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arts & culture
KANSAN.COM | MONDAY, AUGUST 22, 2016
Aries
(A March 21-April 19)
There's plenty of work over this next month under the Virgo Sun. You're in the mood for powerful productivity; it's especially profitable today and tomorrow.
Taurus
(April 20-May 20) You're especially confident today and tomorrow. Love, fun and passion bubble up for the next month, with the Sun in Virgo. Get wildly creative, and expect messes. Slow to avoid accidents
Gemini
(May 21-June 20)
Rest and recuperate today and tomorrow. If emotions bubble up, release them.
Get into a month of domestic renewal, with the Sun in Virgo
Cancer
Cancer (June 21-July 22)
(June 21-July 22) Teamwork wins, today and tomorrow. For the next month, you learn quickly.
Write your discoveries.
You're especially gifted with words. Invest in home and
Leo
(July 23-Aug.22) Accept leadership over the next two days in a whirl of career revelations. An unusual yet fascinating option appears. Expand your network
(Aug. 23-Sept. 22)
Study or travel today and tomorrow. You're the star this month, with the Sun in your sign. Visit someone who sparks your creativity.
Virgo
Libra
(Sept. 23-Oct. 22) Get practical with shared finances today and tomorrow. Peacefulness fosters productivity and creativity over the next month. Organize and give away unnecessary stuff
unnecessary stuff.
Scorpio
Contributed Photo
good cause.
(Oct. 23-Nov. 21)
Partnership makes a difference over the next two days. You're more involved with friends, the public and community activities this month. Contribute to a good cause.
Sagittarius
[Nov. 22-Dec. 21]
Profit from excellent service over the next two days.A career opportunity unfolds over the next month, with the Virgo Sun. Anticipate a challenge
challenge.
Capricorn
Capitorn
(Dec. 22-Jan. 19)
You're especially lucky in love today and tomorrow.
Listen for hidden elements and secret revelations. Travel and study opportunities abound this month with the Virgo Sun.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18)
(jun. 20, 2018, 16)
Grow your shared accounts over the next month, with the Sun in Virgo. Raise the organization level. Collaborate with your partner.
Make household decisions today and tomorrow.
Pisces
(Feb. 19-March 20)
Take a leap of faith. Your partnership flourishes over the next month under the Virgo Sun. Your communications flow with ease today and tomorrow. You're
especially persuasive.
Blood Relative sits at a table together. From left, percussionist Chris Luckey, lead singer, guitarist Kevin Lawrence and bassist Tyler Bachert.
KWANG HYUN
@KansanNews
Kevin Lawrence isn't any ordinary guy who plays in a local band. His three-man indie pop band, Blood Relative, a band local to Lawrence, is known for having one of its tracks from its EP "Sleeplessness" featured in the popular Showtime series "Shameless."
The song, "Three Days (On End)," played in the season two finale of Shameless and even Lawrence thought this was something bizarre for a small local band from Lawrence getting a national recognition by having their song played in a popular show.
"It's a pretty crazy feeling. I think it feels a little different, especially since I did it all at home," Lawrence, the band's lead singer, said.
Lawrence said he worked with Joey Prather, one of the founders of Blue Scout Music, a music agency based in San Francisco,
to test and branch out his music ability. Prather ended up adding Blood Relative to the agency's artist catalog.
"About two years after that [working with Prather], I am working for HyVee full-time, and I get a phone call while I'm at work and he left me voicemail saying 'okay, I need your okay tonight' because the group of people from Showtime went through his Blue Scout catalog and decided to use my song," Lawrence said.
He gave his consent to Prather without knowing any financial parameters, because he said he was excited that his band's song would be on Showtime. At that time, Lawrence didn't know which show the song would be on. It was later he was notified that "Three Days" would be on "Shameless." The band's song is listed on the show's official second season soundtrack.
Blood Relative started to gain international attention, with out-of-state
fans and some from other countries as well. Lawrence said he received emails and letters from fans about their love, concerns and updates for his band. He feels humble about the creative works he has published.
It's a pretty crazy feeling.I think it feels a little different, especially since I did it all at home."
Kevin Lawrence Blood Relative lead singer
"From my perspective, I created a song and I just put it out there because I want people to enjoy it. I was surprised from emotional responses elicited. I had somebody emailed me say that they've been pretty violently depressed and discovering my song through the show 'Shameless' became a go-to song when they needed to be cheered up," Lawrence said.
He said he was surprised with the emotional connections from his fans, because he was stunned that what he made for fun became emotional healing for others.
David Lynch, Lawrence's former co-worker and a fan of Blood Relative, said he saw the band play at the Replay Lounge.
The band has played at local venues such as the Replay Lounge, Jackpot Music Hall, the Granada and the Bottleneck to engage with its local fans and promote its album.
"His performance held an energy where you could feel his love of music and performing. I enjoyed his music more when he played it live," Lynch said.
Blood Relative is currently working on their new album, traveling to different areas like Eudora, Kan., Arkansas, Nebraska and others to record, master, produce and edit its upcoming songs. Lawrence hinted the upcoming album will be
focusing on the concept of a breakup, and the band's new album will be released some time this winter.
Lawrence is currently a full-time chef at Merchant's Pub and Plate as he continues to make music in his off-time. He said cooking is his favorite hobby next to making music, but his passion is still with music and he will continue work to become a better musician.
"Blood Relative is always going to be the moniker, what I call it as 'solo music,' I don't ever plan on stopping. People may never hear any of the stuff, but for me I want to make music that doesn't exist that I want to listen to," Lawrence said.
"Singing gives me such joy. Playing guitar gives me such joy.I don't need financial stability to buy music. I don't need fame.I don't need fortune. It's something that makes me feel good and human."
Common work of art adds to conversation
@Sambiscuit
SAMANTHA SEXTON
In connection with the new academic year's Common Book, "Between the World and Me" by Ta-Nehisi Coates, the Spencer Museum of Art has also introduced the Common Work of Art to help promote and highlight many aspects found within Coates' best-seller.
The selected work of art comes from sculptor and printer Willie Cole, known for taking mundane objects such as irons and phones and transforming them into something more. Cole's chosen series "Beauties" is no exception.
"The work is of ironing boards that have been printed in relief," Kate Meyer, the Spencer Museum's assistant curator, said. "These have been distressed, flattened and worn out so that they could be inked up and ran through a press. It's interesting because there are parallel and perpendicular lines, holes and spots of damage and they have a quality of looking like something you may know but then looking like so many other things as well."
Lula Bell — all names with significant meaning, Meyer said. As an artist of color, Cole draws inspiration from his ancestors, family and famous historical depictions of African and African American men and women. This can be seen with Calpurnia, which was named for a domestic worker in Harper Lee's 1960 novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird."
Contributed Photo Willie Cole's Calpurnia, Bertha Mae, and Lula Bell, 2012, Spencer Museum of Art, University of Kansas. Images courtesy of Highpoint Editions.
The three Beauties chosen for display were named Calpurnia, Bertha Mae and
"If you have ever seen an eighteenth-century depiction of a slave ship you look at them and think 'oh my gosh, they're slave ships,' but they're not; they're ironing boards," Meyer said. "When I look at them, I tend to connect them to domestic labor and go back to the history of women and the history of domestic labor and how that has often been coded in terms of race."
Contributed Photo of Kansas. Images
With issues concerning race growing on campus and throughout the nation, Celka Straughn, the museum's director of academic programs, said the museum was looking for a piece that would mirror the Common Book's ability to present itself through multiple perspectives.
"It resonates in different ways with the themes of race in the United States, racism, the history of servitude and enslavement," Straughn said. "The engagement with the work of art, very similar to the Common Book, brings out the experiences and ideas that the viewer brings that shapes the reaction."
Selecting "Beauties" was a relatively easy task for the Museum, as Cole and his work are no strangers to the
University. In 2004, Cole gave a lecture at the museum which Straughn said "was one of the best artist talks" her colleagues had seen. Cole's 1999 work "Man, Spirit, and Mask," has also been a staple of the museum's collection for several years.
Though the Spencer Museum of Art is currently closed, all its exhibits
will open Thursday, Oct. 15 from 7-10 p.m. as a part of a student preview for the newly-renovated space. The Common Work of Art will be on display that night and for the rest of the academic year as well.
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