VIEWING: UK POLITICAL CRISIS
COBRA (PBS)
If you like political drama and were a fan of the Danish series, Borgen, then you’d probably also enjoy COBRA. A massive geomagnetic storm knocks out power to the entire U.K., and there are not enough new transformers to replace all the damaged ones. Which section of the country will have to wait? It’s a monumental crisis for British prime minister Robert Sutherland and his team, including chief of staff Anna Marshall.
This 6-part series is action packed with nail-biting tension and personal drama. Who is the man who just shows up on Anna’s doorstep? What really happened to Georgia, the best friend of Sutherland’s daughter? How far will Home Secretary Archie Glover go in attempting to become the next PM? Finally, how does the prime minister deal with rioting and destruction and calm the country?
The title, COBRA, stands for Cabinet Office Briefing Room and is used as a code for an emergency meeting of the PM and all the cabinet secretaries. There are some familiar faces from other British series such as Victoria Hamilton, the elegantly competent Anna, who appeared in The Crown and Lark Rise to Candleford.
This is escapism that seems eerily possible! We binge watched Season 1, the first of three seasons.
EXHIBITION: EXOTIC FASHION
Sleeping Beauties (Metropolitan Museum of Art)
The Costume Institute’s annual exhibit opens after the Met’s May gala. The gala is always an extravagant display of fabric, color, and celebrities. The exhibit also sometimes wows but not always. This year, I appreciated the effort that went into making the exhibit immersive with a wide array of dresses from various periods and designers, but also the incorporation of videos running overhead, voiceovers, and other sounds relative to the theme of individual galleries. Water lapping in the marine sections, insects buzzing in the nature section and so on. Nonetheless, it was not an exhibit I loved.
The first space was narrow and very crowded (even though I was there right after the museum opened), so I moved through quickly. I looked at the fashions but did not do much reading of the descriptive wall plaques. Overall, I got the general impression of the theme, but made short work of what is a long and large exhibit.
The gowns here are ones I found particularly striking, several of them showcasing flowers. One does wonder whether a woman could move at all in some of these creations!
EXHIBITION: SNIPPETS OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS
Isaac Julien’s Lessons of the Hour (Museum of Modern Art)
Tucked away into a small gallery on MoMA’s second floor is Lessons of the Hour. British filmmaker and artist, Isaac Julien uses ten video screens of different sizes to present scenes of Frederick Douglass’s life and work. Douglass was a 19th century abolitionist, an orator, and an author. A Black man, he was the most photographed person of his era.
Douglass’s life is not depicted linearly, and different images and texts appear simultaneously on the various screens. It is possible to stand in the gallery for just a few minutes or sit on the banquette long enough to absorb more of the role this man played in the overall quest for equal rights for all people. A worthwhile experience and one that is available into September.
Note: Header photo is a more traditional yellow Liberty gown from the 1880’s. All unattributed photos by JWFarrington.
