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(09/23/06 11:24pm)
The IU Art Museum is working to raise $1 million for the renovation of a gallery that hasn't even seen a new coat of paint in two decades. The third-floor collection of African, Oceanic and pre-Columbian art will be the first room to receive remodeling in a plan to overhaul the layout of the entire museum.\nIU Art Museum gallery curator Diane Pelrine discussed plans for the remodeling Wednesday.\n"Let's face it. We need some general repairing," Pelrine said. "The gallery is showing some wear and tear from the past 20 years."\nSince the third-floor collection attracts the fewest number of patrons, the museum decided it should receive the first face lift. The collection has remained relatively unchanged since its opening in the fall of 1985. Pelrine blames its location, its lack of advertising on the lower floors and a general ignorance of this genre of art for its unpopularity. \n"I am working on a plan that will make people feel like they want to go into the gallery," Pelrine said.\nAt the meeting, which was open to the public, the proposed changes were discussed over lunch. More than 20 members of the arts community, including docents, Bloomington residents, patrons and students, offered suggestions about the changes.\nPelrine said the interior walls will be knocked out and the gallery will be given a whole new layout, complete with an orientation room and separate areas for each collection. There will be a new emphasis on contemporary African art, thanks to a partnership with the IU African studies program. \nRob Shakespeare from the IU theater lighting department will create a new lighting plan. The individual glass cases will be lowered to meet the \nAmerican Disability Act's recommendation of 30 inches from the ground to provide accessibility for patrons in wheelchairs as well as children. There will be audio tours and new brochures for self-guided tours. Everything, down to the color of the walls, is going to be updated.\nPelrine said she would like to focus heavily on education about the pieces but would like to stay away from long, detailed labels next to the works themselves. \n"We are an art museum first," she said. "Although context is important, we want people to look at these objects and appreciate them as aesthetic objects."\nTherefore, a resource room will be built in the gallery to raise awareness for these cultures and their art. A computer kiosk with Internet access will be hooked up, and the gallery will include a television showing clips from festivals from parts of the world relevant to the artwork. One of the participants at Wednesday's meeting suggested the museum offer some sort of touch exhibit for children, which Pelrine noted.\nSeveral new pieces will be added as part of the permanent collection, but the American Indian art will be put into storage, since there is not enough to create an entire exhibit. \nJoseph Stahlman, a Ph.D. student in the anthropology department, voiced his concern with this decision.\n"Do you think that if you removed the contemporary Native American objects, that people will think that they have nothing to contribute?" Stahlman asked.\nPelrine said that she understood his apprehension. \n"I feel a little uneasy about it," she said. "But I want people to see what we have and to see a full story. I don't want to detract from that."\nAside from this one conflict, participants in the discussion seemed enthusiastic about the upcoming remodeling. They offered advice on what to do with the pieces while the gallery is under construction, which will last at least nine months. Pelrine said the museum would like to do renovations during the summer when there is less traffic. It plans to put some of the art in the special exhibitions gallery on the ground floor and possibly lend some out to other universities and art museums to be housed until the gallery is complete.\nSo far, the museum has raised about $80,000 and is in the process of finalizing plans and applying for grants and endowments. Pelrine said there is still a lot of work left to do. \n"I am still collecting what people like and don't like about the installment," she said.
(09/21/06 3:58am)
Senior Kevin Anderson is not a bad guy. He just plays one in most of his productions. \nThe theatre and drama major tackled the role of Batboy's evil mother in the fall 2004 production of "Batboy -- The Musical," which he described as "ridiculous," because he had to dress up in women's clothing. His latest endeavor is to perform the roles of the neighborhood cop and the representative of a corrupt corporation in the upcoming IU theater production of "Urinetown, the musical." Officer Lockstock is the narrator of the musical, which will premiere at the Wells-Metz Theatre Oct. 20.\nAnderson said the character seems very charming and likeable at the beginning of the show but progresses into the villain. \nAnderson has been in theater productions since high school and has performed in more than 10 shows. He said the rehearsals for this show have been the most intense he has ever done because there are three different directors -- one each for musical training, acting and dancing. \n"They don't all meet up together for a few weeks," he said. \nThe cast rehearses six days each week, four or more hours each day. They become very close because they work in an environment where emotions run very high; therefore, it is very easy to overcome barriers and make friends, Anderson said. With practices ending as late midnight several times a week, he sometimes must sacrifice his grades, but he said he performs to unite his family. They all come to stay in Bloomington for the duration of his shows. Also, he said the experience he gains is much more important for his resume than his schoolwork.\nAnderson eventually wants to go to New York to audition for an acting school such as Circle in the Square Theatre School, where his idol, Philip Seymour Hoffman, trained.\n"I envy his future collaborators for the chance to work with this amazing actor," said Bruce Burgun, Anderson's former director for "Our Country's Good," a spring 2006 IU theater production.\n"Kevin is an exceptionally talented actor, remarkable in his highly unique ability to wrap bold, distinct characterizations around a tender and vulnerable soul," Burgun said. "He is also a delight to work with -- brave, inventive and highly collaborative."\nAnderson said he prefers strictly acting like that of his character in "Our Country's Good," but he also enjoys performing in musicals like "Urinetown" that can step back and poke fun at themselves. He said actors should be able to do the same. To psyche himself up for productions, he usually listens to AC/DC on his iPod and yells backstage. He said, however, "I can step back and look at myself and say, 'What the hell are you doing?!"
(09/14/06 3:51am)
She strung 800 hand-forged silver helicopter seeds together to create a neck-piece entitled "800 Wishes Home." Sim Luttin is now more than 8,000 miles away from her home in Melbourne, Australia. \n"I am interested in my natural surroundings here versus back home. My work maps my travels," she said. "I want to take pieces of it back."\nLuttin is at IU on a full-ride scholarship from the Friends of Art to complete her master's degree in metalsmithing and jewelry design. She is one year into her three-year program.\nShe began her undergraduate study in speech pathology at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology but quickly switched to art.\n"In high school I was torn between the health sciences and art," she said. "I was streamlined into doing something that was more practical, but then I realized that I couldn't just make art my hobby. It had to be my life."\nShe said she is very interested in combining her two passions and furthering the relationship between art and the body, hence her attraction to jewelry. She said that she likes the idea of art being worn. Even though the pieces are functional, she said that they are often impractical.\nLuttin has been in more than 18 exhibitions in the past five years, been featured in four art publications and taught six art courses. She has completed artist residencies in Adelaide, Australia, Deer Isle, Maine and Mount Saint Francis, Ind.\nShe volunteers at the School of Fine Arts Gallery and is working on co-curating an exhibit for next fall. The exhibit, "Field of Vision: Contemporary Jewelry and Hollowware," will be a showcase of the signature works of several prominent and emerging North American and international jewelry designers. Luttin said it will be the largest IU metalsmithing show since 1985. There will be a jewelry auction this spring to raise funds for the event.\nLuttin is exploring the application of her experiences with the wintry Indiana landscape to her work. She wants to continue creating art jewelry and is preparing for her first solo show. She would eventually like to start a gallery either here or in Australia to raise public awareness for contemporary art jewelry. In the long run, she would also like to secure a teaching position because she loves collaboration as much as she loves the individual creation of her work.\nShe explained that one piece of jewelry can take anywhere from one week to one month to complete. She begins each project with simple, loose sketches and then gathers inspiration from flower samples that she presses and from photocopies that her family sends her. She then thinks about how the piece will attach to the body and moves to the technical aspects of forming the metal.\nIn her artist statement, Luttin said, "I am hoping to entice those who don't take objects at face value, to take the time to investigate each piece; the undulating surface texture on each unit and the space it occupies and simultaneously contains"
(09/07/06 3:40am)
Fourteen-year-old Jane Yoon strode confidently across the stage at the 2001 USA International Harp Competition in her yellow silk dress. She was not competing; however, she was a guest performer. The previous year she won the Japanese International Harp Competition in Tokyo, making her the youngest participant and the only Korean to win. She had also begun her studies under Susann MacDonald at IU.\nGracefully perched on a stool, she pulled the giant instrument toward her and began to coax a mesmerizing tune from the 47 strings.\nYoon, now a sophomore, began playing the harp when she was six years old. Her mother's best friend, who had studied with MacDonald at IU in her college days, took Yoon under her wing, and Yoon began performing with friends at small recitals at her elementary school.\nWhen she was only 13, Yoon moved from Korea to America to take private lessons from MacDonald. \n"I have many students of former students who send them to study with me. I affectionately call them my grandchildren," MacDonald said. \nThe IU harp department is the largest of its kind in America, and Yoon said MacDonald is the premiere teacher. Soon after they met, MacDonald had Yoon practicing four hours each day. \n"When you first start, you get blisters and they pop," Yoon said. "You have to build calluses in order to play well. It was painful, but I got to see the result right away from my practice."\nYoon has gotten many prestigious performance opportunities. She played 11 concert engagements in and around France after winning a competition. She also played the first harpist performance on the British Broadcasting Company's live radio session. She was a member of a panel discussion at the World Harp Congress in Dublin, Ireland. On her 17th birthday, she played live on Korean television.\nYoon began classes at IU last year. She did not even receive an orientation packet because she has been around campus for so long. In her current classes, she is often required to participate in collegiate performances. Last winter, she was the harpist for "The Nutcracker."\nPresently, Yoon is not practicing for any particular show. She is building her repertoire to include some more contemporary pieces and is excited to be playing music of her choosing.\nShe is pursuing a career as a solo artist, but she would eventually like to teach.\n"I believe Jane will have a wonderful future as a professional harpist," MacDonald said. "She has all the necessary qualities and gifts to bring her great success, both in life and in her art"
(09/07/06 3:38am)
Each square is made up of four sides. The four professors of graphic design in IU's Hope School of Fine Arts have collaborated in a new exhibit entitled "Four Square" that will have its opening reception 7-9 p.m. tomorrow at the SoFA gallery.\nProfessor James Reidhaar is one of the sides of that square. \n"We work together very well," he said. "Art is often a very personal and private investigation. Graphic design is very labor intensive. No one does it all themselves."\nReidhaar teaches new media and graphic design, as well as the history of graphic design. Filling in the other three sides of the square are Paul Brown, the interim director of SoFA, David Wolske, who teaches production for graphic designers and Jenny El-Shamy, a faculty member who art directs many student projects.\nReidhaar explained that their work can be seen all around town and campus. He created the logo for the Bloomington Recycling Center which can be seen in the windows of many local businesses. Wolske designs promotional material for University events, including the posters for the "Four Square" exhibit.\n"We selected things that don't normally get seen for the show," Reidhaar said.\nReidhaar said he is especially interested in the fine line between traditional design and new media. He puns that he "spearheaded" a series of Shakespearean posters. He also created a series of prints about his family history. \n"I am a historian at heart," he said. "Even though my projects involve new processes, they always look like old processes."\nWolske has displayed some examples from his new line of greeting cards. He has started producing some of his cards as limited edition pieces and describes them as "little pieces of art."\nEl-Shamy is the youngest member of the faculty exhibition. "Many of my pieces in the show are college level textbooks," she said in an e-mail. "I also have several announcement style pieces, invitations, birth announcements and holiday cards."\nAll four designers are currently working on projects. Reidhaar is creating a Web site for one of his classes and notes that even though the Internet is his media, he still utilizes an old woodcut-style font. Wolske said he is currently working on posters for the IU Art History lecture series. El-Shamy is busy making book designs for McGraw-Hill Publishing, marketing materials for the IU Kelley School of Business and the Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and designing advertisements for Nickelodeon Magazine. Brown is trying to conceptualize a scene from Richard Brautigan's novel, "Trout Fishing in America."\nBrown's mantra is "limitations galvanize the imagination." He enjoys the challenges of using the type, media and press he has on hand versus digital technology. Several of his pieces are miniature fable books that he created with Reidhaar. The pair wrote and printed the books themselves.\nMost of the projects in the exhibition are the work of two or more of the featured designers. \n"Collaboration is exciting," Brown said. "You never really know what is going to happen"
(09/04/06 4:14am)
Bloomington resident Marilyn Kittredge sees the world through a slice of Swiss cheese. \nThat is how she describes her macular degeneration. She has no central vision and cannot read or distinguish facial features, so she was very excited when she heard about the new set of tours the IU Art Museum offers. She registered for the first audio description tour, which took place Saturday with six participants, and got to experience art in a whole new way. \nNot only does the IU Art Museum now offer audio description tours, but it is also now one of the first university museums in the United States to offer special "touch tours" for the visually impaired. The touch tours will be available with a reservation made three weeks in advance. They can be taken in conjunction with an audio tour. Only the audio tour was offered Saturday.\nKittredge has taken advantage of several audio tours offered to visually impaired patrons throughout various museums but explained that most of the tours are recorded. IU offers personalized tours given by real people.\n"I enjoy museums," Kittredge said, "but it is hard for me to get a lot out of them."\nAfter taking the IU tour provided by docents Eleanor Jones and Becky Hrisomalos, Kittredge remarked that it was much more detailed than her previous experiences. She said she can hardly wait to reserve a spot for the first touch tour.\nGraduate student Marie Clapot, who is visually impaired herself, education curator Ed Maxedon and museum staff have been working for more than a year to put this program together.\nAfter moving from France to do her undergraduate work in Michigan and then moving to San Francisco for an internship, Clapot began searching for a museum that would support what she calls the "connection between her handicap and art." She found Maxedon and began an internship under his tutelage at the IU Art Museum. The touch tours have been her pet project.\n"The audio description tours create a three-dimensional reality for people without that access," Maxedon said. \nHe said they can be used in conjunction with the touch tours to help translate visual information into a discernible mental image for people with visual disabilities.\nThe touch tours will consist of artwork that conservators have deemed appropriate for handling. There will be a heavy focus on statuary. Paintings that have not been primed and can therefore disintegrate with prolonged exposure to the oils found on human skin will not be allowed in the exhibit, even though all patrons will be required to wear provided gloves.\nDuring Saturday's tour, the docents described four diverse pieces. Jones pulled a slinky from her bag and passed it around to the patrons to help them get a feel for "Floor Slinky: 32 Elements" in the museum's gallery of Art of the Western World. She played soft jazz music in the background while she described the abstract painting, "Swing Landscape." She said the artist, Stuart Davis, often played jazz while he worked. Kittredge commented that this piece was particularly hard to visualize because of its abstract nature. Even Jones said: "I am not going to try to describe all of the shapes. It is way too intricate."\nHrisomalos had better luck with the sculptures "Torso with Panther Skin" and "Nkisi N'Kende," both of which will be featured on the first touch tours.\nSighted patrons can also add another dimension to the tour for the impaired. During the description of "Swing Landscape," Kittredge's husband Frank remarked that it looked like a jigsaw puzzle that "hasn't been put together yet, obviously," causing laughter and seemingly, a better understanding of the piece.\nClapot said it was extremely difficult to train the docents how to describe the art to someone who does not have the capacity of sight and to fully understand each patron's needs. The comments from the sighted patrons, therefore, can be very helpful. \n"Hearing, touching and seeing are complementary events," Clapot explained.\nThe program will now be a permanent fixture for the IU Art Museum, but the collection will change based on the availability of new pieces and the individual needs and desires of the patrons. \n"I think it is going to open the museum up to a whole new audience," said the museum's Manager of External Affairs Emily Powell. "There is a whole new world open to them, a whole new leisure activity. It will also open our eyes to other possibilities. We are moving beyond building accessibility and focusing now on how art can be more accessible"
(09/04/06 3:10am)
From a guitar autographed by members of the band Wilco to a large painting of four nudes in a kitchen, the pieces the SoFA gallery and the Friends of Art sold at the Refresh benefit gala and auction Friday night were as eclectic as the crowd that purchased them.\nAt first, gallery director Betsy Stirratt said she was worried about the bidding. She said she did not feel like people were bidding high enough and hoped the gallery would be able to raise enough money to cover its operational costs. \nAfter the auction, however, she said she felt better and realized that patrons were just waiting to bid on later pieces. She said she believes the event raised close to $20,000, meeting the proposed goal of the event.\nThe gallery was packed with more than 300 people laughing and enjoying the selection of hors d'ouevres and refreshments. Patrons wandered through the galleries, signing their bidding numbers and bids to cards. Auction attendees Greg and Carol Sidell were eyeing a piece of abstract statuary titled "New Leaf."\n"It doesn't really look like a leaf," Greg Sidell said. "It does match the couch."\nUpon concluding that it suited their living room furniture, the couple placed a bid on the piece.\nNot all patrons were at the event to bid, however. Sophomore Troy Mottard is a student in the BFA program. He said that he comes to all of the SoFA events throughout the year, and he thought that paying the $15 ticket price was the least he could do to support one of his favorite activities. \nThe live auction segment of the event began at 7:30 p.m. with a shout from the auctioneer: "There's plenty of seats and plenty of booze, so if you're timid, go get another beer!"\nMembers of the crowd laughed and began to congregate in one of the galleries. The atmosphere was electric as people sipped champagne (or chugged their beers) and contemplated their financial limits. Some shook their heads and dropped out of the race, others clenched their teeth and thrust their cards high into the air for just one more bid. \nArt from students, faculty, and even masters were auctioned off; a small Francisco Goya painting went for $230.\nThe price range was as varied as the pieces. An unsigned sketch went for $15, and a small, quirky landscape went for $1,050. Gretchen Knapp was one of the two women bidding ferociously for the piece. She did not get it, after giving up at $1,000. \n"It had great technique and a little joke. There is a little house of cards barely visible in the landscape," she said. "And the artist is becoming more prominent."\nThe pieces that did not sell will either be returned to the donating artists or be part of a new online auction program. \nThe gallery will hold another auction for jewelry Dec. 8.\nFor more information on the School of Fine Arts and its events, visit www.fa.indiana.edu.
(09/01/06 2:35am)
The public is invited to spend an evening schmoozing with the IU contemporary art sphere. At 6 p.m. Friday, the School of Fine Arts Gallery and the Friends of Art will present their first benefit auction of the year, Refresh. Several Bloomington restaurants and caterers will provide hors d'oeuvres. Semi-formal attire is recommended.\nA silent auction will begin at \n7 p.m. The live auction will begin at 7:30 p.m. and run until approximately 10 p.m. Refresh organizers will auction off original student and faculty artwork, professional art that has been displayed in the gallery throughout the past 20 years and more than 150 pieces from the John Beck collection. Beck bequeathed part of his collection to the Friends of Art program to help it continue its advocacy programs. His works can be viewed by visiting the group's Web site at www.fa.indiana.edu/foart and clicking "Events."\nBig Red Liquors, Burnham Rentals, Pygmalion's Art Supplies, Tina's Cuisine, Tabor Bruce Architecture and Design, The Prep School, Les Champs Elysées Day Spa and Salon, Flowers and Interiors, BLU Culinary Arts, One World Enterprises, Limestone Grill, Restaurant Tallent and Mr. and Mrs. Whitney Gates are providing local support.\nAll proceeds from this event will be split between the SoFA gallery and the Friends of Art program to bring artistic opportunities to students. The gallery brings several professional artists to IU and supplies an exhibition space for students and faculty. The groups' goal is to provide a place on campus to display contemporary artwork. Friends of Art endows operational and financial support to art students, including an average of $20,000 in scholarships each year.\nTickets to the auction and gala will be $20 at the door. Director of the SoFA gallery Betsy Stirratt explained that this is the only event for which students are required to purchase admission. \n"We don't get tuition money," she said, "even though we serve the students"
(08/31/06 3:38am)
She's a self-proclaimed terrible actress. She finds "abstract, expressionist" studio art pretentious, and yet, third-year graduate student Katherine Garlick has a passion for the theater and a talent for drawing. \nThroughout her education, Garlick learned how to combine her assets. She has done costume design for several IU theater productions, including last spring's "A Chorus Line." In addition, she worked for the Brown County Playhouse over the summer and created costumes for "The Compleat Works of Willm Shkspr (Abridged)."\nGarlick grew up in a small town outside of Pittsburgh with a population that she described as being smaller than IU's freshman class. She became interested in theater at a young age but realized early that she was not cut out for acting. She liked working behind the scenes best and often got jobs in high school and community theater productions as a props manager.\n"I was one of the weird, artsy kids in high school, so that was really part of the big attraction," she said.\nGarlick earned her undergraduate degree in studio art at Indiana University of Pennsylvania. While she admits she has considerable talent for drawing and painting and always carries a sketchbook in her purse, she said studio art "just didn't jive" with her.\nGarlick continued working with the school's theater program as a props manager and even won awards for her work but soon got burnt out. However, during her senior year, she was offered a position as the assistant designer for a production. She loved the experience and made the choice to stay in school for another year so that she could be the head designer for "Zastrozzi: The Master of Discipline."\nThe show was selected to compete in a regional conference, where she won first place for costume design against graduate students. She was first-runner up at the national conference in Washington D.C. \n"It was a life-changing experience for me as a designer," she said. "It got me into graduate school."\nProfessional designer and head of IU's costume design department Linda Pisano recruited Garlick for IU's graduate costume design program, which is currently comprised of three students. She explained that Garlick is highly intelligent and a very innovative designer.\n"When she reads a play, she can immediately determine things about a character," Pisano said. "She also knows a lot about history."\nAfter extensive research about the social and historical aspects of her productions, Garlick spends 20 hours each week sewing the pieces together. She works in the costume shop as a sort of \nwork-study program to help offset educational expenses. It has proven to be a challenge because she has always struggled with needlework. \n"After three years, I went from abysmal to mediocre," Garlick said.\nHer main job, however, is to create the renderings. Her latest project and graduate thesis is the design for the upcoming production of "The Crucible" by Arthur Miller, which will premiere at the Ruth N. Halls Theater on November 10. Garlick said the director has a unique vision and wants to throw out the conventional Puritan setting and costuming that are usually associated with the play.\nGarlick explained that she is trying to combine elements of Puritan, (1950s) American and modern design to create a completely avant-garde approach to a classic. \n"I am kind of terrified," Garlick said. \nBut when Garlick is handed an intimidating project, she always remembers her first goal: no naked cast members. She said she has confidence in her abilities as a designer and also as a historian of sorts, but she's reluctant to add the title "artist" to her repotoire.\n"I have trouble calling myself an artist. Theater is not just art," Garlick said. "Theater is a connection with an audience"
(08/24/06 5:45am)
Instead of requiring students to cram gallery visits into their already-hectic class schedules, this year the IU Art Museum is extending its normal 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. hours (noon to 5 p.m. Sundays) to include four special "after hours" parties celebrating art, coffee and culture. \nWelcome Week's CultureFest will culminate with the first of these celebrations, Art + Coffee = Culture, running from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m. tonight. The doors to all three of the museum's permanent collections will be open and musical guests jazz artist Gary Potter and Latin guitar performer Atanas Tzvetkov will help set the mood. \nFree coffee samples from around the globe will be served in the atrium. Students can get henna hand paintings, temporary tattoos, tarot card readings and enjoy live performances from the Different Drummer Belly Dancers and Salaam, a high-energy Middle Eastern band, according to a press release.\nMuseum Manager of External Affairs Emily Powell said that while the museum wants to highlight its impressive collection, it also "want(s) to have new ways for people to learn about different regions."\nShe said it often takes more than a month to put together one of the special exhibitions, which are displayed in the ground-floor gallery. It usually does not have one featured in September, so the concept of the coffee and art "after-party" was developed this year. \n"We wanted to be a part of the excitement of everything being fresh and new," Powell said.\nThe celebration of culture will continue throughout September on the first three Thursdays of the month. Each night, a different gallery will be featured. Music, free coffee and food donated by local businesses will fit each evening's theme. \nOn Sept. 7 the evening will feature Turkish art and music by the Silk Road Ensemble, Sept. 14 will have European modern art and cool jazz, and Sept. 21 African, Oceanic and Pre-Colombian art with Ghanaian drumming and xylophone music is planned. Art and coffee scavenger hunts and raffles are also planned. Angles Café and Gift Shop, which opened last semester, will be open during the events. The festivities will run from 7 to 9 p.m.\nThe hours were chosen to help bring more students to the events, with the idea that students will not have classes and can bring dates to the parties. The museum staff is expecting a large crowd tonight and is hoping for at least 100 students every other night. \n"We want to see how this goes over," Powell said. "If it goes well, we will have more special evenings like this."\nFor more information on this or other events at the IU Art Museum, visit www.artmuseum.iu.edu.
(08/24/06 4:50am)
A little girl raises her shirt to show a feeding tube protruding from her stomach. A nude woman embraces a tree and reconnects with nature. A single mother poses with her two young children. Twelve of alumna Yara Cluver's stirring portraits are displayed in the Rosemary P. Miller Gallery at the John Waldron Arts Center, 122 S. Walnut St., until Saturday. \n"The title of the exhibition and the concept that I am working with is the idea of 'Bonds,' that we're connected to things ... and the different kinds of relationships we have," Cluver said.\nCluver is a graduate of the Master of Fine Arts program at IU's Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts. She has been taking photographs for the past 20 years, and she now serves as the assistant director and arts council coordinator at Collins Living-Learning Center.\nCluver grew up in Bloomington and went away to New York City to begin her undergraduate work at Cooper Union School of Art. Her original intention was to major in screen printing, but she discovered her love and talent for photography in an art foundations class. She dropped out of school, moved to Los Angeles to focus on her photography and also spent some time in Brazil, her mother's homeland.\nShe completed her undergraduate work at IU in the Individualized Major Program. She combined photography, sociology and women's studies in an ambitious project.\n"I was really interested in how I could depict the female nude in a way that would empower women as opposed to objectifying them," Cluver said.\nShe has displayed this exhibit in the past and even given lectures regarding her work. She has not yet given the lecture at IU but is considering the possibility. Each of her exhibitions ranging from controversial female nudes to vibrant landscapes and portraiture are dramatically different and display her remarkable versatility and genius.\nSenior and president of Collins Arts Council Margaret Miley works with Cluver on the council. She describes her work as "cerebral."\n"There's a lot to it," Miley said. "It's the kind of photography you have to stand back and really look at."\nNot only does Miley admire Cluver's work, but she also looks up to her as a mentor and go-to person.\n"She is like the yogi of Arts Council. She is the all-knowing being that we turn to, versus a dictator," she said. "She offers help when we ask for it, and she hasn't turned into the stereotypical old woman." \nCluver is responsible for applications for admission, publications, programming and administration at Collins. Collins director Ellen Dwyer said that she is enthusiastic, accessible, organized and conscientious. \n"I often have to say 'Please let me know if I can help with anything,'" she said.\nDwyer said that Cluver is service learning-oriented and has organized several events throughout the years. She began a bookmaking program at one of the low-income elementary schools in the community. The children create their own storybooks and then show them at a reception at IU and at Monroe County Public Library. \n"The second and third grade students are so excited that their books are on display at IU," Dwyer said. "That is the kind of service learning we are supposed to be doing."\nCluver's photography and her work at Collins has amazed the people she works with every day. Dwyer said that she plans on purchasing one of Cluver's Brazilian photographs for its beautiful colors. Miley said that she has taught her how to be organized and responsible but still have a sense of individuality and personality.\n"She inspires people," Dwyer said. "She helps them develop as leaders and as artists"
(08/23/06 3:57am)
Authors have been persistent in their attempts to modernize the story of Dracula and his bloodthirsty minions for centuries, and Elizabeth Kostova has taken a stab -- with a silver stake, of course -- at the heart of the vampire story in her novel, "The Historian." Although Kostova has made a valiant effort, she may be beating an undead horse.\nLord Byron wrote of vampires in the early 17th century in his poem "The Giaour." Bram Stoker's famous "Dracula" formed the modern mental picture of the undead in the late 19th century. Anne Rice wrote her "Vampire Chronicles" in the 1970s, and they were made into the major motion pictures "Interview with the Vampire" in 1994 and "Queen of the Damned" in 2002. There is even a vampire-based television series with which we are all familiar: "Buffy the Vampire Slayer,"which first aired in 1997.\nIs it possible that society has been so over-exposed to vampire lore that we no longer find it frightening? I think so, and I think that because of this, readers will find Kostova's novel ludicrous. She attempts to add credibility by telling the "true" story of Vlad the Impaler, the historical figure upon whom Dracula is based. This is a wise move, as reality can be even more terrifying than fiction, but her facts were somewhat flimsy, and she mingles them with a downright silly plot.\nIn the novel, a young girl discovers some letters belonging to her father and begins to delve into his past. She learns that when he was in graduate school, his most beloved professor disappeared one night after having a conversation about Vlad the Impaler. Her father began to frantically comb the world, searching for his mentor with the help of his daughter, who is descended from Vlad himself. The plot is not as confusing as it sounds, but the novel is told through a series of flashbacks, letters and memoirs and the perspective changes often, forcing the reader to pay close attention so as not to get lost.\nEventually, the favorite professor is found, after a not-so-shocking revelation that Vlad still walks the earth. It turns out he was taken to be the maniacal count's librarian. That's right. Librarian. The reader learns that after centuries of terrorizing the countryside, Vlad just wants to settle down and categorize his extensive book collection. So he kidnaps the professor and sparks a 642-page journey across time and most of Eastern Europe for his hapless readers.\nThough Kostova does use some interesting tidbits of truth to back her narrative and makes good use of multiple sources to keep readers from total boredom, the book lacks substance. Without a strong plot or even strong characters to hold my attention, I found myself often dozing. I would like to see Kostova give historical fiction another shot because she seems to have a lot of imagination -- but she should definitely let sleeping vampires lie.
(07/26/06 11:00pm)
Rebecca Horsfall's dazzling dive into the mysterious lives of the world's most elite ballet dancers is impossible to put down. In fact, I couldn't for the few days that it took me to read the nearly 800-page novel, "Dancing on Thorns." Each day, I read several new chapters in the lives of the Islington Ballet dancers, following their triumphs, trials and scandalous love affairs with each other. I was drawn into their world and I was very disappointed to be thrust out at the abrupt ending.\nThis book really touched a nerve for me. I have seen only four ballets in my life, and I couldn't do a plie to save my life, but I was astounded by the intimacy that Horsfall has with her characters and allows the reader to share. It was the first book to bring me to tears in a long time.\nThe plotline follows the development of the principal character, Jean-Baptiste St. Michel, or just Michel. He begins as a lonely child who, by dancing, attempts to attract the attention of his father, a famous dancer. He fails, morphing into an adult with no concept of love. He has friends, mentors, and even a wife, but he never lets anyone into his heart. He is emotionally dead and committed only to his life in the company and his art.\nLife at the company is tumultuous, in the very least. Michel's best friends Annette, Roly, Lynne and Primo each develop as artists in their own ways, but not without thousands of laughs and just as many heartaches throughout the novel. They live a truly bohemian lifestyle in the London Soho. They dance together, they play together and they all sleep together: One large, generally happy family coming and going out of its home, Michel's flat.\nThe only pitfall of this masterful piece is the ending. It ties up all the loose ends in the plot, but it still left me wanting more. Horsfall seemed to want to come to some sort of stopping point, and it was difficult to find one in the chronicles of her characters' lives. It ends so suddenly that I am curious about the possibility of a sequel. \nHorsfall is supposedly working on a second novel at her Lincolnshire,, England, home, and I can only hope it will be a continuation of Michel's career and newfound family life. I feel as if I know him, which is the best gauge for the success of a character. \nHorsfall's style is fresh and informal. Her plot twists are frequent, but not melodramatic. I didn't tire of reading about the same characters for more than 20 years of their lives. This book is definitely going on my Facebook.com favorites, and is worth a read from anyone who can understand a passion for art or who would like to better understand the depths of the human heart.
(07/20/06 1:25am)
"The Memory Artists" is fictional. Were it not for the bright yellow sticker from the public library on the spine proclaiming it so, I would have believed it to be a true story. Jeffrey S. Moore's avant-garde style of using a third-person perspective, bits of the characters' journal entries and even the endnotes of a "narrator," blurs readers' perception of reality. \nNoel Burun, the book's protagonist, has synaesthesia, an actual condition that allows those who have it to literally see sounds. Their sensory perceptions cross in their minds and they have a "color wheel" of memories that stay with them forever. Noel could recite all of the 1001 Tales of The Arabian Nights, remember the color of his baby bib and relive the moment that he learned that his father committed suicide, daily.\nIn a painful twist of dark irony, Noel's mother, Stella, develops Alzheimer's disease. So he, with the help of his friends -- the sex and drug addict Norval, the slightly autistic and chronically cheerful JJ, the self-absorbed Dr. Vorta and the beautiful, young, former actress Samira -- devises a plan to transfer some of his excess memory storage to his mother.\nThe story is compiled by an anonymous ghostwriter, presumably Moore, for Dr. Vorta. The complexity of the authorship adds to the overall believability of the novel. \n"For over twenty years I studied a fascinating individual (Noel) ... in my numerous monographs and handbooks," Dr. Vorta's foreword reads. "Near the end of our relation-\nship ... (Noel and his mother) came into contact with three participants in memory experiments I was conducting or overseeing (Norval, JJ and Samira). This contact proved serendipitous, the pharmacological equivalent of throwing five volatile compounds into a crucible and coming up with a miracle drug."\nThe characters are as colorful as the spectrum in Noel's mind. Moore does an excellent job of revealing them in unconventional ways. \nI got a sense of Dr. Vorta's grandiosity through his endnotes alone. I learned of Noel's attachment to his "disorder," through his dialogue with Samira when he said, "I have trouble, in fact, conceiving a world in which letters and sounds are neutral, clear, white, whatever. Sometimes, I think those who don't have synaesthesia are missing out on something. Almost like being color blind."\nAnd I solved a mystery of Norval's past by reading a fragment of his novel; Moore allows his readers the opportunity to make their own discoveries about the characters he creates. \nThe novel, "The Memory Artists," is definitely not an easy read. It requires much concentration and constant "flipping" to the endnotes in the back of the book, which can become a hassle. But, it is a welcome change from the usual single perspective writing styles, and it is a fascinating look into several different mental disorders and \nconditions.
(07/12/06 11:28pm)
Jessie Sullivan was sick of her life. Her husband was boring and restrictive. Her daughter had "flown the nest" and gone off to college. Her mother had started a rapid descent into madness. Jessie felt trapped and deprived of the right to have what she wanted out of life. So, she did the only logical thing a "desperate housewife" could do. She had a torrid love affair.\nIn Sue Monk Kidd's latest novel, "The Mermaid Chair," which is currently in production for a TV movie of the same name starring Kim Basinger, Jessie flees her role as a mother and a wife to take care of her own mother, who has, for no apparent reason, begun to methodically chop off her own fingers. She moves back to her birthplace, the unfortunately fictional paradise, Egret Island, and falls into lust with a Benedictine monk-in-training (read: he hasn't yet taken his celibacy vows) from a neighboring monastery. \nThe romantic plot is pathetic, predictable and full of cheesy one-liners. The overly dramatic sex scene is comical. The entire theme of a bored woman leaving her husband to find her true-self even seems dry. It is a mediocre modern spin on Kate Chopin's classic feminist novel, "The Awakening." \nThe saving grace of the novel was the story within a story, about Jessie's deranged mother and the mysterious death of her father. He supposedly died in a boat explosion when Jessie was 9 years old, but her mother's recent strange behavior makes Jessie question the circumstances of his death. Without this diversion from the sappy tale of illicit romance and self-discovery, the book would have been best shelved among the clutter of Harlequin and Nicholas Sparks novels.\nKidd is an expert in capturing the nuances of everyday family life. She proved this in her best-selling novel, "The Secret Life of Bees," a story about a girl who is searching for a home and finds one with a trio of eccentric, bee-keeping sisters. \n"The Mermaid Chair" is no different, despite a trite plot. She describes domestic scenes so realistically and with such vitality, that the reader cannot help but be sucked into her story and the lives of her characters. Even her descriptions of the island and its quirky inhabitants make it seem like home. She tells of Jessie's mother's crazy best friends, Kat and Hepzibah, and the island dog, Max. She creates a sense of familiarity with the setting and makes the reader feel as if they are returning with Jessie. "Shem's Bait and Tackle had been painted the color of persimmons and the carved wooden pelican outside Caw Caw General Store now wore a pony saddle ... so that children could sit on it," it reads.\nThe novel is a quick read, and would be perfect for a lazy day on the beach. A surprising plot twist at the end leaves the reader with something to think about. I would recommend this novel to anyone who has a small craving for the trashy romance, but wants a fresh writing style and a hint of mystery.
(06/26/06 2:21am)
She has done everything from building sets to stuffing programs, to starring in mainstage productions. Senior Joanne Dubach is addicted to the theater.\nPlaywright Hal Kibbey remembers two years ago when Dubach first came to the Bloomington Playwrights Project's old building at 312 S. Washington St., and immediately picked up a brush and a can of paint. \nDubach said the theater was three blocks away from the house she then lived in. One night after grocery shopping, the senior theater major with no acting experience stopped by. \n"I was thrilled to be a part of a production, even though I was just running around flicking wet paint at the floor," she said.\nDubach became very involved very quickly. She spent some time doing odd jobs around the theater. \n"I tried to volunteer a couple of times a week, mostly stuffing envelopes and making copies," she said. "It wasn't as fun as flicking paint, but it gave me a better idea of all the office work that goes into a non-for-profit theater." \nDubach is described by BPP Artistic Director Richard Perez as being "down to earth." \n"Some actors feel like they are only meant to be on the stage, but we rely extensively on our volunteers, so Joanne is invaluable," he said. "She sees the big picture."\nAt the encouragement of several staff members she soon was cast for a small role in the Dark Alley production, "Flaws." \n"She had a supporting role in the second scene," Kibbey said. "It was not an easy role to play. She had to be and stay positive. But she understood and did well. During the scenes when she was not on stage, she was backstage, helping the other actress with her costume. No one asked her to do that."\nDubach's career as an actress took flight after this performance. She starred in the mainstage production of "The Wives of Mannheim," and also played in the highly successful production of "Chicks with Dicks," a role she said helped her to grow as an actress in front of audience.\n"I walk into auditions and everyone is dressed in miniskirts and fish nets. I felt okay about my audition until they asked everyone to go on stage by themselves and do some improv 'go-go dancing,'" Duach said. "I became flustered and did some timid twisting. I thought I had blown it ... (but) I found out that I had gotten a part ... I danced on tables through much of the play ... I started to put a chair in front of my mirror every day. Then I would pull the shades down, turn the music up and dance the night away with myself. I learned how to throw caution to the wind"
(04/27/06 4:02am)
More than 20 skinned human beings are arranged around the room in various poses. One is kicking a soccer ball. Another one is in the "Thinker" position, kneeling with its chin on its fist. Yet another has one hand on its hip and his other hand in the "thumbs-up" position. Their muscles and bones are all completely visible. They stare eerily at museum patrons. Shocked? Good.\nThis must have been the aim of Gunther von Hagens, the man who invented "plastination," a revolutionary new method of preserving the human body. He has created a traveling exhibit of cadavers, called "BODIES...The Exhibition," to display his techniques and to educate the public about the art of the human body. The exhibit has been to the Museum of Arts and Sciences in Tampa Bay, Fla., the Atlanta Civic Center, the South Street Seaport in New York and is currently in London. Each show has brought record crowds -- and controversy. \nIn the preservation process, all body water is absorbed from the corpses and replaced with silicone to create a model -- a once-living sculpture of muscles, bones and viscera -- that will not decay. They cannot just use plastic replicas because they "don't allow for any variation in structure," according to the official Web site for the exhibition. \n"As medical students and individuals have less time for the study of anatomy, it is even more important to have these unique specimens."\nIf medical students are not studying anatomy, then what are they studying? Cadavers are dissected in medical school. This is necessary for our future doctors' education. But why would anyone choose to display the cadavers in a museum? It is not in the name of science or art. It is purely for shock value and monetary gain. Ticket prices are approximately $20 for adults. \nWhat makes this display even more despicable is the questionable source of these bodies. Their Web site states that all of the bodies were obtained legally from the Dalian Medical University of Plastination Laboratories in the People's Republic of China. \nThe online newspaper, Guardian Unlimited, is based in London. It picked up on this story and reported that, "In China it is not illegal to use the bodies of political prisoners for commercial purposes." \nAlice O'Keefe wrote the story April 2, saying, "the Chinese government outlawed the sale of human organs last week after widespread criticism of their practice of 'harvesting' organs from political prisoners."\nAt the time when the exhibition was created, therefore, it was perfectly legal to buy human bodies from the Chinese government. Perhaps even before they were dead. \nTo use a cadaver for medical purposes in America, it must be unclaimed or the person must give "informed consent" before they die. I wonder if the people whose bodies are seen by thousands of viewers each day knew that their corpses would be sold in comical poses on T-shirts and keychains. I wonder if the man, whose muscular system and skeletal system are detached and displayed holding "hands," knew that his remains would be seen by the world this way. \nIn an article in the August edition of National Geographic, Roy Glover, the chief medical advisor and spokesperson for the exhibition, said, "Many people consider the human body itself a work of art. Of course, art, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. We leave it to the public to form their own opinions."\nIf you want to form your own opinion, you can visit www.bodiestheexhibition.com. The body is a work of art, but this display isn't. It is a sick show of human remains.
(04/21/06 3:45am)
"On the word, 'umschlungen,' I want you to embrace your neighbor with the warm sound," conductor and professor of music David Effron said to the Oratorio Choir at its rehearsal Wednesday evening. Appreciative sniggers from the students broke the otherwise intense, rich sound. Several singers took Effron's orders literally and hugged those standing next to them.\nIronically, the German word "umschlungen," roughly translates to "entwine" in English. This Sunday will be one large "intertwined" performance. Various ensembles that combine different ages, nationalities and talents will come together for one day to celebrate symphonic music.\nThe IU Jacobs School of Music Oratorio Choir and the Philharmonic Orchestra will conclude the day of symphonic music with a performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony at 8 p.m. at the Musical Arts Center. The choir is comprised of several different choral ensembles including the Singing Hoosiers, the Pro Arte Singers and All-Campus Choir. They will be joined by the Bloomington Symphony Orchestra, which will also perform separately at 2 p.m. in Alumni Hall and the Musical Arts Youth Orchestra, which will also hold a separate performance at 4 p.m. Sunday in the IU Auditorium.\nThe BSO is in its 36th season. The 50 to 60 members range from high school students to retired musicians in their 80s. The Orchestra's mission is to offer the community "serious" music and to "offer a professional environment for performing that music for both amateurs and professionals," according to its Web site, www.bloomington.in.us/~bso/. This will be its annual spring concert. Michael Simmons, the president of the BSO board, explained that they were asked to re-schedule their concert time so as to not conflict with the MAYO performance. \nMAYO was created for exceptional young musicians three years ago. More than 70 students from the ages of 8 to 21 perform under director Thomas Lowenheim here in Bloomington. This year, students in the international MAYO program have come from France, Israel and Hong Kong to perform with the American musicians. \nSeveral Bloomington families volunteered to take the foreign students into their homes this week, while the children attended master's classes on the IU campus and toured Bloomington. Board president Julie Copeland described the families' generosity as "another kind of collaboration."\nThe students' visit will culminate in Sunday's \nperformance. \n"The kids are glowing," Copeland said, "They are 12 hours off of their sleep schedules, but they are too excited to sleep."\nAll of Sunday's events are free. \n"I've always advocated collaboration between arts programs," Simmons said. "It's really great that were able to work together."\nCopeland agreed, "It is just another result of the abundance of great cultural events that we have in this crazy city"
(04/20/06 3:52am)
It's that time again. That time in the semester when we are all frantically making appointments to see our advisers, reading pages upon pages of course descriptions and wondering for the millionth time, "What am I going to do with my life?" Spring registration has begun.\nWe spend countless hours preparing for next semester, knocking off courses from our never-ending lists of requirements. This semester, try to remember to choose class options that will make you a more well-rounded student, options that might be out of your comfort zone and that might not be required for your degree.\nSeveral prestigious medical schools, including Yale, Stanford, Cornell and Mount Sinai have recently added art appreciation classes to their curricula. According to a study that was published in The Journal of the American Medical Association in 2001, medical students can improve their observational skills by looking at artwork.\nIn an article about this study in Monday's New York Times, Rebecca Hirschwerk, an art teacher at Mount Sinai School of Medicine said, "I can't think of many places outside art where you can be in a moment, and just look, for as long as you can take it. Think about what it would be like if you were with a patient and could freeze the moment to really pay attention to everything that patient was trying to tell you."\nNot only can medical students learn from their more right-brained friends, but artists can also learn about their craft from a more scientific standpoint. Though many liberal arts students claim that math and science are hard and that they just "don't get it," there are alternatives. \nI personally have to fulfill 12 credit hours of natural and mathematical science courses, not including the finite and statistics classes that I had to take for my journalism degree. I am one of those people who does not "get" math and science, so I was incredibly enthusiastic when I found out about a course called "Anatomy and Botany in the Renaissance," offered through the Hutton Honors College. It combines art history with lessons on the human body and plant life. I have some reason to go to this class because it incorporates one of my interests -- art.\nSome feel that these hybrid courses are "dumbed-down" for the sake of students' grades, so that liberal arts students don't really have to do math problems, and science students can just take art classes "for fun." This way of thought defeats the purpose of taking a class to learn something new. The courses should be just as rigorous, but tailored to specific areas of interest. \nClasses on the acoustics of an orchestra can be required for music students. Pre-med students can receive the assignment of reading "Art and Medicine," a book of 53 reproductions of paintings and drawings depicting the physician's role in society through the ages. Painters and sculptors can take a special class on the proportions of the human body.\nStudents come to college for two reasons: to find what they are most interested in and to specialize in that area. It becomes highly frustrating when you discover what you love to do but then have to take classes that do not even slightly interest you to fill general education requirements. IU does a decent job of offering courses that transcend the arts and sciences border, but there really should be more options.\nSchools mean well by requiring us to take classes outside our comfort zone. After all, we come here to learn new things. They are being counter-productive, however, in requiring classes that are out of our interest zone. So take charge of your own education next semester and sign up for classes that will be both beneficial and interesting to you. Otherwise, you'll be wasting your time.
(04/13/06 5:17am)
The year was 1945 and the Allied forces had just learned of Japan's surrender; World War II was nearing an end. An anonymous sailor grabbed the first woman he saw, a pretty nurse, and tilted her back in a passionate, celebratory kiss. Alfred Eisenstaedt happened to be in Times Square that day and caught the spontaneous smooch on his camera.\nAn unknown immigrant woman rested with her chin in her hand. Her two dirty children cried onto her shoulders, but she stared blankly ahead. Worry lines etched her pretty face. Dorothea Lange caught her anxious expression. \nStreet photography is what the average observer can see on a daily basis, captured so that it comes to represent something more beautiful or moving. It becomes an art form because more people can see a moment that they might have otherwise missed. The anonymity of the subjects in the photographs is what makes them so powerful. The nameless can symbolize an ideal or a raw emotion. The photographers go out of their way to keep the shots candid and, therefore, authentic.\nAmerica's public places have always been fair game for photographers to practice their craft. It is not necessary to get a person's consent to take their picture when they are on publicly owned property, so long as the photographs are not used for commercial purposes, meaning advertising.\nPhilip-Lorca diCorcia took a series of shots in Times Square of random passers-by. He called his recent project, "Heads," and exhibited it at the Pace/MacGill Gallery in New York City. His intention was to make people look at the world a little bit differently and to make them realize how interesting strangers could be. He said he did not like how people absently pass each other on the street.\nIn the spirit of street photography, none of the subjects were named or identified in any way, but Erno Nussenzweig, an Orthodox Jew, recognized his image among the mix. In February, he tried to sue diCorcia, saying that the photograph violated his First Amendment right to practice his religion, which forbids the making of "graven images," including photographs, of its followers.\nHe asked for an injunction to stop the sale of the print and more than $1.5 million in damages. The case made it all the way to the New York Supreme Court, where it finally ruled that the photographer's right to free expression was more at stake. \nFrom what I understand, religions that don't allow their congregations to be photographed believe that the soul can be captured and stolen from film. In a way, their fears are well-founded. A street photographer's aim is to secure his or her subjects' souls in order to make a larger statement. \nThe photo of the soldier kissing the pretty nurse is not about the solitary couple. It is a representation of the relief that Americans felt at the end of the war. The photo of the immigrant woman is not a biography of her personal struggle, but rather, a depiction of the struggle that all immigrants faced. The photo of Nussenzweig is not a portrait of him, but a portrait of a random stranger on the street. \nAmerica allows photography in public places. Photographers capture poignant images for the world's observation. If you don't want your picture taken, don't leave your house.
