Category: Visual Arts

REVIEW: Ryoji Ikeda’s superposition

Tsukumo

Ryoji Ikeda’s superposition made me think about being human in a technology-heavy and science-driven world. And no, you don’t have to be a physics nerd to appreciate this performance (because I certainly am not). In fact, I’m going to focus on the non-scientific aspects of this performance.

The stage set-up was pretty simple: 10 Mac screens in the very front, 10 slightly bigger screens a few feet back, and 2 big screens behind them all. In between, there was a table of equipments set up for the two human performers to add life to the work — playing morse code at each other, experimenting with different tuning forks, solving cryptic crossword puzzles, and so on.

The two human performers typed out messages that were impossible to process real-time, because multiple screens showed totally different messages. We can only focus visually on one aspect — what the performer is doing, what one (not both) of them is typing, or what is on the front screens. That’s human. As humans, we can’t do everything.

As humans, we sometimes find discomfort in scientifically-produced “music”. superposition explored the effects of using booming bass, almost inaudible low-frequency drones, piercing high pitch, clashing near-frequency notes. These cause mild physical pain and discomfort. Sharing these emotions make us human, too.

Another aspect of human-ness was in the pitch forks. In this segment, the two performers each took a pitch fork tuned to “A” — but with different frequencies, used in orchestras worldwide. The U.S. American standard is often A=440Hz, but in other countries, any frequencies from A=419.9Hz to 454.7Hz are possible (source: 10 small screens in the performance). And indeed, they sound different. The performers played two of these 10 differently-pitched tuning forks at a time, which cause the vibrations to clash against each other. This reminded me of how much tuning A can be a source of conflict between musicians. Even the difference between using A=440Hz or A=442Hz to tune can cause problems to orchestral musicians that are expected to play perfectly in tune all the time. These cultural differences and conflicts are very much human — computers can’t feel the anger and frustration that come with them.

But, in the end, what is the significance of this human-ness in today’s world?

The fun part of this performance was my attempt to figure out what the performance actually means. There is no definite answer. superposition asked me a very vague, open-ended question — what’s the humans’ role in a society where technology and science replaces a lot of our roles? Hashtag: food for thought.

REVIEW: Nightcrawler

Phillip Wachowiak

What they don’t tell you about this movie is that, when it is eventually shown on television during Halloween marathons, it can be paired perfectly with the Christian Bale-helmed American Psycho. Honestly, I will be shocked if we don’t see at least one academic paper comparing the two parables of lunacy, featuring two of our greatest actors giving exceptionally creepy performances. That being said, this is not that academic paper so I will not bring up American Psycho until the end.

Louis Bloom (Gyllenhaal) is quickly established as a man who will do anything necessary to make a living. The film follows his rise (or descent?) into the world of Los Angeles crime journalism via taping footage of crime scenes. He rises to the top of his league by increasingly malicious deeds and the stakes climb as we discover how much of a monster he truly is.

I like camera
I like camera

Being a film major myself, I know the struggles of filming night scenes. Anyone who has owned a camera or camcorder knows the pain of seeing grainy night footage cloud clear memories. That is one reason why the plethora of darkness throughout Nightcrawler is so gorgeous–the blackness is milky smooth and you find yourself truly immersed in the lunacy of our protagonist, Louis Bloom (Gyllenhaal). The majority of the film is shot in the dark, with only a handful of day shots as punctuation (that also have deeper meanings I am sure). However, the story is of a budding LA crime videographer and his questionable ethical decisions. This is not a film for the daylight.

At first I did not enjoy the cinematography. Throughout the film it is rough and unfinished, competent but not extraordinary. Then I realized: this is a film about a blossoming videographer. The genius of the cinematography is that it mirrors his own high-strung education in camera work and framing. Nightcrawler is quite a reflexive film, with not only images of cameras strewn everywhere and footage on videoscreens, but direct on-screen references to framing and camera jargon such as wide-screen lenses and megapixels.

In this way,  lovers of filmography and photography are given a chilling reminder of boundaries in capturing life through a lens. The cinematography hammers this point into our faces by trading shots between Lou’s camera and the “official” camera of the film.

So here's my number just call me maybe...
So here’s my number just call me maybe…

I enjoy James Newton Howard’s work, but the music felt inconsistent.

In this case, it seemed to be a reflection of the film’s own inconsistent message. Describing anything would give too much away, but the ending scene leaves the audience questioning its message more than anything. At some points the music is hopeful and cheery, reflecting Lou’s rise as a result of diligence and hard work. Other shots are adrenaline fueled and guitar driven. Then there were the pieces that matched the overall dark town of the film. Each would have worked in their own right, but spliced together they felt uncertain of which story they wanted to tell.

This brings me back to the comparison between American Psycho and Nightcrawler. At the end of American Psycho, we find that Bale’s character was only imagining his maniacal fantasies. He tries his hardest to confess his crimes, but no one seems to believe him or even bother paying attention to him for that matter. This is a dark commentary on the apathy of the corporate world and high-class society. What is the real lesson of Nightcrawler? The best I could think of is our failure as a society to address disturbed individuals when we have the chance.

Throughout the course of the film Lou interacts with many people. Several question his judgment, but none of them makes an effort to actively confront him or even help him. And this is not the kind of individual that suddenly develops a psychotic personality, this is a man who has been molded by the people around him.

Somewhere in this film there is a powerful moral lesson, but the film itself does not make that leap. Instead we are left with a morally questionable ending. We are left waiting for someone else to step in and fix the problem for us. Perhaps that is the film’s message, a commentary on our complacency and unwillingness to question what we see before our eyes.

 

 

 

PREVIEW: Nightcrawler

Phillip Wachowiak

Nightcrawler is the untold (semi-fictional) dark side of Los Angeles crime journalism, where a photographer will do anything to get a good shot of a murder scene. Perfect for Halloween weekend? You better believe it.

Who: Jake Gyllenhaal in what looks to be another Oscar-worthy performance.

Where: Rave Cinemas and Quality 16 (both within 4 miles of Ann Arbor!)

When: Showings begin at Midnight on Thursday

K72A3451d.tif

 

Just look at that photograph. Marvel at the 30 pounds Gyllenhaal lost to start in this role, his bugged, creepy eyes. If you are into thrillers, crime journalism, or a clever alternative to a slasher flick, this may be the movie for you.

A trailer can also be seen here

REVIEW: The Life and Death of Gourmet Magazine Exhibition

Phillip Wachowiak

This is featured post 1/∞ of my ongoing “Food as Art” quest.

Located on the 7th Floor of Hatcher Graduate Library, the climb alone is an impressive feat. However, upon arrival I was treated to a small, yet easily digestible display of the life span of one of America’s many gourmet food magazines.

Gourmet Food

Although the magazine itself ran until 2009, its look and feel was distinctly 1950s suburbia. At the beginning we are introduced to Earle MacAusland and Samuel Chamberlain, two of the people that started the magazine (both males!). MacAusland started the magazine with the quote “Good food and good living have always been a great American tradition.” Ah yes, mom’s meatloaf does hearken back to the days of yore.

More importantly, Samuel Chamberlain did the dirty work of traveling all over the world and making the content exciting. These weren’t simply recipes, but artfully crafted adventures of a fictional Burgundian cook, and ways of thinking about how food can be prepared and enjoyed. One of the coolest things about this exhibit was the assortment of spin-off books by contributors.

Russian

Like any art from past generations, the covers of these books alone offer a window into mid-20th century society. We have since evolved our caricatures of Russian people, and I would be shocked if I saw a font like that on a book cover today. I even saw The South American Gentleman’s Companion, featuring essentials such as “Exotic Cooking Book” and “Exotic Drinking Book.” Thankfully we have moved past the mysticism of Latin American society and we no longer refer to it as “exotic.” My favorite quote: “By making cookery a game, no a chore…you approach the kitchen exactly like a modern Columbus approaching unknown shores.” While this is funny in its own right, we continue to be inundated with hordes of travel cooking shows and superfoods like quinoa have taken the world by storm.

At its core, Gourmet, like any magazine, is about presentation.

2014-10-28 11.26.44Dozens of people worked countless hours to generate a product appealing to the eye, and each magazine hanging from the wall made a unique attempt to catch the viewer’s eye. Unlike a film or even a concert, you are free to roam around the room at will, leaning in to get a better look at the covers of the magazines. The Gourmet exhibit isn’t explicitly about cooking (it’s more about origins and lifespan), it is easy to get a sense of how people create their own pieces, then bring these together into a larger whole.

Announcement:

There is a special lecture on the exhibit, Tuesday, November 18 at 4 pm in Room 100 of the Hatcher Graduate Library

 

REVIEW: Detroit gallery crawl

simoka 1 Comment

IMG_0433

 

I spent this past Saturday enjoying what I can only think of as one of my favorite Saturdays in a long while.  Through an event organized by the U of M’s Joe Levickas, a group of students were given a well-planned introduction to what Detroit’s art scene has to offer.  In the morning we boarded a bus to downtown Detroit, given a map and some details about the galleries in the area, and released to explore the city.  Here is a list of the galleries and their websites.

Signal Return
Red Bull House of Art
InnerState Gallery
Trinosophes
The Scarab Club
N’Namdi Center for Contemporary Art
Detroit Artists Market
MOCAD
Review Contemporary Gallery
Dell Pryor Gallery
Lester Monts Hall

Below I’ll go into a little more detail about my experience at the galleries.

Signal Return

The first stop the bus made was at Detroit’s Eastern Market district.  Crowded streets, covered produce markets, and busy local food joints were the first things I noticed.  The Signal Return space was less than a block from the covered markets.  Part printmaking studio, part store front, the space aims to preserve the craft of handset printmaking by offering instructional classes to selling prints made by artists.  The space was really clean and the architecture of the space was as interesting as the art they were selling in the store.  It was built in a renovated egg crate manufacturing building and preserves a lot of the original brick of the building.  Large open windows line the store front making it more welcoming to passersby.  Being right off the Eastern Markets there were lots of Saturday market goers around.  The atmosphere reminded me of how much I love the community of a city.  The upstairs of the building was closed when we visited, but occasionally features printmaking shows.  The artistic director there mentioned that a lot of the type set and letter presses are taken up from local print making businesses that have closed down.  She also educated us in a bit of the historical influence of printmaking and letterpress expressions on today’s vocabulary, such as the terms ‘uppercase’ and ‘lowercase’ which came from printmakers storing the uppercase letters in the upper level case and the lower case ones in the lower.  Another

Afterwards, I treated myself to a scoop of chocolate and cherry amaretto ice cream from Mootown Ice Cream Shoppe, which I’d definitely recommend dropping by.


Trinosophes

I remember there was some jazz music playing in the background.  It is a large, bright space with cement floors that has a small grouping of shelves that sat at the back, which house a random collection of old paperbacks ranging from poetry to communist texts to classical fictions.  The entrance of Trinosophes is a cafe with just enough seats for patrons without overcrowding the space.   The chairs were noticeable because they ranged from vintage wooden kitchen chairs to bright orange 80s style cushioned seats.  Partitions divide the cafe off from the gallery space and served to blocked the view from one side to the other while still allowing sound to flow back and forth between the two areas.  The current show is a collection of various old posters, which contained images about nearly everything from war propaganda to equal rights for the sexes to petitions supporting the rights of immigrants.  I had only a few minutes in the space so I didn’t quite finish the reading the description for the opening, but from what I gathered the collection of posters had come from one man’s numerous political friends with packrat tendencies.  Given more time, I would have liked to sit awhile and I have some coffee.  Maybe next time.


Inner State Gallery

Two or three doors down from Trinosophes is Inner State Gallery.  A smaller space, the gallery is currently hosting a solo show by artist, Tyree Guyton.  Guyton, with his grandfather, began the Heidelberg Project. (A note on the Heidelberg Project:  For those who aren’t familiar, the project started in 1986 as an outdoor art environment.  Heidelberg street was transformed into a war torn neighborhood during the riots of the 60s.  To protest, Guyton and his grandfather began painting the houses bright colors and arranging salvaged items into sculptures, turning the neighborhood around and reclaiming it through art making and re-appropriating it as a public space.)  His show featured works on paper as well as old car hoods that had been scraped and burned by fire, and now hung up like canvases on the gallery wall.  The warped nature of the hoods add to the disfigurement of each featured portrait.  They were painted with bright colors and various shapes in place of facial features, and each portrait is of someone Guyton is acquainted with.  He also had an interesting installation art work: a taped off square filled with standing, non-functioning vacuum cleaners, each painted in a solid coat of paint of a different color.  It signifies a clear message about how the people assigned to clean up the city of Detroit are not performing their jobs.

Red Bull House of Art

The first floor of the Red Bull House of Art featured private studios for artists.  The stairs off to the right take you down to what appears to be a dark brick tunnel but actually opens up to a low-ceilinged brick lounge and bar area, before leading you down a ramp to a large bright gallery.  It is easy to feel like you’re trespassing on some abandoned basement before you realize that is a part of the charm of the space.  The large basement is currently holding a show of four artists, some of them young and most of them from around the area.  One of the artists featured futuristic mythological pieces painted in bright pinks and cyans.  The feeling of contrast between such modern images against the unfinished brick structure of the gallery created for an all the more interesting experience.

Scarab Club

The Scarab Club is located in a building originally built in 1907.  Taking the stairs to the gallery space on the second floor, you see a large fire place, piano, and decor that makes the room feel like a classic house in 1920s film set.  The wooden beams on the ceiling of the house are engraved with the signatures of famous people like Diego Rivera, Marcel Duchamp, and Norman Rockwell.  Below can be heard the tunes of a blues band performing in the gallery space below.  Back upstairs, the current exhibition features a painter by the name of Sam Karres.  His paintings took a lot of marks from impressionists.  The history of the gallery space and thinking about all the people who had come through there made me want to sit awhile and just enjoy being there.
There were many galleries to see and not enough time.  I would definitely consider checking back in with some of these spaces in the future.  Certainly another weekend trip to Detroit is in order.

PREVIEW: The Life and Death of Gourmet – The Magazine of Good Living EXHIBITION

Phillip Wachowiak

 

Life and Death of CookingThe joys of cooking need not remain behind the confines of kitchen walls, especially when you can explore the history of a major food magazine: Gourmet.

As the U of M library states “Gourmet illuminated the ‘best of the best’ in categories such as farm to table practices – long before it became fashionable, reviewed top restaurants and chefs, and highlighted the magical integration of fine food with sommeliers, growers, and artists.” In other words, they were the hipsters of food magazines.

Where: Hatcher Graduate Library, 7th Floor Special Collections

When: Now! until November 28th, 10 am – 5 pm each day. For the full schedule check this link.

Cost: Did you really think the library would charge you, a student? Of course not.