Category: New York Times 11/13

Adele Adkins

Adele is back and she’s saying more than just “Hello.” The British superstar’s new single managed to sell 1.1 million copies in its first week in addition to its music video obtaining 100 million views on YouTube. But at this stage in the game, posting good results just seems second nature to Adele. Her previous album “21,” is the 20th best selling album in history with 30 million copies sold worldwide.

Successful sophomore album “21”

Adele’s new album “25,” offers a different perspective from her last record; instead of the gloomy post-breakup feeling “21” elicits, “25” “is about what to hold on to from the past and what to let go.” Adele was keen on making this album perfect, as she’s taken her sweet time (4 ½ years) to release it. Writing partner and notorious hitmaker Ryan Tedder, lead singer of OneRepublic, said she’s thrown out about 20 potential hit songs away because they just weren’t right for the album. These songs might make their way into other artists’ discographies, and most likely will not have the same success than if Adele had opted to sing it.

A major part of her success has been her soul, passion, and emotions

Adele won 6 Grammy’s in 2014

shining through every song she sings; the power and intense feeling packed into every melody magnifies and highlights whatever sentiment she  hopes to convey. I love Adele for this reason, because she makes music for the sake of making music. Many times in pop culture celebrities like to pull ridiculous stunts or say something completely absurd to stay relevant in the news. But Adele’s not in it for the fame. In fact, she’s turned down a ton of major endorsement deals strictly because she didn’t feel like doing them. When confronted why she continually elects not to immerse herself more in the spotlight, Adele said “If I wanted to just be famous, like be a celebrity, then I wouldn’t do music… Commercials, being the face of brands, being in movies, being the face of a car, designing watches, food ranges, buildings, airlines, book deals. I’ve been offered everything.…[but] I want to do one thing. I want to make something. I don’t want to be the face of anything.” The 27 year old is really living up to her words, because the only thing she’s the face of is success in music.

“25”

No one knows what to expect from “25” because a lot has changed for her personally since 2011 when the last album was released. She now has a son. She now has a loving boyfriend. She has virtually disappeared from the public eye. She has even said that she cries to her own music, but I think she has enough tissues in the form paper money to wipe away the tears. But all kidding aside, Adele’s personal growth is truly remarkable. No matter what this album has in store for the music world, I look forward to experiencing firsthand. 

“25” comes out November 20th.

Lynda Zycherman, MoMa’s sculpture conservator, is preparing the newest addition to the museum’s collections. Some might brush this news of as of nothing out of the ordinary, but that’s no where near the case. This new “Picasso Sculpture” portrays some of the most, “breathtaking inventiveness in bronze, wood, clay, plaster, sheet metal and stones through six decades” according to Roberta Smith in her Article, “Drinking in the Beauty of Picasso’s Sculptures at MoMa.”

            In this Article, Zycherman seems to have a deep appreciation of what the conservators do. She mentions that part of their jobs is to do investigative work on the art pieces, discovering new knowledge about them that could be disclosed to the public. Zycherman goes on to describe the intimacy of this work, and just how much goes into discovering new things; even comparing it to “CSI” work.

            Something that surprised me was that Zycherman mentioned that “much of our nonverbal response to art is really to the artist’s use of materials.” I’ve never actually thought of art that way but now I’m realizing its more of a subconscious reaction. These subliminal thoughts affect the way we think about art pieces, even when we think we are looking at the artwork with an open mind; so many things can be overlooked.

             “Glass of Absinthe” is my personal favorite out of the collection of Picasso pieces. Its meaning is so abstract that Is up to the person to figure it out for themselves. The sculpture features a broken glass of alcohol with a flat/bent spoon sitting on its rim. On this spoon lays a mysterious sugar cube. At first sight the upper part of this piece’s color and texture fools most to believe that it is made out of exposed unpainted bronze. But as Zycherman refutes, it was painted with a brown paint and sand mixture.

So the next time you look at a sculpture, look twice about what its made off so you don’t overlook the beauty of the sculpture.