WeekendAugust 7, 2021 • View in browserAmid the summer doldrums some opportunities to brood on humans and nature: This week John Yau reports on Monica Ong's exploration of motherhood and diaspora identity in her visual poetry devoted to astronomy; Carl Little considers Thalia Field's critique of speciesism offered in her volume of poems titled Personhood. In his review of a Shayok Mukhopadhyay's environmentally alert installation Waiting for Water, Louis Bury notes "these recent climate-related artistic imaginings aren’t far-fetched apocalyptic fantasies but tweaky versions of the compounding crises — past, present, and future — that our species navigates the way fish do water." Perhaps the question is whether we can learn to survive from nature before we destroy it. — Albert Mobilio, Weekend Editor Trevon Latin Finds Joy in MelancholyLatin’s colorful artworks touch on aspects of queer and Black experience, not in broad strokes, but in exceedingly specific ones. | Megan N. Liberty SPONSORED The Oregon Arts Commission and Oregon State University Are Commissioning Public Art for New Arts & Education ComplexUp to three finalists will make the shortlist for this $390,000 commission, each of whom will receive $2,000 in design fees to generate project proposals. Learn more. Imagining Our Climate FutureSpeculations about climate change by an array of artists feel eerily probable, if not already real. | Louis Bury Facing Catastrophe With CalmJoshua Marsh has fashioned a world where a sweet, wise humor in the face of mortality and inescapable change prevails. | John Yau Humankind’s History of Betraying AnimalsThalia Field's poems collage scientific, historical, and philosophical sources to explore speciesism. | Carl Little With Mother Tongue, Camille Henrot Calls for ChangeHenrot demonstrates the need to look at the beginning of our very existence to address social and gender inequalities. | Alexandra Sommer A Poet-Artist Looks to the StarsMonica Ong is a 21st-century visual poet who extends the reader’s sense of what is possible.| John Yau Required ReadingThis week, the real meaning of “carpe diem,” Kerry James Marshall gets the profile treatment, Andrew Cuomo’s network of protection, James Baldwin’s birthday, and more. | Jasmine Weber Support HyperallergicOur membership program makes it possible for us to dive deeper into important issues and topics. Want to be part of the future of independent arts journalism? IN OUR STORE "Afromuses Couple" (Woman) Tea Towel x Chris OfiliOur online store carries home goods from an array of acclaimed contemporary artists, such as this gorgeous 100% linen tea towel based on Chris Ofili's series of watercolors, Afro Muses. |