The Arts Desk’s weekly picks for music, movies and more

By JULIE HUANG  — arts@theaggie.org 

Album: “After Fillmore County” by Vansire (2020)

Vaguely describing a road trip through Vansire’s home county in Minnesota, the collection of songs featured on “After Fillmore County” slowly moves toward a discussion of love, loneliness and the existence of inescapable truths. These themes sit at the heart of the album and permeate every track with a sense of hazy uncertainty that grows larger the longer the songs go on. Do the words “fall short of something profound” or do they instead reveal the existence of such? The album itself strives to avoid certainty in its lyrics, enhanced by its sonic quality of dreaminess, and allows the listener to walk away feeling something intangible.  

Song: “Vapour Trail” by Ride (1990) 

With its distorted instrumentals, subdued vocals and melancholic lyrics, this song seems to perfectly encapsulate the bittersweet experience of nostalgia. Featured on English rock band Ride’s first album “Nowhere,” “Vapour Trail” is an elegant example of the shoegaze genre and its many merits. As I can attest, it is also a great song to play on solo walks in late spring or early summer, when the sun is shining down and stirring up the desire to reminisce and reflect on the passage of time. 

TV Show: “The End of the F***ing World” (2017 to 2019) 

“The End of the F***ing World” follows two teenagers who run away together to take a road trip across England, hoping to get different things out of their shared experience. The protagonist, Alyssa, seeks an opportunity to escape her messy home life with a thrilling cross-country adventure, while the other protagonist, James, seeks an opportunity to kill her and prove to himself that he is truly a 17-year-old psychopath. The intersection of these highly contradicting motives creates a dynamic between the two that is endlessly watchable and yet provides many opportunities for character development, leaving the protagonists in vastly different places than where they start out from. Although the show’s offbeat premise is often played up for dark comedic effect, it is also a way for “The End of the F***ing World” to contextualize its characters and their actions within circumstances which often feel uncomfortably realistic, creating a funny yet sharp and dramatic atmosphere for viewers. 

Book: “The Carrying” by Ada Limón (2018)

Ada Limón’s sophomore effort at a collection of poetry delivers on all accounts. Her poems showcase technical skill more than deserving of the National Book Critics Circle Award, but the most awe-inducing aspect of “The Carrying” is Limón’s ability to infuse each line of her poetry with feelings that are tender yet forceful in their intensity and vulnerable yet piercing in their clarity. The core concept tying this collection together appears to be an examination of what it might mean to live year after year in a changing world. What is constant, and what is certain? Limón’s exploration of these ideas encourages readers to widen their perspective and appreciate the smallest details. 

Written by: Julie Huang — arts@theaggie.org

Artists and visitors of “The Singular is Plural” Senior Show discuss the importance of the yearly tradition 

By SAVANNAH ANNO — arts@theaggie.org

Every Thursday, from May 2 to June 7, the UC Davis Basement Gallery is hosting its annual series of Senior Shows. Featuring the work of three different graduating fourth-years each week, the Basement Gallery gives students a final opportunity to exhibit all they have learned over the past four years. 

“I think it was enlightening being able to get it done and realizing how much we’ve learned since we first started,” Danielle Dizon, a fourth-year art studio major, said. “We’re so much more used to installing and showing works now compared to when we were freshmen. Our four years actually gave us skills to put towards what we were doing, and we were actually able to throw a show together.” 

Dizon, along with fourth-year art studio and sociology double major Madeline Dei Rossi and third-year art studio major Noel Bresson, were the artists of The Basement Gallery’s second Senior Show on May 9, titled “The Singular is Plural.” 

Each show is identified by a unique title chosen collectively by the three featured artists to reflect an overarching theme. 

“We noticed that all of our works individually are really self-referential and about self portraiture,” Dizon said. “But we were reading across the themes larger than that. Our work is not so much about ourselves but more about how we relate to the collective and how [we], as singular people, are bigger than ourselves.” 

Exhibiting 24 different works, “The Singular is Plural” includes photography, painting, sculpture, charcoal drawings and more. Each artist included a range of mediums and focuses in their pieces: the self, patriarchal social structures, the environment, depictions of truth and even insects. 

Despite varying artistic styles, the show was able to flow together and create a reflective, intimate space as visitors made their way through the room. Filled with close friends and fellow students, The Basement Gallery was alive with celebration as they studied and discussed the graduates’ final pieces as students. 

“Seeing Maddie [Dei Rossi] is really great, because I’ve always known that she’s really talented,” Chelsea Chhem, a fourth-year art history major, said. “It’s so nice to see all of her works in one space and really consolidate everything she’s been thinking of throughout the year.” 

“Showing your work is nerve-wracking, but in the best way,” Dei Rossi said. “I’m feeling deep gratitude.” 

Not only does The Basement Gallery function to congratulate the fourth-years, it also gives them a final opportunity to practice curation as well as gallery planning, providing hands-on experience for their future careers in the art world. 

Esther Jung, a fourth-year art studio major, discussed the importance of the gallery’s existence on campus, proudly identifying as “The Basement Gallery’s biggest fan.” 

“I love the student-centered nature of it all,” Jung said. “I think it’s really good at actually preparing art students for a future career. A big factor that college art curriculum lacks in general is practical application, actually getting involved in the art world, in the people, and actually setting up art in a gallery.” 

Solely student-led, The Basement Gallery is different from other UC student galleries, which often utilize outside curators. As a result, The Basement Gallery gives featured artists like Dizon, Dei Rossi and Bresson complete freedom in designing and preparing their shows. 

“There’s a lot of work that goes into this stuff,” Bresson said. “You don’t really know until you’re doing it.” 

“It’s mostly just a ton of doing and re-doing,” Dei Rossi said. “I think that’s the hardest part and what’s the most time consuming. Then, there’s leveling things out, considering how people will interact with the art and thinking about where each piece should go.” 

With the amount of time put into each show and the range of pieces exhibited by each artist, the Senior Shows serve as an intimate depiction of each graduate’s time and experience at UC Davis. While participating in the shows is optional, Mia Rassam, a fourth-year art studio major and co-lead director, explained that most fourth-years jump at the chance to be featured in the gallery and celebrate their final bodies of work. 

Hosting six different shows, The Basement Gallery will be featuring the work of 18 graduating seniors this year. Apart from “The Singular is Plural,” other past titles include “Still,” which featured the work of fourth-year art studio majors Rachel Li, Nelsy Perez and Evelyn Alvarez on May 2, as well as “Las Tres Chicas,” by fourth-year art studio majors Ary Calderón-Miramontes, Ji Ho Kim and Paola Vazquez on May 16. 

Their next Senior Show will open from 6 to 9 p.m. on May 23, showcasing the work of fourth-year art studio majors Mia Rossum, Cerina-Marie Smit and Mariam Tawfik. 

“Our show, ‘They’re Hysterical,’ is all about female-centric conversations, tension through material and healing,” Rossum said. “We’ve had such a great time organizing the show, and we’re honored to share it with the Davis community.” 

Exhibiting shows every Thursday up until June 7, you can find information on the following events through The Basement Gallery’s website or Instagram, @ucd_basement_gallery, and join the celebration, taking in the unique work and perspectives each artist has to offer. 

“It’s kind of overwhelming, especially when there’s a lot of people here, but it’s nice to feel like there’s an end point for all of this,” Bresson said. “This feels more like a graduation than anything else.”

Written by: Savannah Anno — arts@theaggie.org 

How “The River” became a safe haven for queer Californians and tourists

By SAVANNAH BURGER — arts@theaggie.org

Nestled in the coastal redwoods along the Russian River in Sonoma County, the town of Guerneville has provided a sanctuary for local and visiting LGBTQ+ people for decades. Known affectionately as “The River;” it is regarded as one of the most safe and well-known havens in northern California for people of the LGBTQ+ community.

Although the gay scene has made Guerneville what it is today, it didn’t hit the town until somewhere in the mid-1900s. Before that, Guerneville was predominantly known as an ex-logging town, originally named “Stumptown,” because of all the clear-cutting that occurred in the area. When the town was established in 1877, it provided a large quantity of lumber used to build the first infrastructures and buildings in northern California following the discovery of gold.

The town was later named after one of the loggers that controlled the area and owned the sawmill, a Swiss immigrant named George Guerne. Because of the extreme logging practices, most of the redwoods in the Guerneville area are no more than 200 years old, as they were planted after the felling of thousands of old-growth redwoods. Now, only few remain, and a handful of them can be seen in Guerneville’s Armstrong Woods State Natural Reserve. 

After the logging industry went under, residents of California realized how beautiful of an area Guerneville is, and the town became a major vacation destination. Soon, train tracks were laid that connected the forest-encapsulated town with cities like San Francisco, which is a little less than two hours south of it.

During the 60s, however, as worldwide travel was becoming more popular, visits were starting to dwindle. Then the whole west of Sonoma County, where Guerneville is located, was hit with massive flooding. Just like that, Guerneville was practically wiped off of the vacation map.

Following this setback, a multitude of old, beat-up resorts and hotels were up for sale. It was here, in the 1970s, that a few members of the LGBTQ+ community began buying these properties. Soon, multiple gay-friendly resorts and bars were opening in the redwoods. Especially after 1975, when anti-sodomy laws were finally repealed in California, these queer spaces were able to be transparent and proud about their status of being gay-friendly and were able to directly cater to LGBTQ+ clientele.

Happening concurrently, the sexual liberation movement was in full swing, which attracted even more queer people to the redwood vacation town. Even when tragedy struck with the HIV and AIDS epidemic of the 80s and 90s, Guerneville remained steadfast as a refuge for those who were either personally suffering or had loved ones who were. 

It is also important to note that it was this point in time that really brought lesbians and gay men together, as it was largely the lesbian community that took care of the gay male community struck by the epidemic. This is why the “L” in the term LGBTQ+, which represents lesbians, comes at the forefront of the acronym. It’s a way to give respect to the lesbians who were caregivers during the HIV and AIDS epidemic.

Many of the original resorts, hotels and restaurants are still alive and well today, such as The Rainbow Cattle Company, The Woods Cottages & Cabins @ the Russian River, The R 3 Hotel, The Highlands Resort and more. As of recent decades, there have been new openings, such as the lesbian-owned Boon Eat + Drink and Boon Hotel + Spa. The woman who owns these two businesses, Crista Luedtke, is a renowned chef who has been featured in the likes of the New York Times, Cosmopolitan, Forbes and Food & Wine magazine, among others.

Guerneville also has a wide variety of LGBTQ+ events that happen throughout the year. Lazy Bear Week, one of the largest and most successful gatherings in the world for bears, a subculture of gay men, fundraises for charity every year. It’s happening this year from July 29 to Aug. 5. Women’s Weekend Russian River, which took place last weekend, happens every year to hold space for LGBTQ+ identifying women. There’s also the Russian River Pride happening between Sept. 19 to 21. These are just a few of the limitless LGBTQ+ gatherings held in the town.

Also boasting itself as a chapter of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of LGBTQ+ nuns that raise money for charity and promote joy, the town is a strong and established hub for the queer community. 

Welcome to people from all walks of life, Guerneville is an exemplary safe space and community in the redwoods that’s definitely worth the visit.

Written by: Savannah Burger — arts@theaggie.org