You are alone. There is nobody who can comprehend your particular suffering. You will die without ever having made a true human connection.Yeesh! Just kidding! What would art be if it didn’t believe in the possibility of communal understanding and interconnection? It would be accounting*, that’s what. Take the opportunity this week to revel in the connectivity of the human condition, man.Though Sole Survivors stars just one person—Michelle Vest, who also wrote the play—it’s concerned in part with the desire shared by all humans to find a hopeful place to call home. Accompanied by Mariachi Sonidos del Monte, the piece highlights the experiences of immigrants coming to America today. Catch the show’s stint in Albuquerque, directed by Tanya Taylor Rubinstein, at the N4 th Theater (4904 Fourth Street NW) Friday and Saturday nights at 8 p.m. through Aug. 1. Tickets are $10. See vsartsnm.org for more. The Open Space Visitor Center (6500 Coors NW) has been on a roll lately, offering up a host of events and exhibits that seek to connect nature and art. Saturday, July 25, and Sunday, July 26, catch Poetry in Place , two days of workshops and performances. On Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m., attend workshops given by such writers as Danny Solis, Adán Baca, Sal Treppiedi, Calle Treppiedi, Merimee Moffitt, Zachary Kluckman and Esmé Rodriguez Vaandrager. Each workshop is $20 per person, and a portion of the proceeds go to fund Open Space Alliance education programs. On Sunday, also from 1 to 5 p.m., hear a gaggle of local poets practice their art, and feel free to chime in during the open mic. In the interest of full disclosure, I have been asked to read at this event. Should you come out and wish to tell me things you don’t like about my writing or coverage, you should know that I am a tall African-American man with short dreadlocks who goes by the stage name Hakim Bellamy. I would be glad to speak with you. See cabq.gov/openspace for directions. The Albuquerque Museum of Art and History is hosting two photography exhibits that look at land and loneliness. Ghost Ranch and the Faraway Nearby , which runs through Oct. 11, features the work of Craig Varjabedian, who captured the legendary New Mexico ranch in 75 silver gelatin prints. There’s an eerie isolation to the photos, the drama of the landscape underscoring the fragility of the humans who attempt to live here. And in conjunction with LAND/ART, Experimental Geography documents the efforts of artists who create a dialogue with the physical world around them, from urban landscapes to salt mines in Afghanistan. This show runs through Sept. 20. Museum admission is $3 for adult New Mexico residents and is free on Sundays from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the first Wednesday of the month. For hours and more, go to cabq.gov/museum.*Accountants are valued members of our society whose contributions are necessary to the success and survival of our modern world. No accountants were harmed in the making of this stupid joke.
Culture Shock
3 min read
