Semester 4

Arts TRYathlon #1: Puscifir Concert at the Soundgarden

Event Logistics February 7th 2026, The Soundgarden in Baltimore, Concert for the band Puscifer

#metal #concert #recordstore

I definitely stepped outside of my comfort zone for my first Arts TRYathlon this semester. For this event, I decided to go to a livestream concert at my local record store in Baltimore for a band I never heard before that day, Puscifer. This event was probably the strangest event I have done so far for my Arts TRYathlon. The music that Puscifir played is considered "industrial rock," which I did not know was even a genre. Industrial rock music sounds like music that was made for the most anti-fun reasons ever, but hearing Puscifer's music as a hip-hop head ( I was looking at hip-hop CDs before the show started, as seen in this photo) was something very enlightening in helping me remember always to keep my ears open-minded to whatever I listen to. There was a good amount of Puscifir fans in the store watching the live concert with me, and they were dressed very appropriately for their performance. Lots of black and gothic aesthetics, I felt like a fish out of water with my earth-toned clothes, but I didn't let that intimidation stop me from having an alright time at the concert with my friends. We even bought some CDs at some fair prices! I didn't realize how much I would enjoy this concert. Even though I wasn't a fan and didn't really understand the music before I came into the store, I still found appreciation for the art because of the environment I found myself in. I'm just very happy that I found another opportunity to step outside my comfort zone in a medium that I love, inside a location/venue that I am very familiar with

Arts TRYathlon #2: Maker Mixer

Event Logistics March 12th, 2026, The Bel Air Lounge, TA Val's Forever Flowers Maker Mixer

#flowers #crafts #friends #art

Throughout this entire week toward the upcoming Maker Mixer, I was sick with a very nasty cold. I could not do very many things academically speaking with it, and the overall week was very bad for me. I even had to miss my scholars classes due to how bad I was feeling, but I walked the long walk to Bel Air to make up for this absence, even if I was still feeling sick. While walking and at the event, I remembered that in Art Scholars in various lessons in colloquium my first year, they had us examine art from various artists from around the world in different mediums and forms. Frida Kahlo, Francisco Goya, Claude Monet, etc., all suffered from some sort of illness that affected them deeply and made their work a little tedious and tiresome to do. Although this is a little extreme and slightly hyperbolic, I somewhat understood what these artists and other artists with illnesses and diseases have to go through when making art. Making art when you're not on your A-game of feeling healthy is difficult, and the fact that these artists who suffered with even more chronic illnesses than a nasty, common cold, made these masterpieces even with their ailments? It makes me feel even more impressed than I originally felt. Making these forever flowers was fun yet tedious. The thing that helped me the most was having my friends in the Maker Mixer with me, so they could help me pick up the slack. Although my forever flowers didn't turn out the way I wanted because of my illness, I still understood and appreciated the artists Art Scholars showcased to me, especially when they talked about their ailments.

Arts TRYathlon #3: Music Collaboration

Event Logistics March 27th, 2026, Washington Hall, Music collaboration with requested artists

#music #producing #beats

Ever since late November of the first semester of Sophomore year, I've been working on a beat tape for my capstone project by myself. In all honesty, it has been a fun but lonely process. I have enjoyed the process of creating music with myself being the sole creator and auteur, but I had also accepted that this project would be a solitary one, and after recently completing the work, I was correct. However, at the beginning of the second semester, I joined the music production student-run class primarily as a way to continue what I already enjoy doing artistically, but this time for scholars. I was surprised to find myself learning music theory, and especially collaborating with other students in the music-making process. Working with my peers on music in my class turned out not to be as frustrating a process as I had realized it would be. It was more fun to be able to collaborate with my fellow students and bounce ideas off the wall, continuing the "Yes, and..." philosophy we were taught during our colloquiums in my Freshman year of art scholars. These collaboration skills seemed to really shine in class, and after that, I wanted to apply this interest in collaborating on music outside of class. So, I invited multiple friends to my dorm and hosted a small, personal event for music collaboration, and we even completed a track! Everyone played a part in contributing to the project, and the rules for our session that I explained to my guests were, "Every idea someone gives must never be met with a 'No, but...' Instead, they must be met with a 'Yes, and..." and even though we initially had troubles in fitting into this ruleset, we got it done. It wasn't the most perfect track, but this experience of collaboration I found from scholars was useful and almost beautiful toward the creation of our music.

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