Ann Arbor – Page 16

REVIEW: 93rd Annual All Media Exhibition

October 26, 2015October 26, 2015 karafk

I attended the opening reception for the 93rd Annual All Media Exhibition. The event was packed with art-lovers and the walls were decked out with works of art. The live music contributed to the classiness of the atmosphere and the free wine and appetizers satisfied the crowd. A few artists that captured my attention as I made my way through the gallery were Michael Reedy and Cathryn Amidei. All of the exhibited artists are based in the Great Lakes region and these artists in particular are based in Michigan.

Reedy’s piece in the exhibition, entitled The Kiss, is a mixed-media piece. It involves a naked female-figure and a child-figure in an ambiguous space. The naked female-figure sits and embraces the child-figure with closed eyes. Hauntingly, the child-figure is eyeless and skinless; the viewer sees its veins, organs, and skeletal structure. Both figures are vulnerable insofar as the female-figure is naked and the child-figure’s bodily insides are literally exposed. The relationship between the two figures suggests intimacy and the title, The Kiss, reinforces this perceived intimacy. The ambiguous space in the background highlights the all-consuming intensity of their intimacy. Nothing else exists.

Amidei’s piece in the exhibition, entitled Receptor, is a hand-woven fabric piece. Its solitary female figure directly stares at the viewer and her gaze is longs for attention. A familiar-feeling pattern spreads across her face. The greens and purples add to the seductive quality of her gaze. The piece is quite hypnotic in-person because the texture is more perceptible. The title, Receptor, implies receiving and the state of openness. The piece invites its viewers to step into into its seductively-patterned world. The Kiss involves figures engaged with each other rather than with the viewer; Receptor, however, involves a solitary figure that directly and hypnotically engages the viewer.

Several other artists participated in the exhibition and their works are worth experiencing in-person. Importantly, the exhibition included Great Lakes artists that work in a variety of media. Artists tend to concentrate within somewhat limited scopes of expertise. For example, an accomplished painter may know little about photography and likewise an accomplished photographer may know little about painting. The exhibition combines artists with differing scopes of expertise and celebrates their shared characteristics: firstly, their ability to create art and secondly, their ties to the Great Lakes region.

The 93rd Annual All Media Exhibition will run until the end of November.

Preview: Halloween Band Masquerade at The Blind Pig

October 26, 2015October 26, 2015 Vijita

It’s that time of the year when Ann Arbor is abuzz again with events taking over every minute of Halloween Weekend. The 7th Annual Band Masquerade is happening at The Blind Pig with five local bands performing covers of some of the most popular rock songs and artists of all time. Well, we all dress as our favorite characters and go around town, so these immensely talented artists decided to dress like their favorite bands! I am extremely excited for this event as I’ve heard these artists for years, wished to be teleported to the 70s and every time I listen to either of these, I get the chills – and this is perfect for the season of spooks, chills and thrills! Feel The Pigs and the Dogs as you take your trip up the Stairway to Heaven and take a Bullet in the Head because IT’S HALLOWEEN TIME! (if you don’t get these references, please take time to listen to a few of their songs or make your way to The Blind Pig because you are seriously missing out on some amazing music)

The line up for the night will be:

-PINK FLOYD’S “Animals” album as performed by Counter Cosby & Friends

-LED ZEPPELIN as performed by Scissor Now!

-RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE as performed by Volcano Worshippers Hour!

-THE KINKS as performed by Cyrano Jones

-BJORK as performed by Junglefowl

This event is 18+ so bring all your friends and a valid ID for entry. Amazing wigs, trippy costumes and costumes are absolutely encouraged to get a blast of the past and well, have the most fabulous time jamming to this music. Come say hi to the girl in a Sriracha sauce costume if you spot me there! Tickets are $11 for 18+ and $8 for 21+.

You can find out more about the event on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/events/910215925724800/

REVIEW: M-Agination Film Festival

April 10, 2015April 10, 2015 Phillip Wachowiak

Going to any event at the Michigan Theater makes the event itself a hundred times more grand. Despite a tornado warning and wretched weather, the 14th Annual Festival put on the student group M-Agination Films was a smashing success.

Each year 10-15 short student films are created with the help of M-Agination films and the results are shown together at the end of the year. I have seen this festival for the past three years, and every year the overall quality of films has improved.

As with many festivals, the genres of the films varied: “Oreo Therapy” was about a man getting over a recent breakup with the help of food-related gifts from his hall neighbor, while “Awaken Ann Arbor” was a documentary about a meditation group of the same name on U of M’s campus, and “Dreamer” was a full-on avant-garde piece that I will not even attempt to decipher.

This was a full event, with multiple half-hour films–“Co-Education” and “A Sense of Sound”–to end each block of the festival. There was a nice mix of comedies and dramas to take us on a subtle emotional roller coaster throughout the night. “Looking Back,” a depressing piece about a young student reminiscing about his lost lover, preceded “Babysitter,” a hilarious comedy about a young teen jumping through hoops to get the title job, and then we went to the documentary “Awaken.”

The second half of the festival was much the same. We opened with “Fortune Teller Gynecologist” which is a comedy that needs no further description, on to “A Study in Tokyo,” which was a documentary shot during a class trip. The best part about “Tokyo” was that, despite being shot almost entirely with a GoPro, it was entertaining and edited well enough to keep the audience focused.

“Legs” was a groovy music video shot literally below the waist. “Three” followed three individuals with various disorders (OCD, Anorexia, Social Anxiety) and used images, rather than words to describe their daily lives. To cap off the night was “A Sense of Sound,” which was a lot like Whiplash, but with elderly people.

Overall, amazing festival and something to attend in future years.

Festival Line Up

Oreo Therapy Directed by Monica Dollive (4 minutes)
Looking Back Directed by Leo Sheng (7 minutes)
Babysitter Directed by Jameson Duggan (8 minutes)
Awaken Ann Arbor Directed by Will Ellis (11 minutes)
Hero Directed by Claire Holloway (2 minutes)
Co-Education Directed by Anna Baumgarten (25 minutes)

Intermission 15 minutes

Fortune Teller Gynecologist Directed by Michael Wylie (6 minutes)
Dreamer Directed by Layne Simescu (6 minutes)
A Study in Tokyo Directed by Rachel Goldberg (9 minutes)
Three Directed by Karen Hua (7 minutes)
LEGS Directed by Jorge Gonzalez (4 minutes)
A Sense of Sound Directed by Jeremy Borison (30 minutes)

REVIEW: Knox Hamilton at the Blind Pig

January 21, 2015January 21, 2015 Phillip Wachowiak

What do you get when you bring a band from Little Rock to the Blind Pig on a Tuesday night? Catchy music and a great excuse to avoid the week’s workload.

Knox Hamilton is rare in two cases: not only are they a three man alternative rock band with a full sound, they also toured on the strength of a single song “Work it Out.” That is correct, you can only listen to and/or buy one of their songs.

For some bands, you might shrug and move on to the next Taylor Swift single, but Knox is one of the best bands I’ve seen at the Blind Pig. Not only did they joke around with the confidence of a more mature band, but their music was downright full of energy. Their EP should be dropping sometime in March and this is one collection of music I highly recommend purchasing.

Under the trippy blue-red glow of the Blind Pig’s lights, we stood for a little less than an hour as the band played through its entire set. It was disappointing because their sound was infectious, and even better, there was only 1 filler song for the entire hour.

Knox Hamilton said they would return to Ann Arbor in the future and I fully recommend seeing them in concert.

Even better, they are active Twitter users: @KnoxHamilton

PREVIEW: Autumn Fest – Performance with a Purpose

October 16, 2014October 16, 2014 camsterdam 2 Comments

Where can you find ComCo, Angels On Call, Groove, the Compulsive Lyres, the Michigan Magician Society, Arabian Dance Ensemble and the Violin Monster all sharing the same stage? Autumn Fest, of course!

What: The second annual variety show put on by Appreciate + Reciprocate, a University of Michigan student organization which raises money for the LSA Emergency Scholarship Fund.

When: Wednesday, October 22 at 8:00 pm

Where: Lydia Mendelssohn Theater in the Michigan League

How Much: $3 in advance and $5 at the door

Buy your tickets at the Mason Hall Posting Wall, October 16-17th and 20-22nd 9am-4pm, and join the Facebook event for a reminder.

All of the profits from the show will go to support Appreciate + Reciprocate’s newly established scholarship, which benefits Michigan students who suffer from financial crises, so no student has to drop out due to costs! For the price of one ticket, you can sample many great local talents, as well as treat yourself to a dose of good karma.

For more information about Appreciate+Reciprocate, check out http://www.umichappreciate.org.

REVIEW: Israel Philharmonic Orchestra

March 15, 2014March 15, 2014 Chelsea Zabel

When’s the last time you listened to music by itself? Not in the background, not while walking to class, not as you’re watching the music video, but just on its own; when was the last time? Before the evening of March 15, I probably could not have given an accurate answer. It seems that we’re always multitasking nowadays, and that being busy reduces our ability to sit and listen. That’s what I did during the performance from the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, and I would recommend it to you.

The music hardly paused once the first note was played, and the entire performance was rather intimidating. Hill Auditorium’s stage was filled with extraordinarily talented musicians who played Bruckner’s 8^th Symphony, a rollercoaster of tempo and dynamics, for 90 minutes. 90 minutes that flew by because so much of the audience was entranced by the sounds the Israel Philharmonic was able to produce. I don’t know why I keep being surprised by how talented professionals are at their professions, but all of the musicians occupying the stage played their parts passionately (especially you, triangle player and cymbal player. You both played for just a handful of measures an hour into the performance and stole the show, at least from where I was sitting).

Of course, I’m no expert because most of the time, if I am listening to classical music then I am also studying. This time, however, there was nothing else to pay attention to but the orchestra. While listening to them, I got the full force of fortissimo without the ability to turn down the volume, not that I would have wanted to. I felt the floor shake under my feet with the vibrations emitted from the low brass section. When’s the last time you avidly observed someone play the timpani?

I would imagine that most of the audience would agree that what we heard was a brilliantly executed performance from the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra. I feel privileged to have received that performance live; I know now that live symphonies are so much better than a YouTube playlist can produce.

Again I’m no expert, but I think that should make the following advice mean even more: don’t be afraid of classical instrumental music. I don’t think you’ll be bored, and I hope you’ll enjoy yourself. The university gives us great opportunities to see extremely talented people, so take advantage of it! In a few years you’ll have to pay full ticket price.