When did photography become an art? At some point, people took cameras and tried to capture people and places and things not simply for the sake of capturing them, but for the beauty of it. This was the beginnings of pictorialism.
As the UMMA web site states about the early pictorialist photographers:
Their poetic compositions drawn from contemporary life, combined with the use of expensive and labor-intensive printing materials such as platinum and gum bichromate, established these photographs as complex and nuanced works of high artistic quality.
The exhibition is open now and will remain open until March 5th.
Their next FREE upcoming gallery talk/tour is:
Sunday, December 11th at 2pm
Check out their calendar here for more information on the other upcoming gallery talks:
I arrived early to the museum, and I watched the people slowly drift in, until all at once the chairs were filled and people were standing around the edges of the room. From the front of UMMA’s apse, it looked like any other performance, yet the back of the room resembled a concert pit; people standing, craning to catch a glimpse of what’s going on, resigning themselves to peering between heads. The performance, Image in Motion, attracted a diverse audience; there were groups of students to parents to faculty. The dances were choreographed by students themselves. As they were inspired by UMMA’s collection Europe on Paper, which consists heavily of line drawings (which were described as very graphic by the museum guide), I was interested to see how the dancers would interpret the art. I chatted with the girl sitting next to me as we waited for the performance to begin, and she expressed her worries that she would not understand what was going on in the dances, having not seen the art. Once the show began, though, it became evident that – had we not known the source of inspiration – it could’ve assumed this was another “dance for dance’s sake” show. While the dancers themselves likely saw the ties between movement and art, in my eyes they were two separate things.
I came to the unfortunate realization that not everything I love, when combined, becomes better. For me, art and dance seem to exist in two separate hemispheres; both forms of art, yet there is not a direct correlation. Separate, though, I loved both. I commend anyone who is willing to put their art and talent up for display, to make themselves vulnerable to an audience. The first couple of dances were costumed in nude colors, embodying the Greek statues situated behind them in the space. The dancers themselves, though embodying a completely different collection of art, came to embody the statuary, giving the solitary figures breath, movement, and life. Many dancers chose to highlight the color red, pulling the inspiration from the prints. I enjoyed that, while the focus of the performance was dance, they did not shy away from involving the audience’s other senses. Some dancers spoke during the dance, or used breathing as a form of accompaniment in itself; one performance studied the interplay between a solo French horn player and a dancer, this specific piece causing me to question which performer was inspired by which? Before this last piece began, the audience was asked to stand and rearrange themselves in the back of the apse, creating a circle around the room. I loved this; I felt as though I was in the piece itself, and it caused the audience to rethink the classic mode of watching a performance.
While Image in Motion intended to explore the relationship between art prints and dance, the relationships between the dancers and the space and the accompaniment was much more dynamic. One of the most meaningful moments of the night was when a member of the dance faculty, preluding the show, discussed the current tensions and fears within today’s recent culture, and how dance and art serves as a means of expressing and strengthening oneself in the midst of outside turmoil.
If you’re an indecisive appreciator of art, or an enthusiast of all forms, the upcoming SMTD@UMMA performance, Image in Motion, is for you. In this collaboration between the Department of Dance and the University of Michigan Museum of Art, U-M Dance students will use UMMA’s new exhibit Europe on Paper as inspiration for the performance. The Europe on Paper collection features the work of German and Austrian Expressionist painters; dancers will interpret the works’ emotion and color through movement.
These two artistic modes lie close to my heart, and based on past STMD@UMMA performances, the beauty of UMMA’s gallery space only further brings SMTD work to life. This marriage of artistic forms is happening Thursday, November 17 at 7:30 in UMMA, and is free and open to the public.
I readily admit that I tend to avoid both poets and poetry. Whether it’s the dense arrangement of words or the way I stereotype poets as aloof and didactic, I don’t give them as much thought.
C. Dale Young, MD, MFA, proves why I’m wrong. I was drawn immediately to him because he has an MFA, but he also went on to medical school, and is now a practicing physician in Redwood, California. So while he was certainly poetic, he was also warm, polite and engaging.
Dr. Young’s poetry is a blend of soul and landscape, in addition to the body. His poems wove through the fabric of his life, mixing in a bit of science here, a dash of hapless romance there, and a zesty topping of fantasy.
As most poets do, Dr. Young’s poetry contains gems such as:
“Things always beg for significance, would that we had time to come back to them”
And:
“No one talks about joy anymore; it is more taboo than love”
He saved the two best ones, however, for the very end. “The Bridge” is available online, and is a whimsical piece about love. On the exact other end of the spectrum was “Torn,” a moving piece about him suturing a victim of homophobic assault and his fear of suffering the same fate.
For the audience’s sake, Dr. Young kept his poems short, and his commentary in between readings was also curt, but often humorous. This is a poet to explore, if you ever have the chance.
In order to celebrate his newest publication, The Buried Giant, bestselling novelist Kazuo Ishiguro is bringing the party to Ann Arbor!!! Ishiguro was born in Nagasaki, Japan, but moved to England at a very early age. His cross-cultured background often plays a huge role in his most popular books, including “The Remains of the Day” and “Never Let Me Go,” both which have been turned into highly acclaimed films.
The talk, part of the Zell Visiting Writers Series, will be focused mostly on the release of the new novel, which relays the mystical journey of Axl and Beatrice across a declining Saxon England in search of their missing son. But if you haven’t read it yet (I haven’t either), don’t let that stop you from going!!! I’m in a class right now (Modern British Travel Narratives) and we are currently reading “The Remains of the Day,” a book that has touched me with its language so tenderly. Somehow, Ishiguro makes his reader feel so much for a stolid butler who hardly shows his emotions at all. Kazuo Ishiguro is a master of words and no doubt, an inspiration to all practicing writers.
*This event is free, but because of the expected crowd, tickets must be shown at the door. Tickets are available at the Michigan Union Ticket Office (or 734-763-TKTS).
What: Kazuo Ishiguro Reading
Where: University of Michigan Museum of Art; within the Forum Entrance (the modern entrance by the sculpture)
When: Thursday, March 26 at 6-7. (Book signing will take place earlier from 5-6).
How Much?: Free! But don’t forget to present your ticket!!!
He breathed life into such beloved classic characters as Tock the Dog, the Humbug, King Azaz, the Mathmagician, the Princesses Rhyme and Reason, and of course, Milo. He is Norton Juster, the author of The Phantom Tollbooth, a book that celebrates the paradox of youthfully growing up, plays with the English language, and perfectly times intellectual puns. Although the book is consistently labeled as “children’s literature,” critics often acknowledge that the wordplay and extended metaphor of achieving wisdom would totally go over children’s heads. Nevertheless, the plot, the characters, and the essence of the book is translatable across all ages. It’s a story that a family can read together and all gain something from the experience. I first read it last year as a sophomore in college, and it instantly bumped up to one of the most influential books I’ve ever read. And I am beyond excited to announce that Norton Juster has been invited to speak about Children’s Literature and his process of writing The Phantom Tollbooth, as part of the Zell Visiting Writer Series.
The talk will begin with a documentary called “The Phantom Tollbooth: Beyond Expectations” and will be followed with an invigorating Q&A with Juster himself. Come for the inspiration, the whimsy, and the great word puns.
What: Norton Juster Lamstein Lecture in Children’s Literature
Where: University of Michigan Museum of Art (UMMA), Helmut Stern Auditorium
