Before I moved to Mexico a little over a month ago, I lived in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and spent my career as an arts and culture journalist, editor, professor and critic. Yes, it was fun, but yes, recent biological (COVID-19) and political (we all know what I mean) conditions completely changed the U.S. arts landscape and economy, making it no longer so much fun. These weren’t the only reasons I emigrated, but they sure lit a fire.
My knowledge of English-language culture isn’t encyclopedic, but it’s built over the past 30 or so years into a pretty solid foundation, which leaves me in the unenviable position of now starting nearly from scratch, with the exceptions of Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera and a few others who managed to jump the border and remain in the U.S. cultural consciousness. I’m learning a new language, while also learning an entirely new artistic history and lexicon. It’s a challenge as terrifying as it is exhilarating.
4 plus cool things
Before I left, I started a little Substack called “Five-and-a-Half Cool Things” to keep my regular audience updated on some, you know, cool things I liked. And so, here we are, maybe learning together about some of the cool things Mexico has on offer, maybe ready to share your own, maybe annoyed that this principiante is already making calls on coolness.
Welcome, all. These are the top five-and-a-half Mexican things that seem cool to me and are available to you within the next month.
TONO Time-Based Art Festival in Mexico City and Puebla — March 6-22
I get it, the title is already an issue, pretentiousness-wise, and there’s so much cool stuff in Mexico City. (Get me to that Leonora Carrington exhibition ASAP!) But stay with me: time-based art isn’t just Marina Abramović staring into strangers’ eyes and weeping all day.
The fourth year of this fest encompasses everything from a Beyoncé songwriter and DJ, Kelman Duran, to a Thai performance artist, Oat Moniten, who grew up designing lighting at his mother’s brothel, to a much-lauded Mexican artist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer, who uses robotic lights, programmed fountains and more to create installations the festival’s website says have been called “antimonuments for an alien agency.” Beam me up!
Chichén Itzá Spring Equinox in Yucatán — March 20 or 21
Speaking of monumental light shows, the Mayas, masters of impressive art and architecture, built the Great Pyramid of Kukulcán somewhere between the eighth and 12th centuries. While its name honors a feathered serpent deity, what makes it particularly cool is that the deity’s heads are carved at the bottom of each of the structure’s sides, flanking staircases that climb to its top. At the equinox, when the sun hits just so, its light produces the illusion of the serpent’s body snaking down the pyramid’s length, creating what is, perhaps, the ultimate time-based work of art.
