Tag: Year in Review(s) 2023

REVIEW: The Future Is With Our People: Sustainability Art Exhibition

bellaaa 1 Comment

On the first floor of the Michigan Union there is a showcase full of stories, small moments captured in time that discuss the complex, yet integral, relationship between students and the environment. Amidst a time of climate crisis, this exhibition aims to remind us of the essential ways that we can heal through community, culture, and relationships, and how through these experiences we may discover paths to a better future. “The Future is With Our People” is an art exhibition created by the Student Life Sustainability Cultural Organizers and I cannot recommend it enough. Seriously. Go spend time with it. While you are at it, check out the Cultural Organizers and get familiar with who they are and what they do here — you will not want to miss out. 

The opening ceremony of the art installation, held in the South Lounge of the Union last Monday, was filled with music, storytelling, laughter and community. A group of ~10 students and members of the UM community, called to share stories of strength and creativity in a changing climate, came together to share these pieces of themselves. It was the perfect extension of the exhibit itself, allowing the flow of stories to seep into the audience through different forms of performing arts. 

“Labu Sayong” and “Peanut” by Shiryn Anissa Noor Affendi

The exhibit, on display until February 24th, is a collection of art through a variety of mediums that showcase the artistic ways we can have a conversation about climate and our place within it. The driving question behind the work is this: What about your culture sustains you, your community, and your environment? It is a beautiful web to weave between the shared sustainability between peoples and their environment, each being essential to the other. The artists that are featured allow the audience to look into what this relationship looks like for them. Although I wish the exhibit was given a larger space, its impact cannot be understated; I guarantee that each piece will make you think differently about how people connect with the environment, and the importance of culture and community within that. 

“N’Zaagidiwin biish” by Zoi Crampton

Each participating artist had their own unique piece of art and story to tell. Artist Shiryn Anissa Noor Affendi used clay to sculpt one of her pieces, “Labu Sayong,” representing a traditional Malaysian method of using a hollowed out gourd as a water container. She discussed the ways she must find connections between her heritage and her experience at Michigan in order to stay centered. Another artist, Zoi Crampton, collected plastic from the Great Lakes and threaded them together with intention to make a jingle dress, a teaching rooted in Crampton’s Anishinaabe culture, to send prayers toward healing community. Crampton ties this form of art to the healing of the Great Lakes.

I could go on and on about these artists and their stories, but it would make much more sense for you to go see it yourself. This exhibition deserves more time and space at our University, but I am glad to see it for the time that it is here. Thank you to the Cultural Organizers and every artists that participated and created this absolutely beautiful space on our campus.  

REVIEW: FASA’s Philippine Culture Night

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The featured image above is a performance on a musical instrument called a kulintang, and the weaving of the mallets represents the motion of weaving a basket.

Saturday night, the Michigan Union was bustling with activity for FASA’s long-awaited PCN. Everybody was elegantly dressed in long gowns and suits. The audience consisted of not only students, but friends, families, alumni, special keynote speakers, and even Filipino American student associations from Universities in Grand Rapids, Oakland County, and Dearborn.

FASA prepared multiple acts, such as various live singing performances (including a featured performance from FASOU, a student band from Oakland University), traditional instrumental music accompanied by dance, a poem reading, and many more.

 

A cover of “All I Ask” by Adele

This was the most memorable live music performance for me. The students covering the song showcased so much musical talent in their harmonies and synchrony with one another, and they’re not even an established music group. I don’t even see the same chemistry or skill in groups that focus on live singing.

 

The traditional music ensemble

 

The fan dance performed alongside the ensemble

What interested me the most about this dance is the lack of facial expressions on the dancers. Normally, facial expressions are a key focus in dance, because it’s the most blatant way to express emotional depth. In this case, the poker faces created a very elegant atmosphere.

 

Dance incorporating modern music with a cultural twist

This was another performance that really stood out to me. It was so much fun seeing how modern and cultural art can collaborate with each other. As they performed the traditional dance steps, students showcased goofy and joyful facial expressions in contrast to the fan dance performed just previously.

 

FASA’s band

 

A hip-hop dance to American and Philippine pop music to end the night

 

Unfortunately, there were serious sound issues at PCN. The mics often rang and that really took away from the experience. In addition, the technical difficulties dragged the event to become an hour longer due to frequent awkward pauses between and even in the middle of performances. Overall, it was an amazing, lively, and lovely event to attend. However, I’m not sure if I would come back to PCN next year because of how long it was. That doesn’t mean I wouldn’t consider going again, though, and I highly encourage anybody interested to attend the event next year!

REVIEW: The Plastic Bag Store

bellaaa 1 Comment

I had no idea what to expect when going into the Plastic Bag Store. Literally. After seeing marketing for it, I had been asked to go and said yes to see what it was all about; I can very honestly say that it was not at all what I expected. The installation that is the Plastic Bag Store is a mix of art installation and immersive puppet play – unlike anything I had seen before. 

The installation, a grocery store filled with foods made entirely of plastic, was surreal to step into. The resemblance to any other grocery store was striking, and at first glance you wouldn’t think twice that that is exactly what it was. However, upon further inspection you will start to notice… the spinach is made of green plastic bags from Earthbag Farm. What you may have thought was a box of Lucky Charms cereal was actually Yucky Shards cereal with the mascot of a sea turtle holding a six-pack plastic soda ring. Right before you start getting used to it all is when the next phase of the event begins and you are asked to take your seat on the cardboard boxes that have been placed in the center of the store. Cue the puppet show.

Artist Robin Frohardt specializes in her puppeteering art form and the medium shines in The Plastic Bag Store. A stunning and interactive story unfolds from the beginning of single use vases in Act I, to the modern day plastic bag in Act II. Act III of the play is held through the doors of the frozen food aisle and plastic snow is rained on you from above. The third and final part of the play takes place in the far off future and centers around a scientist finding relics of the past in all kinds of plastic held under the sea: plastic bags, tooth brushes, bottles, and straws. I won’t spoil the ending, but it is unnerving to say the least; to return to your world and realize that the grocery store full of plastic was not a far off recreation of our own world is eye-opening. 

While the art and storytelling was undoubtedly phenomenal, I found the message of the piece to be a bit lacking and even misinformed. There was little to no actual discussion on the harmful effect of plastic remains, just the plastic was to seemingly last forever on Earth and that was a bad thing (even coming to that conclusion feels like a stretch). The reality of the plastic issue is far more complex than this and I personally would’ve loved to see this expanded beyond the simplicity of plastic being bad. In a Q&A following the event, Frohardt mentioned that she intentionally did not want to sway the piece to say anything specific about the environmental issue, but instead wanted the piece to simply make the audience think and reflect on the consumerist world we live in today. I think in that sense, the exhibit is a success. 

REVIEW: Wallis Bird at the Ark

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8:00pm • Thursday, January 19, 2023 • The Ark

I was so glad I braved the pouring rain last Thursday night to experience Wallis Bird and Marielle Kraft on the stage of the Ark. Songs were sung. Banter was bantered. No fewer than 10 guitar strings were broken (6 unintentionally, 4 intentionally).

Kraft opened the show with a small selection of her recent music. Her pared-down instrumentals and simple, crisp pop tunes provided a nice foil to Bird’s main act. I was particularly fond of “Second Coffee” and thought that “We Were Never Friends,” featuring audience participation during the chorus, was a great closer to hype everyone up for the main act. 

If Kraft’s opening set was simple, Bird’s was eclectic, featuring an intense, intricate mix of a capella, guitar, synth, and piano. She opened with “Home,” sung a capella, approaching and retreating the microphone while she bantered with us, seeming to work up her confidence. Luckily for us, that confidence arrived, and she turned up the volume with several higher-energy songs, including the anti-establishment anthem “That’s What Life is For.”

My favorite of the night was one I’m not certain is recorded, which she introduced simply as a bit of “technofolk” which she said she wrote to emulate her partner in Berlin, a house musician. She introduced the song by asking the audience to keep the beat by snapping, stomping their feet, clapping–anything that would make some noise. As she added layers of guitar and synth, the atmosphere in the Ark strained to emulate a pulsing nightclub, a sound perhaps not in its usual auditory repertoire. In her other songs, she jammed on her guitar, continually snapping strings and casting the guitar aside to be quickly restrung in time for the next song.

Throughout the performance Bird was in high spirits and engaged with the audience, at one point asking an audience-member to sing a song she wasn’t familiar with so she could pretend to imitate it, promising him free t-shirts in exchange for his sportsmanship. When Bird was called back to the stage for an encore, none of her guitars were left with all their strings, so she called her backup vocalists/crew up to the stage to sing another impromptu a capella song, which if I remember correctly was “In Dictum.”

I was impressed with both Bird’s musicianship and her stage presence, simultaneously self-deprecating and full of swagger. If she makes another trip to the Ark from across the pond, I will certainly put in my best effort to attend.

REVIEW: Tiny Expo Indie Art & Craft Fair

bellaaa 3 Comments

The Ann Arbor District Library held its Tiny Expo Indie Art and Craft Fair this past Saturday, December 10th, and it was everything you would expect and more! Held in the lobby of the library’s downtown location, the art fair was packed with local artists with a variety of art mediums from fiber arts to woodworking. This event is typically held annually during December; however, this year’s fair was especially anticipated due to the 2021 expo being canceled. 

I was shocked at the amount of people I saw in that first floor lobby of the library. I enjoy my regular trips to the library for book browsing and studying, but have never in my life seen more people in a library than I did at the art fair. What a beautiful culmination of community! Everyone was engaged in conversation either with their friends, discussing how wonderful the art was and which they planned on taking home, or with vendors, asking about their creations and their journey as artists. I picked up almost every artist’s card and brought home a series of whimsical prints from Arsenal Handicraft LLC. You can see a list of vendors here, but some others that stuck out to me were Science Bee, who had jewelry made out of old medical slides, WoolyMammothDesign with their 3D fiber arts, and the adorable designs of White Bird Pins, an artist that I have had the pleasure of working with in the past during the What the F Art Fair that you can read more about on our blog here! Candance’s designs amaze me constantly.

While the first floor lobby was buzzing with excitement, the basement was also a world of fun. Craft tables were full of attendees as well as free, on-site, screen printed tote bags! As someone who is studying the environment, I was so happy to see the screen printing station — a sustainable alternative to regular printing and way more fun if you ask me! 

Art from Black Artist Showcase by Cheyenne Fletcher

This event was such a beautiful and important showcase for local artists and I was touched by the turnout. I found myself staying long after the group I came in with had left to look at the Black Artist Showcase that was up in the library as well — a beautifully curated exhibit in the midst of the expo. The space was set up perfectly for the flow and exchange of people, conversations, and excitement. I could not imagine a more intentionally and beautifully designed event! I absolutely cannot wait for next year’s Tiny Expo, or any other library events for that matter.

REVIEW: Spring Awakening

Ella Larsen Leave a comment

8:00pm • Friday, December 2, 2022 • Arthur Miller Theater • Spoilers 3rd paragraph

Last Friday I had the honor of being one of the first audience members to experience the new student musical theater organization on campus, In the Round, as they presented Spring Awakening at the Arthur Miller Theater. First, I must confess, I approached Friday night’s performance with some trepidation. I’m from a small town with a smaller art scene, and when I hear “new theater company,” my mind is drawn to uncomfortable hours spent watching community theater groups stumble through off-key musicals. Within the first few minutes of this performance my fears were assuaged: the brilliance which In the Round exhibited in this production redefined for me, as a non-art-student, what it means to attend a school with some of the top music, theater, and dance students in the world.

Photo credit: Juliet Bornholdt.* From left: Luke Mannikus (Moritz), Sam O’Neill (Melchior), Juliet Freedman (Wendla). Wendla wears a purple sash to reflect the harm done by her community.

The highlights of the performance, for me, included the heartbreaking duet “The Dark I Know Well,” performed by Leslie Meloni as Martha and Bianca Garfinkle as Ilsa as well as the wildly impressive ad-libs of Chad Marge as Georg during “Touch Me.” Beyond those shout-outs, I appreciated the thoughtful handling of the underlying messages and themes in the show. In the Round chose to use the color purple throughout the performance, gradually incorporating the color into each character’s costume to symbolize the moment “the community irrevocably harms them” (In the Round). At the end of the show, purple flower petals rained down as the actors sat facing us to sing “The Song of Purple Summer,” seeming to warn the audience of the costs of censorship.

The production illustrated in vivid detail how each character was wronged by a culture of silence. This manifests particularly in the story arc of Wendla, played by Juliet Freedman, who begins the plot by begging her mother to explain where babies come from, and ends the victim of rape and a botched abortion. I also found a kind of symbolism in the way two actors, Jamie Martin Mann and Jill Pierangeli, repeatedly donned different roles to collectively portray all of the adult characters. While the actors admirably recast their personalities for the changing needs of each scene, the repetitiveness also served to represent the way the characters’ world strove to manufacture its children into uniformly moral (a.k.a. censored) adults.

This performance was truly the best introduction I could have had to the story of Spring Awakening, and I wish I could have attended all of the showings this weekend to dig more deeply into the care put into every detail of the show. I can’t wait to see what In the Round creates in the future, and I am so excited about this necessary addition to the campus art scene.

 

* additional credits:

Director: Jack Rosenberg
Choreography: David Midkiff
Associate Choreography: Rixey Terry
Lighting: Ethan Hoffman
Costumes: Cole Carrico
Scenic Design: Benjamin Garcia