powerful state actors deployed to safeguard white corporate interests, acting as mercenaries for ventures that harm the environment and exacerbate resource scarcity within vulnerable communi ties. The brutal police violence that NODAPL protesters faced for their solidarity against the Dakota Access Pipeline shows the sustained capability and willingness of the police to carry out the whims of corporate environmental racism. The unrestrained greed of the fos sil fuel industry and other corporations that directly fuel the climate crisis do not look at those who suffer under its chaos with urgency. Under racial capitalism, vital human resources like water are not safeguarded for altruism, but for their potential for profitability and exploita tion. Water security, climate change, and po lice violence are all interconnected issues that will not be solved through the neoliberal lens of profitability, efficiency, or reform of these fundamentally noxious systems.

@bostoncompass brain-arts.orgissuu.com/ bostoncccompass bostoncompassnewspaper.com SURVEIL & CONTROL