Stranger Suggests: I Saw the TV Glow, MadArt’s Final Exhibition, HUMP! at Home, Merylthon, and Khushbu Shah with Lauren Ko
One really great thing to do every day of the week
by Charles Mudede
(FILM) You will always remember where you were when you saw I Saw the TV Glow, the latest from the exciting director Jane Schoenbrun. It tears open the mind and soul to lay bare what it means to be alive in all its transcendent yet terrifying detail. Telling the story of two teens—perfectly played by Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine—who connect over a show known as The Pink Opaque, I Saw the TV Glow is a stunningly evocative experience about culture, transness, and exploration that feels like it is creating its own cinematic language. It’s not only the most inventive work of modern independent horror since We’re All Going to the World’s Fair, Schoenbrun’s previous feature, which was also outstanding, but it’s the type of film that feels like it will only worm its way even further into the recesses of the mind the longer we have the honor to reflect on it. (Now playing at several local theaters including SIFF Cinema Uptown, Northwest Film Forum, and the Varsity Theatre) CHASE HUTCHINSON
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(VISUAL ART) As former Stranger staff writer Jas Keimig wrote back in 2022, “To be an arts writer in Seattle is to be continually in awe of the site-specific works dreamed up by artists-in-residence at MadArt Studio.” Sadly, MadArt’s final exhibition is upon us, and the group show will pay tribute to the organization’s 15-year legacy. All past MadArt artists were invited to “propose works that referenced, extended, or resonated with their original MadArt creations,” leading to a whopping 51-piece showcase that incorporated lesser-visited areas of the MadArt space, like the mezzanine office and the kitchen. It’s a fitting final tribute to MadArt’s immersive art ethos. (MadArt, 325 Westlake Ave N, through July 13, free, all ages) LINDSAY COSTELLO
The Merylthon – A Weekend-Long Marathon of Meryl Streep
(FILM) If you haven’t visited the Grand Cinema, the only nonprofit cinema between Seattle and Olympia, make this week the time you give it a spin—they’re currently in the middle of a massive capital campaign, aiming to raise funds to purchase Tacoma’s Merlino Arts Center. What’s a theater in need of dough to do? Host a Meryl Streep marathon, of course. Three packed days of Streep screenings will include extra goodies like drag queen hosts, a costume contest, a “Merylthon museum,” and special appearances by a cardboard Meryl. Who knows—maybe there will be actual people named Meryl there, too. It’s reason enough to make the drive. (Grand Cinema, 606 S Fawcett Ave, June 14–16, $20–$90) LINDSAY COSTELLO
Sean Wolcott’s Lady Swordfighter Listening Party
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(MUSIC) Seattle-based composer/multi-instrumentalist Sean Wolcott is one of the few musicians in the region who focuses on soundtracks and library-music recordings. His latest score for an imaginary film, Lady Swordfighter (which he calls “a psychedelic revenge odyssey”), homages the music heard in the type of Japanese action thrillers that have fired the imagination of Quentin Tarantino, as evidenced in his Kill Bill films. With utmost skill and respect, Wolcott has captured the rich elements of this genre’s sonic vocabulary with amazing attention to detail: trilling and tranquil shakuhachi, languid koto and shamisen, resonant taiko drums, fuzz-toned guitars, anguished female vocals, and soaring horns. The funky, David Axelrod-esque rhythms are a major bonus. The first single from Lady Swordfighter, “Nine Lives Are Not Enough,” begins streaming on June 16. The LP hits streaming services on June 21, with vinyl pre-sales available then at listentoclockwork.com. (The Beacon, 4405 Rainier Ave S, 4 pm, free. RSVP with your name and desired number of tickets to listentoclockwork@gmail.com. First come, first served. Capacity is 50.) DAVE SEGAL
Stephanie Syjuco: After/Images
Block Out the Sun (detail), 2019. PHOTO: STEPHANIE SYJUCO
(VISUAL ART) In her series Block Out the Sun, Manila, Phillippines-born and San Francisco-raised artist Stephanie Syjuco makes the visible Filipinos in archival black-and-white photographs invisible with her hand. The exploitation, the humiliation (those, for example, performing Filipino village life during the St. Louis World’s Fair in 1904 for white gazers) are made invisible. You can’t see them. You see instead their setting (the “living exhibit’s” fake village) or their superiors (white Americans). This simple intervention unexpectedly makes those we do not see more visible. And here we find the strange power of Syjuco’s invisibility. It’s the right to be seen and also not seen. The Filipinos in the images Syjuco found in the archives did not have this right. They were forced to be seen. And so, in this sense, visibility was not empowering. It was violently oppressive. And this is the genius of Syjuco’s Block Out the Sun series—a genius found in her other projects, such as the textual “Blind Spot”—she can recode by the direct act of un-coding. Read the full feature from our Spring A+P issue here. (Frye Art Museum, 704 Terry Ave, Wed-Sun through Sept 8, free, all ages) CHARLES MUDEDE
(HUMP!) On-demand streaming passes for Dan Savage’s HUMP! 2024 Part One are now available! Whether you missed out on the in-person screenings or just want to see it again (and again and again), these passes provide weeklong, on-demand access to the first half of this year’s incredible lineup. No pants? No problem. It’s the only clothing-optional way to watch this first batch of films, which includes Human Chandelier (“flesh, sweat, and wax”) and Table Top Tango (“involving fruit, tools, and other objects”). And while you’re at it, why not share the fun? We’ve heard from one HUMP! fan who will be streaming Part One at their annual Porn & Waffles brunch, and another who will be hosting a “HUMP! d’oeuvres potluck,” with guests encouraged to bring “sexy and silly dishes, like a cockcuterie board.” We LOVE it. Getting together to watch HUMP! kinda sounds like the beginning of the next great HUMP! film, too… Get a $25 streaming pass for the week of your choice RIGHT HERE. Happy HUMP!ing! THE STRANGER’S PROMO DEPARTMENT
Khushbu Shah with Lauren Ko: Culture & Cuisine
Cookbook author Khushbu Shah will be at Town Hall Tuesday, June 18. Author Photo by Alex Lau
(FOOD/BOOKS) With her debut cookbook Amrikan: 125 Recipes From the Indian Diaspora, Food & Wine writer and editor Khushbu Shah asks the question, “What is Indian food in America?” She delves into the answer not only with irresistible-sounding recipes I’m eager to add into my rotation, like saag paneer lasagna, achari paneer pizza, spinach tadka dal with rice, panipuri mojitos, and masala chai Basque cheesecake, but also with images and essays that meditate on the connection between food and identity. As Shah told the New York Times in a 2019 interview, “Food is undeniably intersectional. It’s impossible — it’s irresponsible — to deny it.” She’ll chat about the release with local baker, artist, and Pieometry author Lauren Ko, whose mind-bending pastry creations have earned her hundreds of thousands of followers on her Instagram account @lokokitchen. (Town Hall, 1119 Eighth Ave, 7:30 pm, $5-$25 with optional $35 book purchase, all ages) JULIANNE BELL
Prizefight!
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Saturday, June 22 at Climate Pledge Arena
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