Pulp | Arts Around Ann Arbor

Revolution, the Chinese yoyo team at U-M, keep its audience on a string

by Pulp Staff
Mon, 12/01/2025 - 4:15pm

PULP LIFE

Revolution, the Chinese yoyo team at the University of Michigan, performing on the steps of Hill Auditorium in 2020.

Revolution performs outside Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor. Photo courtesy of Revolution.

Like semesters, student groups come and go at the University of Michigan. Concrete Canoe team? Seems to be on hiatus. Photonix, the Glo-Stick choreography ensemble? Also seems to be taking a break.

But if you're a student interested in diabolo, aka the art of the Chinese yoyo, then Revolution is the group for you—and it's still around, as it has been since its 2009 creation.

The troupe blends a traditional Chinese pastime with modern music and captivating choreography to promote Asian American and Pacific Islander culture.

On November 23, 2025, Revolution came to the Ann Arbor District Library's Downtown location for a 30-minute performance followed by 10 minutes of Q&A with the audience.

Below, watch the videos of Revolution's recent performance at AADL as well as the group's presentation outside Hill Auditorium in Ann Arbor during the 2020 COVID year.

Ypsi's Dzanc House offers accessible and welcoming ways to explore art and writing within a creative community

by Martin Slagter
Thu, 11/20/2025 - 1:00pm

VISUAL ART WRITTEN WORD PULP LIFE

Dzanc House exterior showing a beige paint scheme, white trim, and a front porch.

Dzanc House is a welcoming creative space in Ypsilanti. Photo via dzanchouse.org.

During a Friday evening class, Mahsa Khazeni describes to a small group of faithful Dzanc House attendees the instructions on how to approach their colored pencil and marker drawings, with suggestions of creating hybrid creatures or scenes from dreams or nightmares.

“Forget logic and make something new,” said Khazeni, whose artwork fills the surrounding walls of the Ypsilanti nonprofit’s gallery space as its monthly featured artist.

This is what a typical weeknight has looked like at Dzanc House since it opened in the spring of 2024 as a hub for anyone who has a desire to create, hosting nightly figure drawing, fiber arts, and “collage and chill” classes.

The Holy Bones Artisan Market celebrates ghosts, ghouls, and great local creators

by Lori Stratton
Wed, 10/15/2025 - 12:00pm

VISUAL ART PULP LIFE PREVIEW INTERVIEW

Holly Bones wearing skeleton gloves and holding a Welcome to Ypsilanti newspaper/map.

Holly Bones photo courtesy of the artist.

Fans of the spooky season have an annual event they look forward to—and we're not (just) talking about Halloween.

The Holy Bones Festival in Ypsilanti is a shivering mix of art, performance, and vibes, with the focus being on the ghoulish and gothic with a PG-13 bent. There are also related seasonal artisan markets throughout the year, all with a similar macabre spirit: Pushing Up Daisies in the spring, Krampus in July, etc.

Ypsi visual artist Holly Bones started The Holy Bones Festival in 2019, but she had to switch things up for the 2025 edition and other seasonal markets, as stated on the fest's Facebook events page:

This year has been one of immense change for our team, marked by both life changes and the loss of loved ones. We're taking a step back from our big festival to host a series of artisan markets for the rest of 2025. It’s our way of focusing on the artists and community that started it all, and it's also a chance to spend more intentional time with all of you before we dive into 2026!

The Holy Bones Artisan Market was always the centerpiece of the Holy Bones Festival, but now it has the full spotlight, with more than 70 creators displaying their wares at the Ypsilanti Freighthouse on Sunday, October 19, 1-9 pm.

Scaling back gave Bones and her self-described "skeleton crew" a chance to reset and plan for a big 2026, all while continuing to celebrate the local artistic community, especially those creators who might not fit in with typical seasonal markets.

"My hope is that attendees for this market, and any local market, continue to support real human creativity in our communities," Bones said via email. "By supporting local artists instead of corporations, you are bringing someone's dream to life in real time."

We conversed with Bones about the 2025 Holy Bones Festival and what she has planned for 2026.

Alive and Well: AADL's Dead Media Day celebrates the past in the digital age

by Lori Stratton
Wed, 10/08/2025 - 9:00am

MUSIC FILM & VIDEO PULP LIFE HISTORY

Photos of a reel-to-reel tape machine, a typewriter, a VHS tape, and a floppy disk.

Dead Media Day graphic by Amanda Szot.

Dead media is alive and well in my house.

My husband, Brian, and I have an affinity for various types of discontinued and outdated media from the 1970s and 1980s. It’s everything from 8-tracks and LaserDiscs to VHS tapes and retro video game consoles.

There’s something fun about revisiting old media from your childhood or experimenting with now-obsolete technology that was popular before you were born.

I want to highlight some of my old media as a way to celebrate Dead Media Day, which is October 12 at Ann Arbor District Library’s downtown location.

The inaugural event pays homage to retro media, entertainment, and ephemera, and features vendors selling vintage and rare items.

It will also have exhibits, hands-on demonstrations, and crafts for fans who want to step back in time and honor all things old and once forgotten.

Here’s a look at five types of dead media that continue to thrive in the Stratton household.

A Hundred Nerds: Ann Arbor’s edition of Nerd Nite hit the century mark this summer

by Lori Stratton
Mon, 10/06/2025 - 3:00pm

PULP LIFE INTERVIEW

The Nerd Nite logo featuring a pair of light-blue sunglasses against a purple background.

Nerd Nite Ann Arbor logo by Ann Arbor District Library.

The informal talk series Nerd Nite Ann Arbor hit its 100th-event milestone in July, but nobody threw a party for it.

“We talked about whether we wanted to celebrate it or not, and we decided every Nerd Nite is a neat Nerd Nite,” said Ann Arbor District Library's Emily Murphy, who co-hosts the event with AADL colleague Jacob Gorski.

“And yes, we hit 100, but we’re gonna keep going. We acknowledged it when we were there and said, ‘Here we are—wow, 100 times,’ but I feel confident that we’re gonna just keep going, and people [will] keep coming to it.”

Murphy and Gorski are hosting the 103rd edition of Nerd Nite Ann Arbor on October 9. The two-hour event, held on the second Thursday of every month at LIVE, features three speakers giving informative talks in a bar setting for 15-20 minutes on topics of their choice.

Topics often cover science, technology, health, history, and pop culture. The October 9 event features speakers Kim Williams-Guillén on the bats of Wayne County, Chuwen (Cullen) Zhong on the impacts of loneliness and social isolation on people’s health, and Jim Ottaviani on identifying and tracking asteroids in our solar system.

West Side Book Shop celebrates 50 years in downtown Ann Arbor

by Pulp Staff
Tue, 09/23/2025 - 2:00pm

WRITTEN WORD PULP LIFE INTERVIEW

Jay Platt, owner of West Side Book Shop, leaning on a stack of books in 1998,

Jay Platt, owner of West Side Book Shop, May 1998. Photograph by Larry E. Wright for The Ann Arbor News.

Jay Platt thought he'd be an engineer. The boat lover moved to Ann Arbor in 1963 from Alexandria, Virginia, to study naval architecture at the University of Michigan.

But a different career called out to him after he visited a bookstore in New York City:

"I had always been interested in older things, for one thing, and books—I wouldn't say I was a collector, but I would make a point of getting an earlier edition," Platt told Elizabeth Smith and Amy Cantu in an episode of AADL Talks To that was published March 30, 2024. "Then in early, I think, '71, I believe it was, I was in New York City with a good friend of mine, and he was into book collecting. We visited some bookshops ... but one we went into and he asked for this book by—I forgot what the title was—but the book dealer went way up in, knew right where it was. I said, 'How did he know that? There are thousands of books here,' and now I know, because you know your stock. You have to, and that's what got me started."

Platt worked for a couple of bookstores in Ann Arbor before launching his own business here in 1975: West Side Book Shop at 113 West Liberty Street. He and his partner at the time held an opening party on September 21, 1975, at the store, which is located on the street level of the John Haarer Building, which was built in 1888.

Fifty years later, West Side Book Shop is still going strong inside the Haarer Building.

AADL 2024 STAFF PICKS: HOMEPAGE

by Pulp Staff
Mon, 12/16/2024 - 1:04pm

MUSIC VISUAL ART FILM & VIDEO THEATER & DANCE WRITTEN WORD PULP LIFE

AADL Staff Picks 2024

If you're an Ann Arbor District Library cardholder, you receive a weekly email newsletter listing news, upcoming events, and a slew of recommendations from the catalog. Those recs are also available at aadl.org/reviews, and we're always happy to make suggestions for books, audiobooks, streamable content in the catalog, DVDs, board games, tools, etc. if you visit us at the branches.

But our 2024 Staff Picks allow the AADL crew to go beyond the library catalog—and the calendar year.

We don't limit our year in review to things that came out in 2024 or that can be checked out from AADL; the staff comments on whatever favorite media and events they experienced this year, no matter when or where they originated. Maybe a favorite album of 2024 came out in 1973, or the best book someone read this year is so old that it's out of copyright. It's all good, and it all counts.

Here are the categories of AADL's 2024 Staff Picks: