Art Cures, our new weekly series, offers a themed list of music, films, books, events and other cool stuff in hopes of supplying you with a sufficient art fix, as well as the cures you didn’t know you needed. So whether you’re reeling from a recent break-up, seeking inspiration for your creative block, or just needing a change of scenery, these lists will help raise your spirits and remedy your ills.
Remember how awesome high school was? JK LOL. Me either. I mean, I guess it had its perks, but high school is weird and filled with unnecessary stress and humiliating style choices. But what is awesome is the magical way that teenagers are depicted in so many works of fiction, with everyone and everything seeming so familiar yet otherworldly. And because the idea of high school is, for many people, better than the real thing, it makes sense that looking back upon those years as an adult is far more enjoyable than actually living through them. So now, let’s get all nostalgic and reminisce about our own teenage ~*mEmORieS*~ and discover some new media that’ll surely remind us of those strange and storied years.
- Bring up all of the amazingly terrible music you listened to in high school (and other parts of your life) with Retrojam. Simply enter your birthday, and you’ll end up with a bunch of playlists that correspond to each year of your life. It’s a fantastic reminder that years ago, you were speeding around your hometown in an old Honda Civic with The Eminem Show cranked all the way up. Or something like that.
- Visit your favorite fictional teenagers in their fictional teenage bedrooms at Teenage Bedrooms on the Screen. As Dazed Digital pointed out, this brilliant site has been documenting the teenage bedrooms featured in popular TV shows, movies, and music videos from just about every decade. I’m not sure if we’ll ever understand the allure of these magical private spaces, but some things aren’t meant to be understood.
- Put on a flannel or your old army jacket and go play Freaks and Geeks Bingo at Videology on Wednesday, March 18.
- Watch Beyond Clueless, a fascinating documentary that explores the depths of the cinematic teenage experience. With narration by Fairuza Balk and a fantastic soundtrack by Summer Camp, Beyond Clueless will not disappoint.
- Speaking of Summer Camp, go back and listen to the English duo’s first full length album, Welcome to Condale. A playful devotion to nostalgia drives this electro-pop-rock depiction of the eponymous fictional hometown. It features dialogue samples from films like Say Anything and Weird Science, and there’s even a song called “Brian Krakow.”
- Go see Teen Suicide at Brooklyn Night Bazaar on Friday, March 27. Drink some beer (you’re old enough!), cause some trouble, and take advantage of the photobooth.
- Reacquaint yourself with infamous moody teen, Holden Caulfield. Then, use this map to trace his footsteps around Manhattan. Existential crisis not required.
- Peruse “School’s Out,” “Forever Young,” “Everybody Knows This Is Nowhere,” or really any photo series Petra Collins has done for Rookie Mag.
Article by Nicole Woszcyzna. Follow her on Twitter @nicolewosz.
