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(03/10/14 4:11am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Live musicians played accompaniment to silent films projected onto a screen at IU Cinema Sunday evening. A collaboration between film students and musicians from the Jacobs School of Music, “Double Exposure” featured a series of experimental student films with accompanying musical scores. Each student in the class, “Experiments with the Film Camera,” was assigned to create a five to seven-minute video project to demonstrate skills they have learned in their class. Students met with different musicians to discuss their films and what kind of music they wanted, Communication and Culture professor Susanne Schwibs said. They also chose which composers they thought matched best. Schwibs and Composer Professor John Gibson meant to pair students with their choices, but also with students they thought would match up well. The composers wrote their scores and the musicians learned the compositions after only two rehearsals. After rehearsals they recorded the music and then performed it live at Sunday’s event. Recording arts students took the recorded music and paired it with the film’s sound effects for the DVD and BluRay versions that come out after the event, Schwibs said. All of the films were primarily silent in order to better play to the music being performed.“I feel that film is much closer to poetry and music because of the juxtaposition of imagery and symbolic imagery and it also happens in time,” Schwibs said. “The structure of film is very musical with the repetition and pattern.”One film shown was a stop-motion piece created by Sam Rauch and composed by Alex Blank. The seven-minute film told the story of a young girl named Vasilisa and was based on a Russian fairytale.Rauch told the story through a variety of puppets that he created after he developed the script and storyboards. “The puppets for the most part are constructed from a combination of fabric, clay, wire — very doll-like,” Rauch said. “I had particular fun with Baba Yaga’s puppet. She’s largely built from natural found objects, which gives her a very unique and imposing look.” After planning the entirety of the piece, Rauch had to begin the process of actually creating a complete stop-motion film, which he said was an eye-opening experience for him. “Essentially every frame of the film is an individual photograph,” he said. “I was ready for that, the commitment required to take those thousands of stills and stitch them together. What really caught me off guard was the amount of construction required to create the puppets and realize the world they inhabit.” Despite the hard work, Rauch said he believed it was worth it in the end when he saw the entirety of his film. “Sunday was the culmination of months and months of work for so many people,” Rauch said. “Being able to experience all that with live music in the cinema’s amazing space really made it a night to remember.”
(03/07/14 4:19am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Monroe County middle school and high school students will have the chance to wander into three art galleries and view their own art displayed for everyone to see. The Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center’s Youth Art Month gallery will open at 5 p.m. today and will remain open until March 29. Three out of the four gallery spaces in the Waldron are dedicated to this exhibition, which displays art from the Monroe County public middle schools and high schools. “The middle school and high school art programs are so good,” Gallery Director Julie Roberts said. “We have the best art departments at the high school level in the state of Indiana. People can’t believe the quality of the work based on the ages of the kids.” The gallery shows art from all different media including painting, jewelry design, ceramics, metal, graphic design and stained glass from seventh to 12th graders. Art teachers from each of the schools select student artwork for the exhibits in this annual show. Selections are based on a variety of projects, lessons and design challenges, Bloomington High School North art teacher Diane Davis-Deckard said. Not only does the gallery give the kids a chance to display their work, Roberts said she sees the show as a good chance for professional experience. “It’s a real-world experience for the students, especially if they want to go into the arts,” Roberts said. “The sooner they make contacts with the professional art world, the better.”These exhibits and experiences sometimes lead students to actually sell their work, Davis-Deckard said. “I think it’s extremely important for students to exhibit their work in a professional setting,” she said. “It increases their confidence in their ability to be successful at something they love to do.”Davis-Deckard said the exhibit allows people from the Bloomington community to see young artists’ work, and it provides credibility to the art programs in their schools. “We have students who are national contest winners almost yearly, and students who are winners in state level contests every year,” Davis-Deckard said. “Whether it is a contest or an exhibit, students are thrilled to be a part of the art community in Bloomington.” Roberts said supporting the arts is the main goal for Ivy Tech.“Ivy Tech is a big believer in arts education because it’s proven to help in all of their classes,” Roberts said. “Students are more likely to go on to college and be successful if they’ve taken art classes.”Davis-Deckard has noticed the same trend as well. “It has been proven that those students who study art score higher on a wide variety of tests including the SATs,” she said. “Students know they have done a good job by the product they have created.” At the event, there will also be awards presented to some of the best student artists from a local business, Pygmalion’s Art Supply Store. Pygmalion’s is giving hundreds of dollars in awards to the students so they can buy art supplies for their projects — which are not cheap, Roberts added.Despite potential costs, Davis-Deckard sees the art program growing and improving. Every year, the AP art classes are increasing their numbers and more are being offered, she said. “I see wonderful things happening in our schools,” she said. “Our students are energetic and hardworking. Our art programs have grown. And it’s fun to see the positive things students are doing.”
(03/05/14 5:00am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Bachelor of Fine Arts students worked diligently in the studio, melting glass onto metal pieces, upholstering furniture and developing entirely new personas to act and perform.The Grunwald Gallery of Art opens its March BFA Group Show today and organized a reception 6 to 8 p.m. Friday. The exhibit will remain open until March 13. The gallery will display art in a wide range of media, including painting, sculpture, digital art, textiles, video, metalsmithing, photography, printmaking and ceramics. Metalsmithing and jewelry design major Alexandra Lawless is displaying six different brooches in the exhibit. Three are enamel pieces and the others are mixed media, which incorporate food packaging, envelope backings, tights, screen prints and animal bones. Lawless spent weeks creating each brooch, especially the enamel brooches, which she said can be quite finicky.“I had a few problems with cracking,” she said. “There’s times when you’ve melted glass onto your piece and something goes wrong, so you just have to break it all off or try to fix the bad patches.” Printmaking major Jessica Grannan also faced challenges with her materials for the show. Grannan created an installation of furniture that all have the same pattern made from silk screens. Printing on such a wide variety of surfaces — including cloth, glass, paper and wood — made it difficult to attach the exact same pattern to each object. , she saidDespite her challenges, Grannan said she successfully completed her installation, which shows an extensive use of color, pattern and imagery.“It’s meant to describe your daily interactions with patterns,” she said. “It enhances the idea that everyday life is chaos, but there is comfort in that chaos.” The idea and concept of chaos took about six months to develop, and Grannan then put in several hundred hours of labor drawing the designs, building the furniture and putting the designs on silkscreen. All of her labor will be displayed in an 8- by 8-foot square installation in the gallery. “I think it’s a good time for the artist to stand back and see how people receive their work and what changes you want to make to your work based on their reactions,” she said. “Are people understanding the message you are trying to get across?” Digital art major Cassie Harner will answer this question through a performance art piece. She will perform in the gallery as a young woman of her creation named Kay-T Critiques, critiquing the work in the show with other guests. Harner developed the character this past summer when she was on vacation in South Korea. “I had a week where I stayed inside the apartment, and didn’t leave,” Harner said. “That’s when she emerged, I suppose.” Harner used Kay-T as a way to reach out and engage on the Internet by posting videos of herself on YouTube.When she came back to the United States, she realized it wasn’t something she should keep to herself, which meant she needed to be confident talking about it, she said. “I have been using her as a way to gain confidence,” Harner said. “There’s some things where I’m like, ‘I would never do that, but Kay-T would do that.’ This is going to allow me to do more things.” Kay-T is a way for Harner to poke fun at the way people talk about their art, often in a narcissistic way. Kay-T embodies that confidence, Harner said. The character’s personality is based on students in Harner’s classes and famous and established artists such as Lady Gaga and Andy Warhol. Harner said she looks forward to being in character for nearly four hours a day for an entire week during the show.“While YouTube is a big part of Kay-T’s concept, I think the true potential comes from interacting with people,” Harner said. “It will be a growing experience for me as a performer as well, being able to react in character in real time.” Besides seeing Harner perform as Kay-T, there are many other media and pieces to see in the exhibit.“I think it’s a really interesting opportunity to get to see students’ work that are going to school, that are in this advanced program and are dedicating copious amounts of time to this thing that they’re doing,” Lawless said. “It’s interesting to see what ideas they have.” Broadening viewers’ horizons is a major goal of many of the artists in the show. “Kay-T’s success is heavily based on being memorable,” Harner said. “Hopefully, through Kay-T, people will find something to think about that they’ve never thought of before. But at the very least, they will remember her.”
(03/04/14 3:10am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>International students perform classical music to a small audience in the midst of art from around the world every other Friday at the IU Art Museum. The Office of International Services partnered with the IU Art Museum to showcase the talent and work of international music students. Students perform classical music on a variety of instruments including guitar, cello and piano to an audience of about 25 to 60 people. Associate Director for International Student Life Sandra Britton said the Noon Concert Series grew out of an idea from staff members to give a venue for international students who wanted to perform and be exposed to Bloomington’s musical talent.As the popularity of the concerts grew, international students from the Jacobs School of Music became more heavily involved and began to perform regularly, she said. “Having a venue where they could perform in front of a live audience as if they were giving a formal recital provided an opportunity for them to practice their skills and gain confidence,” Britton said. The Noon Concert Series eventually adopted the IU Art Museum as its venue in the fall of 2013. “I felt that the Art Museum was the perfect venue not only because of its location, but because its décor and setting enhances the quality of the concerts,” Britton said. “The ongoing international exhibits are a great compliment to the international touch our students bring to the concerts.” The museum has already been the venue for three concerts this semester, one in January and two in February, Manager of Communications and Public Relations Katherine Paschal said. The latest concert was staged on Feb. 21 and featured classical guitar player Branko Barnic. Barnic completed his degree in classical guitar in Novi Sad, Serbia, and is currently a performer diploma student in guitar performance at the Jacobs School of Music. He performed four different pieces at the previous concert. This month’s concerts will be staged on March 7 and 28. Concerts last one hour each, with the first 30 minutes dedicated to the performance and the last 30 minutes including a light lunch and a chance to meet the performers. “The Noon Concerts provide music students with another performance experience and are a great way for students across the University to see what their fellow peers are doing as part of their studies,” Paschal said.An earlier version of this article said there would be a concert on March 21.
(02/28/14 3:11am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Cardinal Stage Company may introduce a new generation to the imagination and wonder of “Pippi Longstocking” with its premiere of the show Saturday at the Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center. “Pippi Longstocking” is a musical theater production based on a series of books by Swedish author Astrid Lindgren. The series follows a young red-haired girl as she teaches her friends the value of creativity and imagination. “She was a breakthrough female character when there wasn’t a lot of them,” director Randy White said. “She is a character that is about living life to the fullest and challenging rules.” White said parents tell him they are excited to introduce their kids, especially daughters, to a character like Pippi. Seventeen different performances are scheduled from March 1 to 16.“In today’s day and age where kids get pulled into computers or phones, it’s important to go back to that idea of being able to find the simplest of objects and just play,” choreographer Diane Buzzell said. “It brings kids back to a simpler time.” To get kids to attend the production, Cardinal Stage Company underwrites about 50-80 percent of the cost of tickets so that schools can bring students during the day. In addition, about 600 to 800 tickets are donated to service organizations that can’t otherwise afford to bring children. Because of this, White estimated more than 1,000 kids will see the show. Once the kids are at the production, the hardest part is keeping their attention, he said. “Kids are sore audiences,” White said. “They will tell you if something is not working for them. You have to keep them engaged at all times, or you will lose them. And when you lose them, you can rarely get them back.” For the choreography, Buzzell said it’s all about keeping it simple. “It has to be very clear, the story you are trying to tell,” she said. “It’s not necessarily easier to do, it just has to be simpler.” Much of the movements Buzzell created have to do with making Pippi look out of control and carefree but keeping it as natural as possible. Despite the challenges, Cardinal Stage Company sees the immense benefits theater has for children, Buzzell said. “I think that live theater for children broadens their horizons,” Buzzell said. “It helps them see the world from a different seat in the stadium of life. Having as many experiences of different characters as possible only helps them grow as human beings.”Follow Alison Graham on Twitter @AlisonGraham218
(02/26/14 4:46am)
Jacobs School of Music and the Musical Arts Center will premiere “H.M.S.
Pinafore,” an opera set on a British cruise liner, 8 p.m. Friday and
Saturday.
(02/24/14 3:08am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When museum visitors gaze at artwork on the walls of the IU Art Museum, they might not realize the works’ meanings go deeper than just the visual elements.The purpose of the museum’s “Art and a Movie” events is to remind visitors that every artist has a background story and events that influenced each piece of their work. The museum presented its first “Art and a Movie” event of the spring semester Sunday, focusing on Dutch painter Rembrandt van Rijn’s work. Each event begins with a short lecture about the artist followed by a movie at the IU Cinema, in order to enhance participant’s knowledge of both the work and the artist. The event began with a talk by Heidi M. Gealt, the museum’s director and curator of Western art before 1800. The talk was free and open to the public.“Heidi gave an insightful introduction into Rembrandt’s works and relationships,” Nan Brewer, curator of works on paper, said during the introduction before the screening. After the lecture, participants walked to the cinema to watch Alexander Korda’s 1936 movie, “Rembrandt.” The movie began at the height of Rembrandt’s reputation as a famous painter. After his beloved wife Saskia died, Rembrandt’s fame began to falter, especially when he unveiled his famous painting, “Nightwatch.” The men of the police force commissioned “Nightwatch” as a portrait showing their rank and nobility.However, Rembrandt took the commission in his own creative direction after his wife passed away and it was not received well. At the unveiling of the painting, the audience was shocked.Rembrandt became the laughing-stock of the town.The remaining portion of the movie followed Rembrandt’s journey through bankruptcy, as well as his relationship with his former maid, Hendrickje Stoffels. “This event is kind of special,” attendee Haeryoung Ryu said. “I like the combination of art and a movie.” Ryu said she decided to attend the event because she had heard of Rembrandt and his famous paintings but knew very little else about him. The date of the next “Art and a Movie” event will be announced on the art museum’s website.It will discuss the life and work of French artist Henri Matisse. Follow Alison Graham on Twitter @AlisonGraham218.
(02/21/14 4:13am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Chemistry major Andjela Radmilovic spends most of her time in labs, but in between studying chemical bonds and formulas, she finds time to express herself through art. Hutton Honors College was host to HHART, which stands for Hutton Honors art. Its Hutton’s fourth annual Art Gala, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. Students of several different majors had their art work displayed at the gallery. IU junior Andjela Radmilovic said she has been involved in the gala for three years and displayed one painting at the event. The painting was for her sister, she said, who moved into a new apartment in Chicago and had a blank wall to fill with a painting.Her sister planned to buy a piece somewhere until Radmilovic promised to make her the painting. The piece was based on a candid photo taken of the two on a boat, and she used last night’s event to surprise her sister, who came to visit and see the show. HHART’s main goal is to showcase student’s art, which usually doesn’t get as much attention as work from art majors, IU senior Nicole Silvernell, committee chair of the event, said.“It gives students a way to actually showcase their work and not be judged by it,” Silvernell said.“You don’t have to be an art major. We really just want to show that what you do in your spare time actually means something.” The English major has been involved with HHART since her freshman year and said she is really passionate about it. HHART began in 2010 and has since displayed a large variety of art forms including dance, singing, film, dress designs, paintings, drawing, poetry, screenplays and band performances. Biochemistry major Taylor Harmon has been involved for three years and plays at the gala with his blues band, “Lost Catfish.” His band started in 2011 after he met his other member, Jack Whittle, in Eigenmann Residence Hall his freshman year. After performing at HHART their freshman year, they’ve been asked back to perform every year since. “A lot of people who perform at the event aren’t even music or art majors,” Harmon said. “I think it’s great because it allows people who otherwise wouldn’t have a medium of expression for their art to showcase it.” Harmon was one of about 20 performance artists playing last night, and one of about 60 students participating overall. “I love HHART because it allows people to see how multitalented college students are,” Radmilovic said. “People have various interests and I love that this celebrates that.”Follow Alison Graham on Twitter @AlisonGraham218.
(02/20/14 3:47am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Before Nashville-based band the Apache Relay goes on stage, they form into a group huddle and scream “nice” in Australian accents. “It’s how we get our willies out and shake ’em off,” lead vocalist Michael Ford Jr. said.“We can’t remember where it came from. There’s no explanation why.” The Apache Relay will perform at 9:30 tonight, along with the Lonely Wild and Promised Land Sound, at the Bishop. Tickets are $12 and anyone 18 or older can attend with an ID.Tonight’s performance is in celebration of the band’s upcoming self-titled album, set to be released on April 22. The album took the band about three months to complete, working on and off from Oct. 2012 to May 2013. “It’s a pretty long-winded record,” Ford said. “It was one of those things that needed time to get all of the songs right.” This album will be the third released for the indie-roots band. Its first, “1988,” came out in 2009. The band released its sophomore album, “American Nomad,” in 2011. Ford met fellow Apache Relay members Mike Harris, Brett Moore and Kellen Wenrich in a dorm room at Belmont University in 2006. He later dropped out of college to pursue his passion for music. Moore plays keyboard, guitar and mandolin. Wenrich plays the fiddle, and Harris plays the guitar and provides vocals. The group also now includes Ford’s brother, Ben, who joined after the release of “American Nomad.” The band has performed across the country and opened for bands Mumford & Sons and Young the Giant. Being on the road has some disadvantages — mainly being stuck in a van with five guys, Ford said — but also brings new opportunities. “I am most looking forward to meeting people after the show,” he said. “That’s one of the most fun things about doing shows. Everyone’s so loosey-goosey.” Follow reporter Alison Graham on Twitter @AlisonGraham218.
(02/18/14 3:49am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>The Grunwald Gallery of Art will present its MFA Group Show beginning Wednesday, with plans to hold a reception 6 p.m. to 8 Friday. The exhibit showcases the work of first and second year master’s students, who are still on the road to completing their degrees, Grunwald Director Betsy Stirratt said. One MFA student exhibiting on Wednesday is Bill Bass, who is set to graduate with an MFA in photography in 2016. Bass contributed three different prints to the show, each exploring the idea of representing physical and digital images. One print is a white piece of paper, which Bass photographed and then transferred into a digital language. He layered the three different representations on top of one another. “I got surprising results, because I don’t know what I’m doing most of the time,” Bass said. “They’re meant to more clearly represent digital and physical manifestations of the same thing.”Students create their art in studios and follow their work throughout the entire process of displaying it in a gallery. Each student thinks ahead about how they want their work to appear in the physical gallery, and decides on lighting, space and other considerations, Stirratt said. Bass decided to keep his installation simple and pin the three prints onto the walls without frames, he said. Linda Tien is a metalsmithing and jewelry MFA student set to graduate in 2016, and is exhibiting two pieces in the upcoming show. One piece is a multimedia work made of rubber, cardboard, foam and other materials that represents a build-up of emotions. The piece resembles a physical growth, similar to a mushroom, which Tien used as a way to describe her piece. Tien’s other piece is a video installation about how people emotionally prepare for their days. The video is not projected on the wall, but is instead displayed on an iPad in order to make the experience more intimate, Tien said. The projection is presented with two mouth pieces that hook onto each side of the mouth, pulling upward and creating a forced, creepy smile, similar to how people prepare their emotions for their everyday activities, Tien said. “It’s a personal experience when you are watching the video,” Tien said. “It is supposed to make you reflect.” Some students who are exhibiting their art in the show will receive awards based on their pieces, from several sponsors including the Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the Friends of Art and the Grunwald Gallery. These awards range from $500 to $750, and each sponsor has its own criteria. “We take a look at their work in the show and we decide whose work is the most accessible, among other things,” Stirratt said about Grunwald’s criteria. Whether or not students win awards, their participation in the event provides a chance to see other artists’ work.“It’s a nice opportunity to bring people together and see what each other are working on,” Tien said. “You get to see work in the setting that it was made for. That gives it an extra layer of meaningfulness.” Follow reporter Alison Graham on Twitter @AlisonGraham218.
(02/17/14 5:15am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU alumna Sarah Kidd was the first woman to be accepted into the conducting program at the New England conservatory in 2012.The 27-year-old Jacobs School of Music graduate grew up in Bloomington and cultivated her passion for music at Bloomington High School North. Heavily involved with the music and band program in high school, she worked with the Musical Arts Center even before she became a student at IU. She graduated from Jacobs with a Music Performance degree in cello in 2009. Her musical career began at the MAC, her father said. And on Sunday, the conductor’s journey ended there.Friends and family held a memorial at the MAC to honor Kidd on Sunday after she died Jan. 28 from a cancer of unknown origin.She was always working toward her goals, her father Gary Kidd said at the memorial.He gave the introduction at Sunday’s ceremony, thanking everyone for coming and for the support his family had received from Sarah’s friends and loved ones. As he stepped off the podium, wiping tears from his eyes, seven string players picked up their instruments and began to play composer Samuel Barber’s “Adagio for Strings.”Previous professors, grade school friends and high school band directors filed up to the podium to offer their memories of Sarah.Her dream was to become a great conductor, someone who could make incredible music with orchestras and pursue her passion. She was pursuing a career in a male-dominated field, but that never stopped her, or even fazed her, when she stepped up to the podium before any performance, according to an article she wrote in March 2010 for the Juilliard Journal. “Thanks to the women who have come before me, I was able to pursue my passion and imagine making music with great orchestras someday,” she wrote. Jacobs only offers a master’s program in conducting. Sarah considered continuing her studies in Bloomington after graduation, but was persuaded otherwise by her conducting professor, David Effron. Effron told her to pursue new experiences instead of staying in the town where she grew up.“I thought that since she lived all her life in Bloomington, she should go and get a new viewpoint,” Effron said. “She already had an IU and Bloomington experience.” After graduation, she moved to New York and was accepted to Juilliard to participate in the school’s conducting program. “She made a big splash at Juilliard,” Effron said. “They really believed in her.” At Juilliard, Effron said Kidd met many contacts in the conducting programs, which helped her make a name for herself. Kidd received a Master of Music in 2011 from Juilliard and went on to become the first woman accepted into the conducting program at the New England Conservatory in 2012. Of about 50 people who applied for the program, she was the only one admitted. The application process is a difficult one, said Hugh Wolff, the head of the conducting program at NEC. At the conducting audition, applicants have 25 minutes to conduct a 65-70 member orchestra in three different ensembles. NEC professor David Loebel said she had a talent for conducting.“I remember her audition very well, and you get this gut feeling within 30 seconds that she had what it takes,” Loebel said. “You can’t learn to have that. You are born with it.” Kidd received her graduate diploma from NEC after one semester and went on to look for the next step in her career. She married Richard Berg in May 2013 in San Antonio, where she saw many of her oldest friends for the last time. “My last memory of her is perfect,” Kidd’s high school friend Caitlin White said. “Her and Richard floated away on the San Antonio canal. It was so beautiful then that I almost cried. I know that this is what I will be thinking about throughout the next few months.” Six months after her wedding, everything stopped when she was diagnosed with stage four “cancer of unknown causes” last November, Wolff said. Because the cancer was so far along, doctors could not tell where it had started.Two and a half months later, Kidd died. “The nature of her illness was so sudden and so drastic that people weren’t really able to comprehend it,” Wolff said. “It’s a huge loss to imagine that all of this potential is gone.” Loebel said he believed Kidd was going to have a very bright future and that it was sad she would never receive the chance. Despite her loss, friends and family celebrated her many accomplishments. “What she did in her 27 years shows that if you want something badly enough, and you’re willing to put everything into it, you have a chance,” Effron said. “She was making a name for herself.” Wolff said she was a wonderful example of talent, character, poise and someone who really went for it. “If you have a dream or an ambition, really test yourself to see how far you can take it,” he said. “That’s what Sarah did.”
(02/14/14 3:10am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>When his 4-year-old son asked for a vampire squid for Christmas, the boy’s obsession with underwater creatures sparked an idea for Aaron Travers, an assistant professor of composition in the Jacobs School of Music.Travers’ son served as the inspiration for Friday’s “Dark Zone” performances at the Grunwald Gallery of Art. The vampire squid is an underwater creature that communicates entirely with light. It lives in deep ocean trenches in the Mediterranean Sea. “His interest in that kind of sparked the idea of doing an immersive piece and give the audience an idea of what it would be like to be in that dark place where the animals only communicate through light,” Travers said. A one-night-only event, “Dark Zone” features the work of Travers and Associate Professor of Digital Art Arthur Liou.The performance displays video projections created by Liou, which take audience members into an underwater environment, complete with landscapes and deep-sea, bioluminescent creatures. Liou created the creatures entirely with a computer, using no actual footage. “Deep-sea bioluminescence is a fascinating world,” Travers said. “I think it’ll be a different experience for students.” The video will be accompanied by a composition written by Travers and played by seven musicians. Most of the music is played on the piano, Travers said, but with an interesting twist. “The music was conceived for playing in the dark,” he said. “The musicians have to rely on cues from the video or auditory clues from one another. They won’t be able to see the keyboards at all.” Because of the lack of light, the musicians will play directly on the strings of the pianos with special mallets, aided only by the minimal light from the video projections. The music includes a wide range of sounds, including high squeaks, rumbling and granular sounds, Travers said. “The idea is to avoid chords and melodies and create a very different kind of sound world,” he said.Not only is the performance an immersive piece, but Travers also wants to raise awareness of the impact humans can have even on creatures living miles under the ocean. Deep-sea fishing and trolling can destroy entire ecosystems of bioluminescent creatures, he said.“I want to bring awareness of this world where 90 percent of it is unexplored even though it is right here on Earth,” Travers said. “I want to make them aware of the environmental impact.” “Dark Zone” will premiere at the Grunwald Gallery on Friday with two different performances and a panel discussion. Performances begin at 5 and 6:30 p.m. and last 15 minutes each. The panel discussion begins at 5:20 between the two performances. “It’ll be different than anything they’ve ever seen,” Grunwald Director Betsy Stirratt said. “It will be a completely immersive environment.” Follow reporter Alison Graham on Twitter @AlisonGraham218.
(02/14/14 3:06am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Pablo Picasso is notably famous for his contributions to the artistic movement cubism. But he has also been known to have many different women in his life, including wives and mistresses who are often featured in his artwork. After being painted by Picasso, art historians analyzed these women repeatedly, and they were given an identity that was not their own, said Juliet Barrett, senior theater major and director of the play “Picasso’s Women.” Irish playwright Brian McAvera wrote the play in 1998 after he conducted immense research on the women behind Picasso’s artwork. Barrett has taken the play and made it the focus of her honors thesis production by directing an entirely student-run performance, which premiered Thursday and continues 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.All performances are in the Studio Theatre in the Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center.Barrett’s honors thesis focuses on feminism and culminates with this performance, which melds together fine arts and theater. “I really wanted a meeting space so that artists could work on something and really understand the other person’s craft,” she said. Barrett is an artist herself. Creating an ensemble that includes different art forms fueled her passion.To include these art forms, Barrett interviewed a sculptor and a photographer, and together, they created a set that could function not only as a theater production, but also as an installation in a fine arts museum. “One time we had to go dumpster-diving for wood, so we really tried to make it minimalistic. We wanted it to be about the story,” she said. “Picasso’s Women” follows four different women, two wives and two mistresses of Picasso. When the women are on stage, they are frozen and simulating different paintings that Picasso painted them in, fitting into their original molds, Barrett said. As the show progresses, they break out of their original molds, redefine themselves and create their own identities. One woman featured in the show is Picasso’s wife for the last 20 years of his life, Jacqueline, who was featured in a large number of his paintings. “Through his art, he represented (the women) in ways that they weren’t necessarily ‘okay’ with,” said Emily Scott, the actress who plays Jacqueline.“They’ve never gotten their own chance to tell their stories or refute something that was said about them.”Because of the cast of characters in the play, it is performed by an all-female cast. Barrett said every person involved in the play is there because of the passion they feel for the show. “People are doing it because they are passionate about it, and not doing it is simply not an option,” she said. Follow reporter Alison Graham on Twitter @AlisonGraham218.
(02/13/14 5:04am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Associate Professor of Design Heather Marie Akou stood next to a case of Somalian jewelry, ready to present her speech. She was wearing an African necklace made of silver and engraved with a flower design and dangling pieces. Akou presented this week’s Noon Talk Wednesday at the IU Art Museum. She described the region of Somalia and its use of jewelry as a class symbol. Somalia is located on the eastern Horn of Africa, just across the sea from Yemen and Oman. Its location encouraged trade with the Arabian Peninsula, causing rapid economic growth in the region during the 1800s. “Because of that economic boom, a lot of money started coming into that region,” Akou said. Women accumulated their wealth through their own dowries, which, unlike in many countries, the women retained control of, Akou said. Much of their dowry and wealth became tied to their intricate jewelry, made from bone, teeth, leather, stones, glass beads, coral, metals and amber. “A lot of what they were using were trade goods, which made these pieces really spectacular,” Akou said. “Each group took these elements of jewelry and put them together in their own way.” Some of the jewelry was religiously significant for the women as well, with specific add-ons meaning different things. Jewelry from certain regions included hollow cylinders that would hold printed verses inside, protecting the individuals in certain times of life, Akou said. The jewelry became a symbol for class status and wealth in the region depending on which materials the jewelry was created from. Recently, Somalia experienced a severe drought in the region, and people needed money. “When they needed money to support and keep their families alive, they would sell this expensive jewelry,” Akou said. At the time of the drought, a group from the Foundation for Cross Cultural Understanding was in the region and approached by women trying to sell their jewelry. The group bought some of the pieces and brought them back to the United States for educational purposes, Akou said. Eventually, the collection was split between the Smithsonian, the University of Florida and the IU Art Museum. Jewelry is still an important part of Somalian culture, but isn’t as publicly displayed because of the rise of Islam in the region. “There are very wealthy trading Arab families that still have spectacular pieces,” Akou said.
(02/11/14 4:40am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>As the Olympic torch was lit and the opening ceremony commenced, Gary Roberts’ job was only just beginning.Roberts, Dean Emeritus of the McKinney School of Law at IUPUI, was one of the lawyers selected to solve disputes at the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games. “What they wanted to do was have the ability to solve disputes quickly,” Antony Page, vice dean of the law school, said. “It’s really useful to have a body that can make these decisions quickly.” The moment a legal problem arises during the games, he said, Roberts and eight other lawyers resolve it within a matter of hours. He and the other lawyers have already settled disputes for the International Olympic Committee, Roberts said.Two skiers, one Argentinian and one Austrian, appealed to the court, saying they had been unfairly ruled ineligible to compete. In both cases, the lawyers found their ineligibility legitimate, and the athletes weren’t allowed to compete. Roberts said he is free to attend whichever events he wants as part of the “Olympic Family,” but he must always be available in case a problem arises that needs to be settled. When a report comes in, he works around the clock reading submissions, conducting hearings and meeting with other lawyers to reach a decision, he said. After that, he is free until the next case.The group of eight lawyers he’s part of is selected from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, a judicial body founded in 1994 to resolve legal disputes in professional athletics.“As the president of the Sochi CAS contingent said to me, we are the IOC’s insurance policy, to make sure that disputes and controversies have a mechanism for quick and fair resolution,” Roberts said in an email.In most IOC cases, there are two kinds of disputes: eligibility, such as questions regarding citizenship or drug testing, and rules of an event, including complaints about equipment or another party’s behavior, Page said. A recent example of the latter arose when the Russian team disputed the results of a cross-country skiing event, Page said. They came in fourth place. They claim a Norwegian skied out of his own path and won the bronze medal unfairly.Depending on the decisions of Roberts and the other lawyers, this could change the medal results of the event. Page said Roberts’ work away from IU isn’t going unnoticed.“We’re all really proud that he was chosen to go and make these decisions,” Page said. “It’s quite an honor and a recognition that he is one of the top sports lawyers in the world.” Follow reporter Alison Graham on Twitter @AlisonGraham218.
(02/10/14 3:21am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>For artist Susie Gregory, attending IU basketball games, swimming in Lake Michigan and taking ballet classes are hallmarks of a Midwestern childhood.Gregory’s exhibit of new impressionist paintings, titled “From Ballet to Basketball,” focuses on childhood in Indiana and is reminiscent of her own past.The exhibit is on display at the Venue Fine Arts and Gifts as part of this month’s Bloomington Gallery Walk. The Venue Fine Arts and Gifts has been part of the gallery walks for about five years, curator Gabe Coleman said. Coleman and Gregory worked together last year on a painting about IU’s game against the University of Kentucky. After seeing her other work, Coleman invited Gregory to participate in this Saturday’s gallery walk.The first Bloomington Gallery Walk of 2014 was held Saturday in downtown Bloomington and featured eight different local art galleries. Each of the eight galleries showed a new exhibit, which was open it to the public from 5-8 p.m. with food and an open reception. “The Gallery Walk creates a stir and represents collaboration with art galleries and artists with the community,” Coleman said. “The goal is to provide fresh and exciting artwork for the Bloomington community.” By Hand Gallery, which has been part of the Bloomington community for more than 30 years, was a participant in Saturday’s gallery walk, which brought about 400 people out to downtown Bloomington. The gallery has also been part of the walks since they first started about four or five years ago, Halvorson said.By Hand Gallery exhibited the work of Jim Kemp, a potter who died toward the end of last year. The show commemorated Kemp’s life and work as an artist and celebrated his life, Halvorson said.Other galleries that participated include Blueline Creative Co-Op and Gallery, gallery 406, Ivy Tech John Waldron Arts Center, Pictura Gallery, Gallery Group and Royale Hair Parlor. Each venue exhibited fresh artwork ranging from etchings, banners, paintings, photography and ceramics. The next gallery walk is April 4 and will include new exhibits and artists from the Bloomington community. “It helps to get people out on a Friday night,” Jim Halvorson, By Hand Gallery partner, said. “It’s nice to get people wandering around downtown to explore the different galleries.”
(02/07/14 1:45pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>Geoffrey Smith and John Bennett, caretakers of the William S. Burroughs collection at Ohio State University, presented a lecture Thursday at the Lilly Library.They explained their restorative work on Burroughs’ unpublished novel, “The Revised Boy Scout Manual.” The lecture was part of the campus-wide Burroughs Century celebration in honor of the writer’s would-be 100th birthday. Burroughs was a pioneer author of the Beat Generation, among famous writers like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. The Beat Generation was a writing movement that affected cultural change on a national level by addressing social, political and economic issues.Smith and Bennett have compared a variety of documents, tapes and published sections of “The Revised Boy Scout Manual” to determine which is best to include in their finished version of the book. “We hope we’ve done a very careful scrutiny of the documents at hand,” Smith said. “What we hope to end up with is a work that brings together all of the different editions.” Each document differs from the others. Some have just a single word change, and other have entire sections that have been deleted. Smith and Bennett said they hope to create an online database that allows scholars to have access to the documents they reviewed and note their decisions on all of the inclusions. “The Revised Boy Scout Manual” follows Burroughs’ writing style and is rather sensational, Bennett said. One rumor as to why the book wasn’t published in the 1970s was that the original publisher was threatened by the Boy Scouts of America and had to eventually drop out, Bennett said. Bennett and Smith even foresee problems getting the work published when they finish their work later this summer. “It’s a terrorist document,” Smith said. Bennett said the interpretation depends on how a person looks at it. “You can read it as a terrorist manual or you can read it as comedy,” he said. The two said reading the documents felt eerie because some of the weapon techniques described were used in recent bombings like the Boston Marathon. Despite the content, Bennett and Smith hope a publisher will pick up the work because of the anticipation surrounding its release. Charles Cannon, co-organizer of the Burroughs Century celebration, said Burroughs will gain fans as more of his works are published.“His living legacy isn’t over yet,” Cannon said. “We have to push past the boundaries we are familiar and comfortable with and go into territory that makes us a little bit nervous.” Follow reporter Alison Graham on Twitter @AlisonGraham218.
(02/06/14 7:49pm)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>American singer Lydia Lunch has been selected to speak at the IU Cinema at 4 p.m. Friday as part of the campus-wide Burroughs Century celebration. Lunch worked in New York City with many influential writers, actors and musicians in the late ’70s and early ’80s, putting her in touch with contemporaries such as Burroughs and others who worked during the “No Wave” era.“They both lived in New York at the same time,” Charles Cannon, Burroughs Century Steering Committee leader, said. “They were both involved in the downtown New York art scene.” Lunch’s lecture will incorporate her life and career as well as the artistic work she created during this time period. She has worked as a singer, poet, writer, actress and self-empowerment speaker. In her early music career, she started the band Teenage Jesus and the Jerks before moving onto a solo music career. Later, she founded her own recording and publishing studio and appeared in two different films. She also wrote and collaborated on a variety of books, according to the Burroughs Century website. “This time period was comparable to Paris in the 1920s,” Cannon said. “We have Lydia here to talk about that place and that time and what it meant to be there.” Cannon originally wanted to bring Lunch to Bloomington for a musical performance, but after walking through the Indiana Memorial Union one day, he saw a flyer that changed his mind. An anthropology class on campus called “Sex, Drugs and Rock ’n’ Roll” was teaching both Burroughs’ and Lunch’s material, so Cannon coordinated with the professor and decided to bring Lunch in for a lecture. The lecture will feature a speech, a discussion between Lunch and professor Shane Greene and a question-and-answer session. “The plain fact is that there are very few people left who actually knew Burroughs,” Cannon said. “To have Lydia here to talk about what it meant to be in New York City at that time is phenomenal.” Follow reporter Alison Graham on Twitter @AlisonGraham218.
(02/03/14 4:28am)
____simple_html_dom__voku__html_wrapper____>IU Art Museum Docent Monica Jensen presented this month’s thematic tour
Saturday, focusing on the role of eyes in both art and culture. “Sight and the idea of seeing is hugely important,” she said. “Eyes can show a sense of real power.” Jensen
began “The Eyes Have It” tour on the third floor, centered on African
art. Many African pieces feature what are called coffee bean eyes, which
are almond shaped with a slit down the middle.Other sculptures
have eyes that pop out from the face and are depicted to be wide open, a
symbol of an all-seeing being to protect others. In art, eyes can reveal a lot about the piece being viewed, Jensen said. Jensen also focused on the materials the eyes were made from, specifically iridescent seashells. When the light from the fire would hit them in ancient temples, the eyes would flicker and give life to the piece. “When these sculptures were created, the eyes were so important and treated in a specific way,” Jensen said. Eyes
were made to symbolize power and protection in Africa, seen in the
various pieces in the museum. These traditions spread into later
cultures in Asia and the Western world as well. In Egyptian
culture, people are often portrayed with a heavy black cosmetic
surrounding their eyes, which has often been thought of as only a
decorative detail. Jensen explained it’s actually a way of
preventing the “curse of the evil eye.” It was used especially on
infants and small children, which dates back to the protective uses of
eyes in Africa. In more modern art, Jensen explained that
viewers can see artists begin to learn about the eye itself. They
started to put that knowledge into the way they made pieces and how they
were meant to be seen by others.She described the way artists
painted portraits so that the eyes of the subject seem to follow the
viewer around the room. This is achieved by painting their gaze straight
out of the painting and keeping other variables constant. Ending
her tour, Jensen told of a historic fad. Europeans from about 1780-1830
would request small portraits of their eyes to be attached to jewelry
and given as gifts to their loved ones. “People actually exchanged these and commissioned artists to create them,” Jensen said. “But they led to something else.”
(01/30/14 4:48am)
Indonesian puppeteer Jennifer Goodlander presented a talk about her research Wednesday at the IU Art Museum.