All the hype about the indie movie Juno, not to mention its Oscar nomination for Best Picture, was the reason Cubberley Auditorium was completely packed, both floors, on Sunday night at Flix. Perhaps some attendees were going to see this cultish movie a second time, but I assume many went because they didn’t know about it when it was in theaters and have been influenced by all the appraisals and recognitions. I am part of the latter. Watching the Oscars a while back, I was curious what this movie about teen pregnancy, oddly mixed in with thrillers like No Country for Old Men and others, was all about.
The second it started, the indie music started playing, so characteristic of these kinds of films, and I knew what movie it was going to be immediately—like Garden State, where the soundtrack makes the movie in my opinion. It gave the movie a sweet and lighthearted feel, while also separating those who don’t listen to indie, giving it a cult-like quality. The soundtrack included songs from bands like “Belle and Sebastian” and “The Moldy Peaches,” the latter characterized by simple, homemade sounds with unmusically-trained teenagers who sing innocent lyrics void of any music albeit a loose acoustic guitar. I feel like this gave Juno its flavor and accentuated the bizarre teenage story and almost innocent situation.
Along with the soundtrack came the cinematography—close-ups, quick cuts, and odd angles all gave this movie a quirky feel, and again, an indie quality. I also saw the cinematography as a representation of Juno and her situation. Juno continually is shown from different angles; sometimes looking upward, as a mature and responsible individual; other times downwards as an innocent and naïve child. This type of description perfectly characterizes “June bug,” an intelligent high school junior, but one who has “gotten herself” in a difficult situation. Juno’s character continually struggles between her mature mind and her teenage emotions. The cinematography in Juno delineates these characteristics in the girl herself.
One thing that bothered me about the movie was while the actress Ellen Page was extremely lauded for her portrayal of Juno, I feel like her character (and maybe this is due to the script and not her acting), was somewhat unrealistic. Her remarks seemed awfully witty and snappy for a sixteen year-old, and her cynical, blasé view on the whole situation seemed unlike that of a teenage girl. However, maybe this is one of the points the movie is trying to make. It makes the teenage girl seem intelligent and oddly mature despite many movies these days, like Mean Girls, that portray teenage girls as overly emotional, ditsy, or dumb. Even still, I enjoyed Paulie Bleeker’s character, played by Michael Cera, more as I saw it as more realistic and comical. His ultimate innocence and child-like focus upon running and tic-tacs depict the true level at which Juno is at emotionally, and create a believable (and conveniently non factor) accomplice in the creation of her child.
Overall, what I think this movie is trading on is the uniqueness and quirkiness, something that was produced by the soundtrack, cinematography, and script, but was also brought forth with the plot. It showed a quirky girl, a quirky guy, and their quirky relationship, as Juno says in the end, “We’re unlike other couples—we reproduce and then fall in love”—quite a quirky couple indeed. Overall, while I was annoyed with some characteristics of Juno that I thought were unrealistic, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie and thought it was successful in its unique appeal and goodhearted feel.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Thoroughly Modern Millie and the American Dream
When I went to see a production of Thoroughly Modern Millie last week on the Stanford campus, the first thing I noticed was the Egyptian gold arch that frames the stage. For me, the Egyptian arch embodies the main themes of the show: our culture’s obsession with the “American dream” and the collision of the old with the new.
The main character, Millie Dillmount, is a small town girl from Kansas who moves to New York in search of adventure. When we first meet Millie, she is lost on a New York street; somebody has stolen her purse, she does not know where to go, she lost her shoe, and nobody will to stop and help her. Until she sticks her foot out and trips Jimmy, that is. Jimmy is a New Yorker and harshly informs Millie that she will never make it in New York City. He proceeds to give her the address of a hotel where she can stay for the night and insists that she wire home for a railroad ticket. From this point on, the audience empathizes with Millie and wants her to succeed in the “land of opportunity.”
We discover that Millie wants to find a job in which she can marry her boss to become rich. She declares that the modern woman is above love and that she plans to take charge of her destiny. Ironically, Ms. Dorothy, an innocent young woman from LA, who wants the exact opposite, becomes her best friend. During their first interaction at the hotel, they both declare that they want to change their social class and discover how “the other half lives.” This fascination with class and money and its connection to the realization of the American dream is a reoccurring theme throughout the play.
For weeks Millie is unsuccessful in her search for a job and the hotel manager, Mrs. Meers, threatens to kick her out. We feel sorry for Millie and when the phone rings with a potential job offer, we hold our breath. But she is not hired. Later, she walks into an insurance office and receives an interview with the boss, Mr. Trevor Glaydon. Mr. Glaydon shoves a piece of paper into her hands and tells her to transcribe his words. He bursts into song and as an audience we become scared because we do not think that Millie will be able to keep up with him. The suspense rises as Millie appears to be distracted by Mr. Glaydon’s appearance. However, she transcribes his speech perfectly and we are relived for her. Then the tension rises again; Mr. Glaydon asks Millie to type up his letter in less than two minutes. Millie appears scared and we fear that she won’t be able to do it. The secretaries of the insurance office burst into a quick song and dance, intensifying the tension, but Millie, to our delight, succeeds, and finally receives a job.
At the beginning of the show, Millie is confident that marrying rich will ensure her lifelong happiness. She is told by many people to follow her heart, but she shrugs off their advice, believing that money is more important. There is an obvious connection between Millie and Jimmy, the man she tripped at the beginning of the show, and as an audience we want them to be together. In the end, Millie realizes that love is more important than money and admits her love to Jimmy. We then realize, along with Millie, that Jimmy is a rich man and has been in disguise all along. The moral of the story seems to be that when you follow your heart with enthusiasm you will achieve happiness and the American dream. But I think that the show also contains a darker message.
Mrs. Meers, the evil hotel manger, kidnaps the hotel guests and sells them into prostitution in Asia. She represents the corruption that comes along with the American dream and our obsession with money and power. As an audience we know that Mrs. Meers is guilty and recognize the careless clues she leaves, but the hotel guests remain painfully clueless of her actions (until the very end of the show) as they are too consumed in the glitz and glam of NYC. I think that it is a warning to the American public to question where they are living, specifically their government and its actions. The show opened in 1967, a year filled with anti-Vietnam war protests and mistrust of the government. What I see as the main message of Thoroughly Modern Millie is that anyone can achieve the American dream, but that we must be aware that its foundations are not always as flawless as they appear.
Design Unbound
Design unbound: when I heard the title of this exhibition, I can’t say I had a very clear picture of what I was about to experience. I entered expecting machinery, but what I saw were unique, compelling pieces of artwork.
In general, the exhibit was very calming and provided for as personal of an experience as one was willing to have. The space itself was very open and it didn’t seem like the artwork was too crowded. All of the pieces on display were fantastic for a multitude of reasons, but I want to focus on three that I found particularly interesting.
The first piece that sparked my interest was a photographic collage entitled “Outcrop.” The artist (Carissa Carter) chose to arrange the four oblong canvases into a square with an open middle. I’m not entirely sure why this was the case, but I liked the arrangement because it emphasized the continuity of the various frames. For me, the most perplexing feature of this work was the subject: shoes. The photographs are of large shoes, small shoes, designer shoes, generic shoes, red, black, orange, blue, clean, dirty shoes. Each canvas focused on a particular attribute of the various shoes; one was a close-up of the laces, another showed the various sizes of the shoes, a third depicted the soles and the last focused on the dirt and wear on the shoes. I thought this piece was very representational of humanity in a distinct manner. Instead of blatantly depicting various members of different societies, the artist chose to show their shoes, which tell stories of where they’ve been. Each section represents a particular aspect of a person. The soles of the shoes show where he’s been, the size depicts his physical attributes, the shoelaces represent his internal composition and the dirt displays what he’s done. What I most appreciated about this piece was that it could be as simple or complex as I wanted it to. At face value, it’s an aesthetically pleasing arrangement of photographs but on a deeper level, I found a meaningful metaphor.
Next, I particularly enjoyed a sculpture entitled “Musical Landscape” by Emilie Fetscher. I first noticed the artist; she has several other pieces of work in the exhibition, all of which were completely different. This one in particular caught my attention because it looked like a three-dimensional representation of several electrocardiograms placed in front of each other. As it turns out, the sculpture represented the different frequencies of a musical composition. I was immediately impressed, for something that complicated and specific had to require an intense time commitment and extreme dedication. The connection between the sculpture and the image of an electric monitoring of the heart made me feel like the piece was suggesting that music is life, a philosophy with which I strongly agree. The colors the artist chose to use for the sculpture reflected this idea, as they were all blissful shades of blue and green. Additionally, I think the sculpture also represented how closely related music and the humanities in general are related to science and mathematics. Without the title, this piece of artwork could easily be interpreted some sort of statistical three-dimensional graph. Interestingly, it is just that: a graph of the frequencies that correspond to a song. Due to the strong implied messages derived from its form, I found myself happily mesmerized by this sculpture.
The final piece featured in Design Unbound I want to discuss was one that utterly confounded me. The title of the work was “Visceral Light Tunnel” and the artist is Ed Browka. Literally, this creation was a box in which one can place his head and experience colors, one at a time. The idea is so simple, yet so effective. Laying in the tunnel, I was able to forget about my stressful day in order to just be. “Lay back and let the color engulf you,” says the tag line under the title, appropriately. Since my head was inside this box, the only thing I could see was the one particular color, so I had to allow it to engulf me. As the color changed from a bright cyan to a tranquil lime green then to an inviting magenta, I felt progressively more relaxed just focusing on one color at a time. None of the colors were abrasive or over-saturated, which allows the person experiencing them to remain calm. This was undoubtedly my favorite feature of the exhibition; I never could have imagined what a powerful effect simple colors could have on my state of mind.
As a whole, Design Unbound was an excellent experience which incorporated an array of art forms. For me, the pieces I discussed were most interesting, but all of the art was genuinely impressive. I am certain that anyone could easily appreciate these creations and from them, derive their own interpretations.
In general, the exhibit was very calming and provided for as personal of an experience as one was willing to have. The space itself was very open and it didn’t seem like the artwork was too crowded. All of the pieces on display were fantastic for a multitude of reasons, but I want to focus on three that I found particularly interesting.
The first piece that sparked my interest was a photographic collage entitled “Outcrop.” The artist (Carissa Carter) chose to arrange the four oblong canvases into a square with an open middle. I’m not entirely sure why this was the case, but I liked the arrangement because it emphasized the continuity of the various frames. For me, the most perplexing feature of this work was the subject: shoes. The photographs are of large shoes, small shoes, designer shoes, generic shoes, red, black, orange, blue, clean, dirty shoes. Each canvas focused on a particular attribute of the various shoes; one was a close-up of the laces, another showed the various sizes of the shoes, a third depicted the soles and the last focused on the dirt and wear on the shoes. I thought this piece was very representational of humanity in a distinct manner. Instead of blatantly depicting various members of different societies, the artist chose to show their shoes, which tell stories of where they’ve been. Each section represents a particular aspect of a person. The soles of the shoes show where he’s been, the size depicts his physical attributes, the shoelaces represent his internal composition and the dirt displays what he’s done. What I most appreciated about this piece was that it could be as simple or complex as I wanted it to. At face value, it’s an aesthetically pleasing arrangement of photographs but on a deeper level, I found a meaningful metaphor.
Next, I particularly enjoyed a sculpture entitled “Musical Landscape” by Emilie Fetscher. I first noticed the artist; she has several other pieces of work in the exhibition, all of which were completely different. This one in particular caught my attention because it looked like a three-dimensional representation of several electrocardiograms placed in front of each other. As it turns out, the sculpture represented the different frequencies of a musical composition. I was immediately impressed, for something that complicated and specific had to require an intense time commitment and extreme dedication. The connection between the sculpture and the image of an electric monitoring of the heart made me feel like the piece was suggesting that music is life, a philosophy with which I strongly agree. The colors the artist chose to use for the sculpture reflected this idea, as they were all blissful shades of blue and green. Additionally, I think the sculpture also represented how closely related music and the humanities in general are related to science and mathematics. Without the title, this piece of artwork could easily be interpreted some sort of statistical three-dimensional graph. Interestingly, it is just that: a graph of the frequencies that correspond to a song. Due to the strong implied messages derived from its form, I found myself happily mesmerized by this sculpture.
The final piece featured in Design Unbound I want to discuss was one that utterly confounded me. The title of the work was “Visceral Light Tunnel” and the artist is Ed Browka. Literally, this creation was a box in which one can place his head and experience colors, one at a time. The idea is so simple, yet so effective. Laying in the tunnel, I was able to forget about my stressful day in order to just be. “Lay back and let the color engulf you,” says the tag line under the title, appropriately. Since my head was inside this box, the only thing I could see was the one particular color, so I had to allow it to engulf me. As the color changed from a bright cyan to a tranquil lime green then to an inviting magenta, I felt progressively more relaxed just focusing on one color at a time. None of the colors were abrasive or over-saturated, which allows the person experiencing them to remain calm. This was undoubtedly my favorite feature of the exhibition; I never could have imagined what a powerful effect simple colors could have on my state of mind.
As a whole, Design Unbound was an excellent experience which incorporated an array of art forms. For me, the pieces I discussed were most interesting, but all of the art was genuinely impressive. I am certain that anyone could easily appreciate these creations and from them, derive their own interpretations.
All of Me Review
The “All of Me” event on April 14 was an up-close and personal look into the life of Queer Trans-Entity, Black Boricua performance artist and poet Ignacio Rivera. Sure, the prefix trans may evoke thoughts of sex change and cross-dressing,but as Rivera explains, trans can also imply nonconformity to traditional gender roles. Who wants to be incarcerated by social constructs, whether it is how to be lady-like or the clothes are on your back. I know personally that being a person of color is hard at times, but being a transsexual person of color, I suppose, is as tough as it gets. In addition to a genuine personality, Rivera’s work as aperformance artist and poet brings this uncommon minority perspective, which she cleverly weaves into her work.
Likesome sort of living, breathing artwork in progress, Rivera expressed herself in every way possible, from hir attire to hir pronouns. Before me, stood a stranger in a lumberjack shirt with a red undershirt peeking out at the neck and some jeans draped over a pair of Converse sneakers. Nice suit, I thought, but the faded red undershirt t-shirt said it all: “Don’t hide your pride.” This was a deliberate rhetorical move and personal statement by the artist that set up the event’s underlying theme.Before going into her performance, Rivera opened with a little bio that included the resounding rebel declaration, “Fuck the gender binary.” The audience responded with empathetic head nods, for we realized the statement’s truth as well as the artist’s authenticity. In general, people respond well to a genuine personality and so are more inclined to listen. Consequently,Rivera’s informal attire and speech instilled a sense of comfort in the room, making the performance intimate and engaging.
Every word and corresponding gesture had a purpose in her expression of self. In sober poems and comical skits, Rivera not only snubs social constructs such as gender assignment, but ze also celebrates hir trans-sexuality and Latino heritage. Not confined togender roles or any space at that, Rivera showed no fear, as ze became poetryin motion, leaving the podium to come within feet of her audience. With each poem, the audience learned how Rivera came to terms with hir unique individuality. Titles of poems included “Rediscovering Me” and “Brown Realities,” in which Rivera discussed hir construction of self in the face of a critically destructive society. The poems and skits had much substance due to the fact that they were based on experience. Rivera explained how ze was molested as a child and how ze was a sex worker. Furthermore, the use of he and she pronouns throughout her poetry illustrated Rivera’s identity crisis. Ze recently began using the gender-neutral pronoun and possessive adjective ze and hir, respectively because of their ambiguity. People do not know what to expect when they hear or see these words. Questions such as “What does that mean?” or “So, does she look like a man or woman?” pop up, thus compelling people to come and see for themselves. Also, the Latino influence emerged as Spanish danced off Rivera’s tongue in a mouthful of English. The Spanglish patois provided phonetic contrast, which broke the monotony of English sounds.
Sometimes,the recitation was stop-and-go or fluid, thus this delivery gave each poem rhythm. Rivera changed pitches to convey the changing emotion of the described moment in the poem as well as the sentimental value of the piece. She even made profanity poetic in her pornographic verses about masturbation. A raw personality, Rivera accentuated the profanity in her poems, so phrases such as“ethical slut,” fucking faggot,” and “masturbation” resounded to provoke lewd images. The verses were laced with sincerity, which once again, opened our ears and minds.
EnCounter Culture
On Sunday the 20th of May, I went to EnCounterCulture in Kresge Auditorium. It was a series of dance performances by groups at Stanford as well as the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula. I choose to focus on the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula, the Stanford Steppers, and Jam Pac’d, since these were the groups that I felt conveyed their message and style most effectively, and I had to miss DV8’s performance due to a scheduling conflict.
The Boys and Girls Club was a group of four middleschoolers who danced to Soulja Boy as well as several other hiphop songs. For their age, their technical ability was impressive. The main highlights about hiphop that I have picked up are the importance of synchrony, and of sudden, rhythmic and complicated movements that match well with the beat of the song. These girls were well synchronized and matched the beat of the music with movements that were also fluid—which was an unusual combination. In addition, they made the stories written into the songs come alive. One of the songs they danced to was about a girl who was the center of attention, and three of the girls fell back to reveal the girl of attention, who then proceeded to effectively grab our attention with dance movements that matched her character. The quality I enjoyed most about this dance performance was how natural and yet how technical it was. The dance did not feel performative, it felt like hip hop that I might see within a community having fun—and yet it did not look amateur-ish.
Jam Pac’d was an incredible performance as well. The dancers in Jam Pac’d wore face paint that resembled masquerade masks or skeleton masks. Their eyes played a huge role in the development of the piece. Facial expressions were often fixed, and they had a fixed, fierce stare most of the time. Their movements matched the beat in a jerky fashion, imitating the patterns of a robot and a mime. They were very convincing, often to the point where I would forget that there were people on stage. They also played on humor, catching the audience at odd moments and acting out portions of the song in a comical way.
The best act of the night that I saw was the Stanford Steppers. The Stanford Steppers create music through their bodies—by clapping, slapping, stomping, and beating bottles together. The rhythms that they can create are outstanding. It made me want to leap up and dance. The amazing part for me was that they were creating this music without the assistance of any instruments.
The main plot of the performance was that one of my freshmen, Annie Scalmanini, was an Oompa Loompa recruit. The other Oompa Loompas were testing her, for her worthiness to join the troupe. They would shout calls and then announce the step routine that was about to start with a beginning sequence of steps. Then the entire group would proceed, winding it until it became more and more elaborate, rhythmically. They used elaborate arm movements and leg movements to perform the sound effects, some that seemed impossible to complete in time, which would leave the audience holding their breath and then sighing in awe when it was completed. In essence, while creating their own music, they also danced to their own music, in a way that was exciting and gripping. They played on technicality, creating intricate rhythms that the audience would never expect the human body to create, and also on humor, by breaking up the performative sequences with funny scripts and dance-offs between groups inside the Steppers. Their performance was outstanding for all of those reasons.
The Boys and Girls Club was a group of four middleschoolers who danced to Soulja Boy as well as several other hiphop songs. For their age, their technical ability was impressive. The main highlights about hiphop that I have picked up are the importance of synchrony, and of sudden, rhythmic and complicated movements that match well with the beat of the song. These girls were well synchronized and matched the beat of the music with movements that were also fluid—which was an unusual combination. In addition, they made the stories written into the songs come alive. One of the songs they danced to was about a girl who was the center of attention, and three of the girls fell back to reveal the girl of attention, who then proceeded to effectively grab our attention with dance movements that matched her character. The quality I enjoyed most about this dance performance was how natural and yet how technical it was. The dance did not feel performative, it felt like hip hop that I might see within a community having fun—and yet it did not look amateur-ish.
Jam Pac’d was an incredible performance as well. The dancers in Jam Pac’d wore face paint that resembled masquerade masks or skeleton masks. Their eyes played a huge role in the development of the piece. Facial expressions were often fixed, and they had a fixed, fierce stare most of the time. Their movements matched the beat in a jerky fashion, imitating the patterns of a robot and a mime. They were very convincing, often to the point where I would forget that there were people on stage. They also played on humor, catching the audience at odd moments and acting out portions of the song in a comical way.
The best act of the night that I saw was the Stanford Steppers. The Stanford Steppers create music through their bodies—by clapping, slapping, stomping, and beating bottles together. The rhythms that they can create are outstanding. It made me want to leap up and dance. The amazing part for me was that they were creating this music without the assistance of any instruments.
The main plot of the performance was that one of my freshmen, Annie Scalmanini, was an Oompa Loompa recruit. The other Oompa Loompas were testing her, for her worthiness to join the troupe. They would shout calls and then announce the step routine that was about to start with a beginning sequence of steps. Then the entire group would proceed, winding it until it became more and more elaborate, rhythmically. They used elaborate arm movements and leg movements to perform the sound effects, some that seemed impossible to complete in time, which would leave the audience holding their breath and then sighing in awe when it was completed. In essence, while creating their own music, they also danced to their own music, in a way that was exciting and gripping. They played on technicality, creating intricate rhythms that the audience would never expect the human body to create, and also on humor, by breaking up the performative sequences with funny scripts and dance-offs between groups inside the Steppers. Their performance was outstanding for all of those reasons.
Thoroughly Modern Millie
When I walked into the Ram’s Head production, “Thoroughly Modern Millie” on Friday night, I had no idea what was in store for me, other than that I was about to see a musical about a girl named Millie, which was supposedly set in the 1920’s in NYC. Thus, I had expected to see stage full of flappers in colorful fringe, dancing in a line to lots of big band music. What I found was something similar to that—the plot cheesy, a cliché tale of romance in the big city, and was almost superfluous, like fluff that settled between the aesthetic aspects of the performance. It clearly wasn’t the intention of the play write to create a thick and complicated plot, as there was already a lot that needed to come together in the first place to make the play comprehensible to the average audience member. People who attend musicals come for a variety of reasons, but commonly, the audience is comprised of those who appreciate music—those want to experience something more than just words and actions. A musical is an emotional experience, or, dare I say journey. The intention of this piece, as I understood it, was to take the audience into this girl’s world. In this sense it was a success. Throughout this journey, the music served as the emotional bookends, and the spoken word as the fluff in between.
The dancing, singing, staging, lighting, costuming, and orchestration were all so technically well executed individually that each could have been taken by itself as an aesthetically pleasing morsel. Though what was most impressive was the way each element meshed together with its counterparts. Every so often, I became conscious of the musicians in the pit. Having played in a musical before, I understand that the musicians in the pit are supposed to play so smoothly that they are practically inconspicuous, even going unnoticed by some members of the audience. In general, everything blended so well I barely noticed those individuals in the pit. In fact, as I said before, the general continuity of the musical was quite remarkable. Choices that the original playwright made contributed to the play’s clean structure and continuous captivation of the audience was the strategic use of the theme reprise.
As I stated before, there were so many elements that needed to work in concert to ensure the continuity of the play—the playwright wrote in several stylistic elements to tie the work together. Things like the main reprise, and the rotation through different scene sets, not spending too much time in one place, helped to keep the audience engaged and to ensure that the overall message of the two hour play was understood. Meanwhile, there were several artistic choices made by the producers, directors, sound crew, lighting crew, the cast, the musicians, and others on set that seemed to contribute to the overall coherence, ambiance and circular feeling—sort of ebb and flow—of the production. Often, I was so intrigued by all of the different things occurring before me, that I was almost overwhelmed (in fact at some points, almost TOO overwhelmed to follow the plot line). I likened my confusion to the feeling I used to get while watching the advertisements during the Super Bowl. What I mean is that, while most of these ads are really entertaining, and quite well put-together, some of their messages seem to get buried beneath all that excitement and cleverness, so that just about half the ads I see I can remember their general structure, but not the actual product. But, as I mentioned, if the intention of the piece was to get the audience emotionally engaged, it succeeded in that.
Each and every character seemed to buy into his or her role; the on-stage reactions between characters seemed genuine, as if they had been fabricated in real time, not dreamed up by the artist in the distant past.
The dancing, singing, staging, lighting, costuming, and orchestration were all so technically well executed individually that each could have been taken by itself as an aesthetically pleasing morsel. Though what was most impressive was the way each element meshed together with its counterparts. Every so often, I became conscious of the musicians in the pit. Having played in a musical before, I understand that the musicians in the pit are supposed to play so smoothly that they are practically inconspicuous, even going unnoticed by some members of the audience. In general, everything blended so well I barely noticed those individuals in the pit. In fact, as I said before, the general continuity of the musical was quite remarkable. Choices that the original playwright made contributed to the play’s clean structure and continuous captivation of the audience was the strategic use of the theme reprise.
As I stated before, there were so many elements that needed to work in concert to ensure the continuity of the play—the playwright wrote in several stylistic elements to tie the work together. Things like the main reprise, and the rotation through different scene sets, not spending too much time in one place, helped to keep the audience engaged and to ensure that the overall message of the two hour play was understood. Meanwhile, there were several artistic choices made by the producers, directors, sound crew, lighting crew, the cast, the musicians, and others on set that seemed to contribute to the overall coherence, ambiance and circular feeling—sort of ebb and flow—of the production. Often, I was so intrigued by all of the different things occurring before me, that I was almost overwhelmed (in fact at some points, almost TOO overwhelmed to follow the plot line). I likened my confusion to the feeling I used to get while watching the advertisements during the Super Bowl. What I mean is that, while most of these ads are really entertaining, and quite well put-together, some of their messages seem to get buried beneath all that excitement and cleverness, so that just about half the ads I see I can remember their general structure, but not the actual product. But, as I mentioned, if the intention of the piece was to get the audience emotionally engaged, it succeeded in that.
Each and every character seemed to buy into his or her role; the on-stage reactions between characters seemed genuine, as if they had been fabricated in real time, not dreamed up by the artist in the distant past.
Diablo Cody?
When you read a book, it's easy to understand that it is the author whose responsible for what you see; the author (with some exceptions) created the concept, wrote the book, and advanced his or her own message. In a movie on the other hand, this task becomes decidedly more difficult. With directors, producers, actors, screenplay writers, composers, designers, and editors all working on the same project and contributing their own elements of content and creativity, it it almost impossible to say ultimately which individual's movie it is. That said, after having seen the adorably comedic and uproariously heartfelt Juno this past weekend, I have few doubts that the final product we see is largely due to the clever and touching dialogue of Hollywood-newbie, Diablo Cody.
Before I had seen the film, I will admit I was a little wary. Though nominated as one of the best pictures of the year at the Oscars, I couldn't shake the apprehension I felt at the J.K. Rowling-esque, I-wrote-the-script-on-napkins-while-I-was-working-as-a-stripper, screenplay. And then it happened; Diablo Cody won an Academy Award. So, months later, it finally gets to FLiCKS and I decide to bite the bullet, probably the best decision of the quarter.
The story, at its core, is about the trials and tribulations of teen pregnancy for the title character and the lessons she learns along the way. The great thing about this movie, though, is the daring and fearless topics it addresses. Most obviously, Juno, a sixteen year old girl, gets pregnant, but there are so many more: single parenthood, divorce and remarriage, adultery, minor-adult relationships, et al. However, even beyond its thematic novelty, the messages it sends are also very different from what we see elsewhere. Along the lines of Knocked Up, this seemingly depressing beginning is later revealed to be an incredible gift for Vanessa, the perfect mother who is unable to have children. Along the same lines, what at first we expect to be the wicked step-mother after all the Cinderella paradigms we've encountered, turns out to be a charming and caring, if caustic, supporter who never crosses the line of replacing Juno's mother but who doesn't hesitate to do everything she can to help her; the somewhat rural father you fear is going to throw Juno out of the house instead does his best to protect her; the cheerleader is Juno's best friend; Juno and Beeker, the father of her baby, live happily ever after. Too cutesy, right? Wrong. It is only now, as I right, that it even occurred to me how nicely this all worked out because of the eloquence and candor of the script and the excellence of its delivery.
The almost too witty screenplay, filled with hilariously clever allusions to pop culture, literature, and history, is really allowed to shine because of its wonderful performance. Led by Ellen Page, whose deadpan delivery kept the audience laughing over and over, the cast could not be more perfectly in tune with their roles. From Michael Cera as the honest, speaks-his-mind, adolescent boy to Jennifer Garner as the workaholic mom-to-be to Rainn Wilson in the cameo as the overly nosy shopkeeper, every perfect line is expertly delivered, in a testament to the cast's skill as well as the simultaneous reality of the emotions of the characters and the surrealism that must be incorporated to bring a movie from life to the silver screen.
At the end of the day, maybe Diablo Cody just had a great scheme for being rich, but I don't think so. Her story is so honest and touching, it's simply brimming with the truth of the interesting life this woman must of led and the good she allows herself to see in others. The tender way she handles such brash themes leaves the audience in the pal of her hand, left with no choice but to love her characters and therefore accept her themes: single parenting is possible, and maybe even preferable sometimes; true love happens, even at sixteen; divorce can sometimes lead to a better life; pregnancy is not the end of the world etc., and for that reason, this movie is most definitely the best movie I saw from 2007.
Before I had seen the film, I will admit I was a little wary. Though nominated as one of the best pictures of the year at the Oscars, I couldn't shake the apprehension I felt at the J.K. Rowling-esque, I-wrote-the-script-on-napkins-while-I-was-working-as-a-stripper, screenplay. And then it happened; Diablo Cody won an Academy Award. So, months later, it finally gets to FLiCKS and I decide to bite the bullet, probably the best decision of the quarter.
The story, at its core, is about the trials and tribulations of teen pregnancy for the title character and the lessons she learns along the way. The great thing about this movie, though, is the daring and fearless topics it addresses. Most obviously, Juno, a sixteen year old girl, gets pregnant, but there are so many more: single parenthood, divorce and remarriage, adultery, minor-adult relationships, et al. However, even beyond its thematic novelty, the messages it sends are also very different from what we see elsewhere. Along the lines of Knocked Up, this seemingly depressing beginning is later revealed to be an incredible gift for Vanessa, the perfect mother who is unable to have children. Along the same lines, what at first we expect to be the wicked step-mother after all the Cinderella paradigms we've encountered, turns out to be a charming and caring, if caustic, supporter who never crosses the line of replacing Juno's mother but who doesn't hesitate to do everything she can to help her; the somewhat rural father you fear is going to throw Juno out of the house instead does his best to protect her; the cheerleader is Juno's best friend; Juno and Beeker, the father of her baby, live happily ever after. Too cutesy, right? Wrong. It is only now, as I right, that it even occurred to me how nicely this all worked out because of the eloquence and candor of the script and the excellence of its delivery.
The almost too witty screenplay, filled with hilariously clever allusions to pop culture, literature, and history, is really allowed to shine because of its wonderful performance. Led by Ellen Page, whose deadpan delivery kept the audience laughing over and over, the cast could not be more perfectly in tune with their roles. From Michael Cera as the honest, speaks-his-mind, adolescent boy to Jennifer Garner as the workaholic mom-to-be to Rainn Wilson in the cameo as the overly nosy shopkeeper, every perfect line is expertly delivered, in a testament to the cast's skill as well as the simultaneous reality of the emotions of the characters and the surrealism that must be incorporated to bring a movie from life to the silver screen.
At the end of the day, maybe Diablo Cody just had a great scheme for being rich, but I don't think so. Her story is so honest and touching, it's simply brimming with the truth of the interesting life this woman must of led and the good she allows herself to see in others. The tender way she handles such brash themes leaves the audience in the pal of her hand, left with no choice but to love her characters and therefore accept her themes: single parenting is possible, and maybe even preferable sometimes; true love happens, even at sixteen; divorce can sometimes lead to a better life; pregnancy is not the end of the world etc., and for that reason, this movie is most definitely the best movie I saw from 2007.
enCounter Culture
This week I attended enCounter Culture, called a “showcase of hip-hop dance” by the program’s host, and on the whole I was disappointed. But since I believe the scope of this entry is too small to incorporate a discussion of every performance--there were eight--I will focus my response on two groups that struck me as (somewhat) representative of the show in general.
Armageddon Crew was a duo comprised of two male breakdancers, one that was clearly accomplished and another that appeared a little less skilled--but still skilled. Talent wasn’t lacking in their performance, but the two dancers did fall short of the goals articulated in their pre-show description: “Beware! There is no limit to Armageddon Crew’s dance style. Movement is just a means...Armageddon is the end.” Did the dancers go beyond their means--movement--and accomplish something further--an end? (Before their performance I would have assumed that “Armageddon” meant some sort of meaningful climax that would draw the dance together or make a statement or establish a purpose (beyond movement) or at least make the crowd go silent for a moment.) The duo, however, redefined even the term Armageddon, though not in the way that I suspect they wished to. Their Armageddon was simply another dance move--the superior breakdancer spun on his side rather than on his head--added to a list of tricks that indubitably reflected skill and practice, but were nothing more than tricks that reflected skill and practice. The moves seemed to be lined up one after another with no transition other than a walk back across the stage; with no progression other than a monotonous, random change of which limb became the axis-of-spin. This performance’s lack of coherence earned its participants plenty of hearty clapping, but very little awe, and definitely no Armageddon.
dv8, the final group of performers, revealed another combination of solid talent but little achievement. While their musical selections were fantastic, this accomplishment detracted from their performance as much as it contributed: Dan and I found ourselves distracted by the music from the dancing itself. Moreover, the dancers did not use the music to accomplish a higher goal--a splendid visualization of the music, or an intense correspondence from sound to movement. Rather, they danced merely to the tempo of the music, with sometimes impressive bends, twists and changes of position, but didn’t move beyond the music’s tempo to its more sophisticated qualities. One could say that they danced to the music, but not with it.
These two performances lacked an intangible quality that I can best call “concept.” While the components were there, I was left wondering how such talent could be put to better use, or infused with more creativity. On the other hand--these concerns are nothing a few new and intriguing members can’t fix.
Monday, April 21, 2008
enCounter Culture
On Sunday night I had the distinct pleasure of going to see a collection of Stanford dancers in dv8’s enCounter Culture. The groups were dancing under the umbrella of urban/hip hop style but individually they ranged from break-dancers, to straight hip hop, to step.
This was the first dance show I have been able to attend at Stanford, so the experience was very exciting for me. The show began with the Troposomatic Break-dance Crew. The program explained them as “a high-energy dance group that performs with unmatched style, creativity, and flare.” I must say the energy was incredibly low and the style was easily matched by the other break-dance crew. Unlike many of the other groups that would perform, Troposomatic did not include a theatrical element in their performance, but rather focused on the dancing. Unfortunately, sometimes they seemed a bit too focused on the dancing, in that they seemed to be counting very strictly, their bodies were not in sync with one anothers, and they seemed to lack an awareness of the amount of space that they had, both with each other and with the stage. Many times during a flip or a twist, I was absolutely positive that one of them would fall of the stage. Although individually the dancers each brought in a unique energy, together they seemed to have a hard time understanding each other’s energy.
The pace and energy began picking up after the first act. CSAG (Consortium of Small Asian Girls) was very good, and yes, I did look up the word “consortium” when I returned home because I wasn’t sure that it fit; it does. The group was very together they used the entire stage without making me want to call an ambulance, and they had great outfits.
The show continued with some very nice performances. A middle school guest group came in and showed up some of the seasoned college dancers. Alliance Streetdance used an interesting theme of mannequins and robotic motions, coupled with a medley of current hip-hop hits. I wasn’t always sure that the music matched the theme, like when Flo-Rida’s Low came on I was fairly certain that they were using it more for the audience connection to the popular song rather than to maintain the integrity of their motions. Perhaps it is also that I was just tired of the song, seeing as how every group before this had used it in their medleys of current hip-hop hits. I thought Jam Pac’d was the most well performed of all urban/hip-hop groups. They had beautiful face paint and theatrical presence. It was clear that the dance was telling a love story of two of the dancers. They were aware of each other of their space and their piece was, to me, as eloquent as an Ezra Pound poem. The audience favorite was hands down Armageddon Crew. This group of break-dancers only had two dancers. They worked very well together and told a martial arts infused story, that was incredibly compelling, however cheesy. The two understood each others’ bodies and were just plain talented. It was ridiculously cool to see someone spin on his head or hop around on his head.
I think the dance groups that came out really showed how much hard work they’ve put in all year and just created a show that was very alluring and engaging for an audience to watch. I’m not quite convinced that I “enCountered culture” but it was definitely a very good experience!
This was the first dance show I have been able to attend at Stanford, so the experience was very exciting for me. The show began with the Troposomatic Break-dance Crew. The program explained them as “a high-energy dance group that performs with unmatched style, creativity, and flare.” I must say the energy was incredibly low and the style was easily matched by the other break-dance crew. Unlike many of the other groups that would perform, Troposomatic did not include a theatrical element in their performance, but rather focused on the dancing. Unfortunately, sometimes they seemed a bit too focused on the dancing, in that they seemed to be counting very strictly, their bodies were not in sync with one anothers, and they seemed to lack an awareness of the amount of space that they had, both with each other and with the stage. Many times during a flip or a twist, I was absolutely positive that one of them would fall of the stage. Although individually the dancers each brought in a unique energy, together they seemed to have a hard time understanding each other’s energy.
The pace and energy began picking up after the first act. CSAG (Consortium of Small Asian Girls) was very good, and yes, I did look up the word “consortium” when I returned home because I wasn’t sure that it fit; it does. The group was very together they used the entire stage without making me want to call an ambulance, and they had great outfits.
The show continued with some very nice performances. A middle school guest group came in and showed up some of the seasoned college dancers. Alliance Streetdance used an interesting theme of mannequins and robotic motions, coupled with a medley of current hip-hop hits. I wasn’t always sure that the music matched the theme, like when Flo-Rida’s Low came on I was fairly certain that they were using it more for the audience connection to the popular song rather than to maintain the integrity of their motions. Perhaps it is also that I was just tired of the song, seeing as how every group before this had used it in their medleys of current hip-hop hits. I thought Jam Pac’d was the most well performed of all urban/hip-hop groups. They had beautiful face paint and theatrical presence. It was clear that the dance was telling a love story of two of the dancers. They were aware of each other of their space and their piece was, to me, as eloquent as an Ezra Pound poem. The audience favorite was hands down Armageddon Crew. This group of break-dancers only had two dancers. They worked very well together and told a martial arts infused story, that was incredibly compelling, however cheesy. The two understood each others’ bodies and were just plain talented. It was ridiculously cool to see someone spin on his head or hop around on his head.
I think the dance groups that came out really showed how much hard work they’ve put in all year and just created a show that was very alluring and engaging for an audience to watch. I’m not quite convinced that I “enCountered culture” but it was definitely a very good experience!
enCounter Culture
On Sunday night, a collection of Stanford’s finest urban dance groups assembled to display their talents in a show entitled enCounter Culture. Although all of the dance troops were described as being “urban dancers” each group showcased it’s own specialty of urban dance. From steppers to break dancers, the dance groups aimed to wow audience with complicated choreography and impressive rhythmic movement of the human body.
Although the show definitely gained energy as it moved forward, I was skeptical as I watched the first act. The opening group, composed of three male break-dancers, was unsynchronized in dancing style, movement, and attitude. Throughout the routine, the dancers had a hard time executing their movements together, which caused an unsettling view for the audience. While each dancer was obviously talented, their own personal dancing styles were so different that the performance often resembled three solo acts rather than a group number. Additionally, their different attitudes on stage created a disjointed piece for the audience. While one dancer danced with goofy facials and comedic timing, the other two danced more seriously. I appreciated their enthusiasm and personal talent, but as a group they left much to be desired.
The low energy after the first performance was quickly boosted by the next group of dancers. As CSAG (Consortium of Small Asian Girls) took the stage, it was apparent by the raging applause they received that they already had a dedicated fan base. CSAG, as their name implies, is a group of petite Asian girls who specialize in modern Hip Hop dance. The instant the music started, the girls impressed with their highly synchronized routine. Each girl was able to isolate her movements while maintaining the uninhibited motion that hip hop dance requires. It was clear they had extensively rehearsed their piece. CSAG kept the energy high by continually changing formations and occasionally showcasing each girl individually for a few 8 counts. A medley of recent radio hip-hop songs seemed to excite the audience, keeping them engaged with the dancers. Their gimmick of being small and Asian was cute, but their talent was definitely their most noticeable attribute.
The subsequent acts were all very impressive and respectable. Alliance, a co-ed group of hip hop dancers entertained with a dance piece that revolved around a mannequin/robot theme. The Stanford Steppers continued with an odd yet entertaining theme of oompa loompas. However, by the end of the night it was clear that one duo had stolen the show. A pair of break-dancers who called themselves Armageddon, combined break-dancing with martial arts to create a spectacular performance. As their piece began, the two dancers walked down the aisles of the auditorium, mimicking a boxer’s entrance into an arena. As soon as they hit the stage my jaw was on the floor. Each dancer ‘s technique was completely amazing and their presence together onstage was electrifying. At one point in the number, one of the dancers popped up and down on one hand (yes, I said just ONE hand) for a good 15 seconds. The addition of the martial arts elements gave the duo a fresh twist on traditional break-dancing. As they hit their final pose the crowd went nuts, and I even allowed my reserved self to let out a little “woo!” of amusement.
Overall I think the show did a great job of entertaining an audience who was hungry for some good urban dance. The entire show was cohesive but each group brought their own flare to the stage. Although there was some disparity in the level at which each group performed, I don’t think that it detracted from my overall appreciation of the show. I think enCounter Culture did an amazing job of sharing urban dance with the Stanford community, and succeeded in sparking a larger interest in dancing. I know I left the auditorium thinking, “I need to start dancing more!” Whether me dancing more is a good thing or bad thing is yet to be determined.
Although the show definitely gained energy as it moved forward, I was skeptical as I watched the first act. The opening group, composed of three male break-dancers, was unsynchronized in dancing style, movement, and attitude. Throughout the routine, the dancers had a hard time executing their movements together, which caused an unsettling view for the audience. While each dancer was obviously talented, their own personal dancing styles were so different that the performance often resembled three solo acts rather than a group number. Additionally, their different attitudes on stage created a disjointed piece for the audience. While one dancer danced with goofy facials and comedic timing, the other two danced more seriously. I appreciated their enthusiasm and personal talent, but as a group they left much to be desired.
The low energy after the first performance was quickly boosted by the next group of dancers. As CSAG (Consortium of Small Asian Girls) took the stage, it was apparent by the raging applause they received that they already had a dedicated fan base. CSAG, as their name implies, is a group of petite Asian girls who specialize in modern Hip Hop dance. The instant the music started, the girls impressed with their highly synchronized routine. Each girl was able to isolate her movements while maintaining the uninhibited motion that hip hop dance requires. It was clear they had extensively rehearsed their piece. CSAG kept the energy high by continually changing formations and occasionally showcasing each girl individually for a few 8 counts. A medley of recent radio hip-hop songs seemed to excite the audience, keeping them engaged with the dancers. Their gimmick of being small and Asian was cute, but their talent was definitely their most noticeable attribute.
The subsequent acts were all very impressive and respectable. Alliance, a co-ed group of hip hop dancers entertained with a dance piece that revolved around a mannequin/robot theme. The Stanford Steppers continued with an odd yet entertaining theme of oompa loompas. However, by the end of the night it was clear that one duo had stolen the show. A pair of break-dancers who called themselves Armageddon, combined break-dancing with martial arts to create a spectacular performance. As their piece began, the two dancers walked down the aisles of the auditorium, mimicking a boxer’s entrance into an arena. As soon as they hit the stage my jaw was on the floor. Each dancer ‘s technique was completely amazing and their presence together onstage was electrifying. At one point in the number, one of the dancers popped up and down on one hand (yes, I said just ONE hand) for a good 15 seconds. The addition of the martial arts elements gave the duo a fresh twist on traditional break-dancing. As they hit their final pose the crowd went nuts, and I even allowed my reserved self to let out a little “woo!” of amusement.
Overall I think the show did a great job of entertaining an audience who was hungry for some good urban dance. The entire show was cohesive but each group brought their own flare to the stage. Although there was some disparity in the level at which each group performed, I don’t think that it detracted from my overall appreciation of the show. I think enCounter Culture did an amazing job of sharing urban dance with the Stanford community, and succeeded in sparking a larger interest in dancing. I know I left the auditorium thinking, “I need to start dancing more!” Whether me dancing more is a good thing or bad thing is yet to be determined.
FLICKS Review: Juno
On Sunday night, April 20, I attended the Stanford FLICKS screening of “Juno.” Unaware of what genre or quality movie I was about to see (I only knew it involved a pregnancy), I was pleasantly surprised to find a comedy—and with well-thought out, witty humor, not the brainless kind many other recent movies have featured. Every several minutes the audience roared with laughter, evidence to the success of this comic teenage tale.
--warning: plot spoiler—
Juno is the name of the main character, a sixteen year-old girl in high school who finds out she is pregnant from the onset of the movie. After consulting with her friend, Juno agrees to get an abortion, but later backs out of her decision when she gets irritated by the environment in Women Now (the abortion clinic) while sitting in the waiting room (though she really backs out due to guilt). Juno decides instead to give her baby up for adoption to a couple, Vanessa and Mark, that appears perfect (though nobody is fooled). Throughout the arrangement, Juno gets to know Mark and finds out they share a love for music and horror movies. Meanwhile, Juno’s relationship with Paulie, her best friend and the father of her baby, complicates. When Mark suddenly tells Juno he plans to divorce Vanessa, Juno’s idealistic vision of love and Vanessa’s hope of being a mother come crashing down. However, since
The plot structure is somewhat traditional, but it still had some unexpected turns and twists. Though it was evident from the beginning that Mark and Vanessa had no chemistry, their divorce was unforeseen. It was also surprising to find that the divorce didn’t interfere with the adoption, and, in a sense, I didn’t expect Juno and Paulie to get together in the end.
There’s a fair amount of foreshadowing along the way, though it ended up being misleading. From Juno and Mark’s first connection when they “jam” on the guitar together in Mark’s room, it becomes evident that they have the potential to ignite some kind of romance, even with their age difference. This foreshadowing is confirmed when Juno and Mark start spending a lot of time together when Vanessa is not home, especially when they start to slow dance to Mark’s high school prom song. Up to the moment before Mark confessed his plans for his divorce, I was convinced Juno and Mark were going to kiss and either end up together or cut off their romance before it ruins both their lives (a similar situation to that in “Spanglish”). When this did not happen and no romantic aspect to the relationship was acknowledged, I was thoroughly disappointed. Even more, Mark’s situation was never resolved in the story; after Mark and Vanessa divorced Mark’s character was dropped, leaving the audience unsatisfied.
Though there were some aspects of the plot I found engaging in themselves, “Juno” would have been a poor movie if not for its comic value. This is where the success lay. There were countless hilarious one-liners scattered throughout the movie, as well as some intrinsic humor and irony in the storyline. For example, a cheerleader talking to an elder teacher she fancied remarked something like “You like Woody Allen? I do too!” Juno exclaimed that in
-Dominique Y
Sunday, April 20, 2008
enCounter Culture
For this art review, I went to go see "enCounter Culture 2008" a showcase of student hip hop dance groups presented by Stanford's premiere group dv8 at Kresge Hall on Sunday night. In total there were 8 different groups all with distinct styles and all labeled under the umbrella title "hip hop dance." For me, this was a pretty different experience than my normal interactions with art, as I am not only ignorant about hip hop but about dance in general. Therefore, you might say that my criticism suffers from difficulties contingent to a more knowledgeable vocabulary in these styles of art. That said, I did enjoy some performances and appreciated what I thought they were trying to do. On the other hand, there were many times were I felt lost at what I was supposed to be watching.
For example, there were a few groups who tried to incorporate some theatrical elements to the dance performance, namely the Stanford Steppers (aka The Bomb Squad), Armageddon Crew, and Dv8. The Steppers attempted to depict a storyline about Oompa Loompas (as reflected in their costume, song choice, and intermittent dialogue) and specifically about a new recruit who is trying to prove herself to the Oompa Loompa group. To me, I wasn't sure why they even needed to do this or why they would choose this specific theme. I understand that offering some theatrical elements like dialogue and acting keeps the performances interesting, but this theme was very underdeveloped and seemed quite unnecessary. However, it is important to note that the Steppers' actual performance was pretty remarkable and entertaining. They are a very talented group who "stepped" (stomping, clapping, and slapping parts of the body to create percussive beats) very much in sync. I was also impressed with how they created rhythms with their steps that undoubtedly reflected some of the melody lines they were singing earlier in the dance (like the Oompa Loompa theme from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).
As for the other groups, I had a similar experience with dv8's performance, in which at a few seemingly random parts of their performance they decided on choreographing scenes depicting physical abuse. Perhaps, there were other more subtle ways they tried to reflect this motif in their movements, but for me it was hard to pick up on. The Armageddon Crew, however, were pretty successful in their theatrical choices, in my opinion. As a duo of break dancers, they dressed up their performance as a type of martial arts duel/boxing match in which the two performers competed with their moves. Though this is a bit cliche of a theme, it worked well as a complement to the art form of break dancing.
One of my favorite performances was Jam Pac'd, which featured the best and most intricate costumes (faces painted white, and variations of black and white clothing among the dancers), an original soundtrack (less mainstream hip hop with more musicality and interesting rhythms). They didn't seem to imply any distinct themes with their performance/choreography but the sheer beauty of their appearance and sounds made me forget that I was watching humans dance, and instead appreciated the surface aesthetics of the performance.
For example, there were a few groups who tried to incorporate some theatrical elements to the dance performance, namely the Stanford Steppers (aka The Bomb Squad), Armageddon Crew, and Dv8. The Steppers attempted to depict a storyline about Oompa Loompas (as reflected in their costume, song choice, and intermittent dialogue) and specifically about a new recruit who is trying to prove herself to the Oompa Loompa group. To me, I wasn't sure why they even needed to do this or why they would choose this specific theme. I understand that offering some theatrical elements like dialogue and acting keeps the performances interesting, but this theme was very underdeveloped and seemed quite unnecessary. However, it is important to note that the Steppers' actual performance was pretty remarkable and entertaining. They are a very talented group who "stepped" (stomping, clapping, and slapping parts of the body to create percussive beats) very much in sync. I was also impressed with how they created rhythms with their steps that undoubtedly reflected some of the melody lines they were singing earlier in the dance (like the Oompa Loompa theme from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory).
As for the other groups, I had a similar experience with dv8's performance, in which at a few seemingly random parts of their performance they decided on choreographing scenes depicting physical abuse. Perhaps, there were other more subtle ways they tried to reflect this motif in their movements, but for me it was hard to pick up on. The Armageddon Crew, however, were pretty successful in their theatrical choices, in my opinion. As a duo of break dancers, they dressed up their performance as a type of martial arts duel/boxing match in which the two performers competed with their moves. Though this is a bit cliche of a theme, it worked well as a complement to the art form of break dancing.
One of my favorite performances was Jam Pac'd, which featured the best and most intricate costumes (faces painted white, and variations of black and white clothing among the dancers), an original soundtrack (less mainstream hip hop with more musicality and interesting rhythms). They didn't seem to imply any distinct themes with their performance/choreography but the sheer beauty of their appearance and sounds made me forget that I was watching humans dance, and instead appreciated the surface aesthetics of the performance.
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Design Unbound
This afternoon, I visited the Design Unbound exhibition at Stanford University to take a thirty-minute reading break. To my surprise, I ended up spending an hour and a half in the one room exhibit! The room is filled with eclectic design pieces created by graduate students in the arts and design programs. Many of the pieces are students’ personal statements and therefore reflect their broad interests. The exhibit displays everything from a water catching umbrella, to salt and peppershakers on wheels, to videos, and furniture. What separates this design exhibit from many others I have seen is that it is not just about seeing objects but rather about interacting with them.
When you first walk into the room there is a “color box” on your left and this creation is one of my favorite pieces in the exhibit. It is a plastic box with a cubical hole through the side of it. The viewer is supposed to lie down on the ground and stick their head and shoulders inside of this box. Color radiates through the plastic and you are surrounded by an ever-changing progression of color. You become enveloped by color and realize the power that certain colors such as red and sky blue can have over your emotions. Even if you close your eyes the color penetrates your eyelids and you remain engulfed. It is a meditative experience and I recommend that people try it to see how it affects them.
Another one of my favorite pieces is a short movie entitled “Presidential Candidates.” A slideshow displays the most used words in the top 5 hit billboard hits of each presidential period from 1953 until 2003. For example, President Bush’s reign was characterized by words such as love, wanna, and crazy, and Beyonce’s “Crazy” played in the background. The movie appealed to me because it stimulated me on multiple levels, the first of which was visually. The word love remained constant throughout the piece (as it remained one of the most common words in popular songs) but many of the others changed. Each time the words would fade away and give way to those of a new time period, there would be overlapping words and it was like a game to figure out which ones reappeared. It stimulated me intellectually as I connected the words with the president and attempted to recall the history of each time period. Finally, it appealed to me because of the music. Each slide and corresponding song lasted for only a matter of seconds and I raced to try and recognize the songs. After watching the clip once, I stayed and watched it again because I wasn’t able to experience all of its layers the first time I saw it.
The “Morphology Chandelier” by Simon Weiss caught my eye, as it is not only innovative but also professional. It is a modern chandelier composed of acrylic petals rather than crystals. When a button is pressed, the petals move upwards and allow light to diffuse throughout the room. I was impressed by the quality of the piece; it looked as though I could have bought it straight off the shelf at a design store.
However, not all of the pieces had this level of sophistication. For example, I was intrigued by the function of “Versatile Sofa Table” but not by its form. “Versatile Sofa Table” is a foam pad covered with wooden tiles on one side and felt circles on the other. When it is rolled up with the wooden tiles facing upward, it becomes a table. However, when the pad is lying flat on the wooden tiles, it becomes a bed. It is “for people with big hearts that live in small spaces.” The bed cover is decorated with yellow, orange, and red felt circles that are sewn together like lily pads floating in water. The edges of each felt circle awkwardly stick up a few inches off of the bed. The bed does not appear inviting to lie down on because of this felt cover and also because of its irregular rectangular shape. Therefore, in my opinion, this sofa table succeeds as a table but fails as a bed because it is not visually appealing or inviting.
I was frustrated that a few of the pieces in the exhibit were not functioning. For example the “Visceral Lights Tubes” had burned out and the “Musical Landscape” and “Parallelogram Harp Playing- Bar Code Bench” could not be used. However, overall, the exhibition was fantastic. Each of the pieces had its own purpose, but they all shared one thing in common: that they combine function and form. There is one piece that I believe embodies the spirit of the rest of the exhibit and that is David Ngo’s personal statement “Extra Ordinary.” In this video, David is in a black room with a seemingly empty suitcase. Inside of it, he discovers a metal tool that looks like a wand. He whirls it in the air and searches the room until he finds a metal piece that the wand hooks into. As he rotates the wand, balloons fly out of the suitcase and magical music accompanies them. At the end of the video, he descends into the suitcase and waves goodbye to his audience. The statement of his work is that ordinary things, such as suitcases, can be extraordinary. I felt that this message extended to the entire Design Unbound exhibit as I saw ordinary things— color, words, a chandelier, and a sofa bed—in new and extraordinary ways.
"Thoroughly Modern Millie" Review
Catchy choruses, flashy costumes, and a fantastic set were all things going for “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” the musical I saw in Stanford’s Memorial Auditorium on Saturday, April 12. In addition, the orchestra was wonderful and played the score with precision and enthusiasm. However, there were many aspects of this Ram’s Head production that made me stop and find this performance less than perfect.
The opening act, in which the main character Millie Dillmount sings her first song, was sung with a blasé attitude, as if the character herself did not believe what she was saying. The girl’s voice was amazing, and she hit each note perfectly; however, her motions on the stage were minimal and constrained. I also saw this characteristic in the ensemble as they were doing their main dance pieces; for example, when they join Millie in this first scene, or perhaps the typewriter scene in which they all tap dance. But indeed, I’d like to stop here and mention that these performers have probably never tap danced in their lives and I’m guessing just learned so for this production, but the least they could do is put an excited and engaging look on their face. Now, for a performance that is supposed to have a kind of silly, predictable and noncomplex plotline, which this musical was definitely made to have, it is understandable for the lack of storyline to be so. However, the focus of the musical should then have been to entertain and trade on the catchy songs and flashy dances. So while the songs were very catchy and sung well, the dances seemed to be boring and without character. There was one girl who stood out to me (she was wearing a curly blonde wig and had a teal green dress in the first scene) who seemed to be playing her part wonderfully, getting into the part and really exaggerating her movements on stage, as such a performer in a musical should do. However, this was not the case with the whole cast.
Another aspect that bothered me during the performance at first was the part of the two hotel helpers who were from Hong Kong. I thought their accent and them singing songs in another language was very distracting and it seemed as though the whole play was a joke. My thoughts were shared by the audience as people shifted uncomfortably and didn’t know whether they should laugh. I was very confused and felt it drew away from the focus of the musical. However, I discovered throughout the play that this aspect was supposed to be a little quirky. With Ram’s Head being a student led and directed production, I saw the humor of the college student as it played through these roles. I found that the musical, in fact, traded on this, and that it was a necessary aspect to the purpose of the play. It gave comic relief and after a while, the audience felt more comfortable laughing at these parts. The culmination of this occurred even after the play was over as the never-before-seen mother of the two boys came out after the bows, and everyone laughed at their reunion. This instilled in me one of the focuses of the musical that was to not be entirely serious and completely professional, but to welcome a little college humor as it was put on and directed by Stanford students themselves.
The opening act, in which the main character Millie Dillmount sings her first song, was sung with a blasé attitude, as if the character herself did not believe what she was saying. The girl’s voice was amazing, and she hit each note perfectly; however, her motions on the stage were minimal and constrained. I also saw this characteristic in the ensemble as they were doing their main dance pieces; for example, when they join Millie in this first scene, or perhaps the typewriter scene in which they all tap dance. But indeed, I’d like to stop here and mention that these performers have probably never tap danced in their lives and I’m guessing just learned so for this production, but the least they could do is put an excited and engaging look on their face. Now, for a performance that is supposed to have a kind of silly, predictable and noncomplex plotline, which this musical was definitely made to have, it is understandable for the lack of storyline to be so. However, the focus of the musical should then have been to entertain and trade on the catchy songs and flashy dances. So while the songs were very catchy and sung well, the dances seemed to be boring and without character. There was one girl who stood out to me (she was wearing a curly blonde wig and had a teal green dress in the first scene) who seemed to be playing her part wonderfully, getting into the part and really exaggerating her movements on stage, as such a performer in a musical should do. However, this was not the case with the whole cast.
Another aspect that bothered me during the performance at first was the part of the two hotel helpers who were from Hong Kong. I thought their accent and them singing songs in another language was very distracting and it seemed as though the whole play was a joke. My thoughts were shared by the audience as people shifted uncomfortably and didn’t know whether they should laugh. I was very confused and felt it drew away from the focus of the musical. However, I discovered throughout the play that this aspect was supposed to be a little quirky. With Ram’s Head being a student led and directed production, I saw the humor of the college student as it played through these roles. I found that the musical, in fact, traded on this, and that it was a necessary aspect to the purpose of the play. It gave comic relief and after a while, the audience felt more comfortable laughing at these parts. The culmination of this occurred even after the play was over as the never-before-seen mother of the two boys came out after the bows, and everyone laughed at their reunion. This instilled in me one of the focuses of the musical that was to not be entirely serious and completely professional, but to welcome a little college humor as it was put on and directed by Stanford students themselves.
"Thoroughly Modern Millie"
Vivid sets, upbeat musical numbers and extreme talent were a few of the many entertaining aspects of the Stanford Ram’s Head Theatrical Society’s presentation of “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” which I attended this past Saturday. Although the story line was slightly generic (although fairly interesting to me, as I have never seen this musical before), what really impressed me was the visual spectacle of it all, which perfectly complimented the music and choreography.
In my opinion, most musicals fall into a sort of “feel-good” genre, which aims to present a conflict and then resolve it in a comprehensible, engaging way, leaving the audience with a sense of felicitous resolution. The goal of the musical is not necessarily to be the most elaborate in terms of plot; rather, it is to entertain the audience. I believe the Ram’s Head Society chose to put on this musical as opposed to any other because the story is simple, allowing for appropriately extravagant costumes and choreography, yet the message is potent; when looking for true love, one should use the heart rather than the eyes.
In terms of visual elements, the costumes heavily contributed to the overall continuity and symbolism of the play. Dorothy, a sweet California girl, always appeared onstage in some sort of flowing, pastel colored dress, which emphasized her innocence and inexperience with the city of New York. In fact, during one scene where she, Millie and some of the other girls are enjoying a night on the town, all of the girls have on flashy, scandalous dresses while Dorothy is dressed in a conservative white gown. Additionally, Millie’s costumes represented her transformation from simple Kansas girl to fiery, New York woman. In the opening scene, she dons a plain, uninteresting dress but as she becomes more acclimated to the big city, she frequently sports short, modern dresses that demand attention.
Another huge visual aspect was the lighting in the scenes and how it created a mood. In general, the lights were used to denote the passage of time, using darker filters for night and brighter, orange-based filters for dawn. My favorite usage of light had to be the scene in which Millie and her friends land themselves in jail. The way the light filtered through the smoke onstage created the illusion of bars, which I found to be extremely clever and well done.
The lighting also contrasted well with the sets in the musical. Two staircases which eventually combined to form one with an elevator in the middle made up the main scene, along with a New York City skyline in the background. The skyline particularly interested me because the colors seemed to fit the era quite well. As the story takes place in the 1920’s, at the beginning of the age of jazz, the set designers used shades of purple, pink and turquoise with gold embellishments to create a modern atmosphere. The set was very appropriate and captured the fresh excitement of NYC in the Roaring Twenties.
Although the technical elements of the musical obviously enhanced it, the musical numbers gave life to the show. Just by watching these students act, I knew they all had to be crazy talented, but I was utterly bewitched when I heard them sing and saw them dance. I particularly enjoyed the actor who played Jimmy; he had an incredible stage presence and obviously possessed an impressive control over his voice. Millie was also fun to listen to because she had a very clear distinction between her chest voice and head voice; she would sing the sweet, quiet parts in her upper register and the loud, belting, showy parts in her lower register. The dance sequences were quite extravagant, but, considering the time period during which the musical takes place, I felt like they were appropriately exaggerated. The choreography was so ridiculous at times, that it made the show that much more fun to watch. For instance, during a scene in the office (where Millie works as a stenographer), the secretaries all perform a tap dance while Millie is trying to type a memo as quickly as she can. The sound of the taps and the rhythm they conform to mimics that of a typewriter, which I found quite amusing.
Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed this production simply because it was so over-the-top that I couldn’t help adoring it. There are several times when the characters intentionally break out into song and dance in the cheesiest manner, adding to the overall lightheartedness of the musical. I acknowledge that I am very partial to musicals, but I really felt like this one had something different to offer, almost as if it were a caricature of itself. I was also rather impressed by the vocal talent of the ensemble cast. Every number was completely on point and the orchestra also did a fantastic job with the score. This play was extremely well put together and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys talented performers and the occasional romantic comedy.
In my opinion, most musicals fall into a sort of “feel-good” genre, which aims to present a conflict and then resolve it in a comprehensible, engaging way, leaving the audience with a sense of felicitous resolution. The goal of the musical is not necessarily to be the most elaborate in terms of plot; rather, it is to entertain the audience. I believe the Ram’s Head Society chose to put on this musical as opposed to any other because the story is simple, allowing for appropriately extravagant costumes and choreography, yet the message is potent; when looking for true love, one should use the heart rather than the eyes.
In terms of visual elements, the costumes heavily contributed to the overall continuity and symbolism of the play. Dorothy, a sweet California girl, always appeared onstage in some sort of flowing, pastel colored dress, which emphasized her innocence and inexperience with the city of New York. In fact, during one scene where she, Millie and some of the other girls are enjoying a night on the town, all of the girls have on flashy, scandalous dresses while Dorothy is dressed in a conservative white gown. Additionally, Millie’s costumes represented her transformation from simple Kansas girl to fiery, New York woman. In the opening scene, she dons a plain, uninteresting dress but as she becomes more acclimated to the big city, she frequently sports short, modern dresses that demand attention.
Another huge visual aspect was the lighting in the scenes and how it created a mood. In general, the lights were used to denote the passage of time, using darker filters for night and brighter, orange-based filters for dawn. My favorite usage of light had to be the scene in which Millie and her friends land themselves in jail. The way the light filtered through the smoke onstage created the illusion of bars, which I found to be extremely clever and well done.
The lighting also contrasted well with the sets in the musical. Two staircases which eventually combined to form one with an elevator in the middle made up the main scene, along with a New York City skyline in the background. The skyline particularly interested me because the colors seemed to fit the era quite well. As the story takes place in the 1920’s, at the beginning of the age of jazz, the set designers used shades of purple, pink and turquoise with gold embellishments to create a modern atmosphere. The set was very appropriate and captured the fresh excitement of NYC in the Roaring Twenties.
Although the technical elements of the musical obviously enhanced it, the musical numbers gave life to the show. Just by watching these students act, I knew they all had to be crazy talented, but I was utterly bewitched when I heard them sing and saw them dance. I particularly enjoyed the actor who played Jimmy; he had an incredible stage presence and obviously possessed an impressive control over his voice. Millie was also fun to listen to because she had a very clear distinction between her chest voice and head voice; she would sing the sweet, quiet parts in her upper register and the loud, belting, showy parts in her lower register. The dance sequences were quite extravagant, but, considering the time period during which the musical takes place, I felt like they were appropriately exaggerated. The choreography was so ridiculous at times, that it made the show that much more fun to watch. For instance, during a scene in the office (where Millie works as a stenographer), the secretaries all perform a tap dance while Millie is trying to type a memo as quickly as she can. The sound of the taps and the rhythm they conform to mimics that of a typewriter, which I found quite amusing.
Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed this production simply because it was so over-the-top that I couldn’t help adoring it. There are several times when the characters intentionally break out into song and dance in the cheesiest manner, adding to the overall lightheartedness of the musical. I acknowledge that I am very partial to musicals, but I really felt like this one had something different to offer, almost as if it were a caricature of itself. I was also rather impressed by the vocal talent of the ensemble cast. Every number was completely on point and the orchestra also did a fantastic job with the score. This play was extremely well put together and I would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys talented performers and the occasional romantic comedy.
Sweet Designs
When I went to the graduate design show last weekend, I was for some reason expecting to find the most conventional types of paintings, sculptures and drawings. What I found there was astoundingly more elaborate and creative than I’d ever imagined it would be.
The first thing that struck me upon walking into the exhibit was this seemingly simple white box. Its outward appearance was deceiving. When I put my head inside the box to view the rest of the artist’s work, there was a chromatic sequence of solid color following a rainbow progression. The lighting was pure, as though it was emanating from a light OF that color, as opposed to a white light with a filter of that color superimposed over it; the box’s whole inner world was red, yellow, orange, etc, fluctuating seamlessly through the whole rainbow from one hue to another. There also appeared to be a sound component to this work, though perhaps unintentional—it was hard for me to tell whether or not this low humming in the background was intentionally placed there in order to sooth the audience, or whether it was just a result of the light show itself. Thus, if the intent of the artist was to create a soothing experience, in contrast to an otherwise somewhat harsh, bold lighting scheme, then I would argue that the artist succeeded in creating a calming ambience. Without the low hum, close to the noise a TV makes while muted, or the ambient noise that feels close to the sound a white noise machine, the silence would probably have made the work seem somewhat threatening.
It seems then, that the artist who created this white box of colors intended to induce relaxation or even meditation of the viewer—this was achieved through the smooth and seamless progression of pure lighting, and a slight background noise.
The next work that demanded my attention was the model of Chernobyl, which showed the radioactivity on different parts of the mountain. The mountain itself was made of a clear glass, or plastic-like substance, varying in opacity. Emanating up from below the crags was a bright light, intended (as the write-up in front of the exhibit exclaimed) to show which part of the mountain was most radioactive after the explosion—the brighter the light, the more radioactive the area OR, it could be inverted so that the brighter the light, the less radioactive the area. The intent of this piece, judging by the serious tone of the disclaimer by the artist, is to create a visually pleasing, but very structured, planned and organized work of art set in a jarring historical context. This piece successfully demonstrated how history and art can be fused together to create an aesthetic and sentimental appeal.
Finally, I found the map of an artist’s daily travels, rituals, and routines, and appeared to be a highly experimental piece. Every day for a month, she plotted where she went; the really important places were drawn bigger, such that this map was clearly in NO WAY to scale. Typically, a line denoted her path. Considering that this tracking went on every day for a month, it is no surprise that her paths overlapped and were eventually superimposed over one another. The pattern that resulted from this looked kind of like a ring of dark lines, emanating out from the center of the page like ripples. Thus, the darker, more cluttered portions of the page showed the viewer where she had spent the most time over the course of the month. Perhaps the intention of the artist was to stir up questions. As an audience, did she expect us to be completely enthralled with her everyday routines? Probably not. More likely, the expectation was that the viewer would be attracted to the creativity of the concept, and consequently explore how it manifests itself in the form and aesthetic quality of the piece.
The first thing that struck me upon walking into the exhibit was this seemingly simple white box. Its outward appearance was deceiving. When I put my head inside the box to view the rest of the artist’s work, there was a chromatic sequence of solid color following a rainbow progression. The lighting was pure, as though it was emanating from a light OF that color, as opposed to a white light with a filter of that color superimposed over it; the box’s whole inner world was red, yellow, orange, etc, fluctuating seamlessly through the whole rainbow from one hue to another. There also appeared to be a sound component to this work, though perhaps unintentional—it was hard for me to tell whether or not this low humming in the background was intentionally placed there in order to sooth the audience, or whether it was just a result of the light show itself. Thus, if the intent of the artist was to create a soothing experience, in contrast to an otherwise somewhat harsh, bold lighting scheme, then I would argue that the artist succeeded in creating a calming ambience. Without the low hum, close to the noise a TV makes while muted, or the ambient noise that feels close to the sound a white noise machine, the silence would probably have made the work seem somewhat threatening.
It seems then, that the artist who created this white box of colors intended to induce relaxation or even meditation of the viewer—this was achieved through the smooth and seamless progression of pure lighting, and a slight background noise.
The next work that demanded my attention was the model of Chernobyl, which showed the radioactivity on different parts of the mountain. The mountain itself was made of a clear glass, or plastic-like substance, varying in opacity. Emanating up from below the crags was a bright light, intended (as the write-up in front of the exhibit exclaimed) to show which part of the mountain was most radioactive after the explosion—the brighter the light, the more radioactive the area OR, it could be inverted so that the brighter the light, the less radioactive the area. The intent of this piece, judging by the serious tone of the disclaimer by the artist, is to create a visually pleasing, but very structured, planned and organized work of art set in a jarring historical context. This piece successfully demonstrated how history and art can be fused together to create an aesthetic and sentimental appeal.
Finally, I found the map of an artist’s daily travels, rituals, and routines, and appeared to be a highly experimental piece. Every day for a month, she plotted where she went; the really important places were drawn bigger, such that this map was clearly in NO WAY to scale. Typically, a line denoted her path. Considering that this tracking went on every day for a month, it is no surprise that her paths overlapped and were eventually superimposed over one another. The pattern that resulted from this looked kind of like a ring of dark lines, emanating out from the center of the page like ripples. Thus, the darker, more cluttered portions of the page showed the viewer where she had spent the most time over the course of the month. Perhaps the intention of the artist was to stir up questions. As an audience, did she expect us to be completely enthralled with her everyday routines? Probably not. More likely, the expectation was that the viewer would be attracted to the creativity of the concept, and consequently explore how it manifests itself in the form and aesthetic quality of the piece.
Thoroughly Modern Millie Review
Everyone has seen his or her fair share of Disney movies as a child and maybe even as a young adult. Everyone remembers and probably appreciates the corny jokes, the melodramatic soundtrack, and the trademark sing-along performances of the characters in these films. With those fond childhood memories on mental reserved, a young audience brought an array of expectations and preconceived biases to theThoroughly Modern Millie musical. Unfortunately, the musical fell victim to viewer’s lore by confirming people’s prejudices and suppositions.
Similar to a Disney production, the musical displayed no narrative complexity. I doubt that the straightforward plot serenaded any minds in the audience, for they were baby-fed by the musical dialogue. Set in the 1920s, lead character, Millie Dillmount, is an eager young woman from Kansas, who has hopes of hitting it big in New York City. Her initial plan to marry a wealthy employer is dashed, yet she gradually falls in love with a passing New York pedestrian. While the cliché love story is at work, Millie must also confront evil and unveil her landlord’s organization of white slavery.
The plot of Thoroughly Modern Millie came second to the music and dance. The sight of legs kickin’ and big hair flailin’ all over the place excited the crowd. In addition, the use of the whole stage kept the audience involved rather than distracting the audience. The live orchestration was close to perfection, giving the whole musical experience more authenticity and engagement. However, the musical became pretty predictable due to the soundtrack, for the musical alternated consistently with high and low emotional moments. For instance, the tones of the singers were either high to indicate cheerfulness or low to illustrate wickedness. Essentially, the sounds of resounding horns and heavy percussions cued either the audience’s sympathy for Millie or disdain for the slave-holding antagonist.
The fact that the play was predictable and prosaically simple, coupled with its durational length, created mental unrest in the audience. I mean the part of the auditorium where I was seated lit up with the lights of cell phones of impatient, pseudo-A.D.D. teenagers. As a participant in this offstage lightshow, I attributed my insolence or momentary disinterest to the musical’s predictable nature. A little suspense or more concision would have been more engaging, for the audience would have been compelled to concentrate on the storyline and to inoculate imagination when appropriate.
Furthermore, the individual performances by the main character were unnatural and sometimes too static during the up-tempo arrangements. Over the course of the musical,singers tend to grow tired doing number after number, yet the leading actress opened the show with an up-tempo routine that was undermined by what seemed to be a lackluster effort. She seemed to be going through the motions, thus the performances lacked conviction as well as an actor’s unique signature. However, the performances from the supporting cast earned a memory in the minds of the audience, for the simple fact of character immersion. Some actors and actresses really got into character. I knew a few of the actors personally and from other performances,yet I could not ascribe any of their real characteristics to their stage roles.They really loss themselves in the character. Specifically, the actresses who played the antagonist and the celebrity entertainer in the musical not only boasted big beautiful voices that reverberated through the auditorium but also engaged their whole bodies in alluring body movements to enhance their sets.
Thoroughly Modern Millie seemed so over-the-top and cliché in its themes and musical composition that I felt as though I was watching a parody or farce. In a general sense, the musical achieved a basic goal of entertainment, even if crowd interest was short-lived.
Design Unbound-Carrisa Carters' Outcrop
“25 pairs of shoes in polyester resin, accompanied by annotated stratographic section/enlarged thin sections.” This brief personal statement is all that artist Carrisa Carters offers as insight into her piece Outcrop.
Outcrop can be commended on many levels, especially for its familiar subject matter, photographical frame of vision, texture, and overall arrangement. These elements complement one another to produce visual contrast as well as illustrate an over-arching theme of journey.
A common subject matter can engage an audience, for the sight of an everyday household item sometimes evokes a sense of comfort and familiarity. Sometimes, pieces of art are predicated on abstractions, which may scare or disinterest viewers, especially those with low art IQs or inexperience. However, this was not the case in the simple yet telling collage of Outcrop. Initially, the words Morrell, Vans, and Reef caught my eye, for these are popular brands of foot apparel. People tend to appeal to things that they can identify with, especially a commodity such as shoes; this propensity works in favor of this piece. Many people know that Morrell shoes are for hiking and backpacking,whereas Vans are associated with causal dress or skateboarders. Lastly, many people in California sport the Reef flip-flops. These brands and types of shoes are definitely prevalent on the Stanford campus, thus the artist knows her audience. A viewer might think that these shoes reveal something about the artist.Keep in mind, there are multiple images of these shoe products, so her choice to select these brands or types of shoes is deliberate.
Next,the artist strategically manipulates viewers’ frame of vision to evince the piece’s theme of journey. The artist zoomed in on many of her photographs in order to draw the audience’s attention to certain parts of shoes. Consequently,people can see only parts of the shoe such as the shoelaces, the cloth or leather upper part of the shoe, the shoe tongues, the logo tag, the sole, the rubber outsoles or shoe bottoms, and the toe thongs of flip-flops. The people can understand the theme from these small windows of vision when they see the shoes’ wear-and-tear and their dull fading colors. These shoes are no longer new and inexperienced, so to speak, but they are old and worn. Essentially, the shoes have been through some things. Furthermore, I believe that seeing the whole shoe would be distracting whereas the small frame of vision forces the viewer to concentrate and to contemplate the artist’s intentions.
Returning to the content of the artwork, I attribute the piece’s texture to its shots of shoe bottoms. Though the collage is made up of four thin plastic panels, the textures within the images give Outcrop a third dimension. The rough, rugged shoe bottoms contrasts with the smooth upper part of the shoes, the part that secures the foot. The bottom is the dirty part of the shoe that everyone disregards, while the top part of the shoe is the main attraction. In fact, the images show gum and dirt stuck to the bottom of the shoes. Also, the visual experience incites a sense of touch, for one knows how the bottom of a shoe would feel if it the shoe were present. This stimulation of tactile senses makes the piece more engaging. As the outsoles become worn down from continuous use and time, the rubber ridges and bumps onthe bottoms of the shoe become smooth, once again illustrating journey.
The arrangement of the four modular panels in a square finally solidifies the theme. If viewers start on the left side of the square, they will see the upper parts of the shoe from a bird’s eye view. As their eyes move from panel to panel, around the rectangular collage, they will notice how the images display different angles of the shoe. And as we move around the collage, viewers seemore side angles of the shoes until they meet the dirty rugged bottom of the shoes. In the middle of the four-panel square arrangement, there is an open space of wall, which gives the eyes a relief from what could be seen as a busy collection of pictures. Among somewhat daunting abstract works of art, Outcrop not only demonstrates the theme of journey but also gives the Design Unbound art exhibit balance between the recognizable and the very abstract.
grown-up toys
I recently attended the graduate design show at the T.W. Art Gallery and had the time of my life. Through sheer coincidence, I happen to know several of the graduate students in product design and have spent a little time in “the Loft” as it is known, and I was totally amped to see their final work, but I was totally unprepared for the incredible variety and quality of the work. What struck me most, other than the beauty of the pieces, was their seemingly unified purpose: the public exhibition of the concrete realizations of artistic whims. Perhaps you are thinking, but Max, you pretentious snob, what can you possibly mean? Allow me to explain.
Some artists, like Hollywood actors, directors, screenwriters, etc., aim to entertain; others, like George Orwell or Betty Friedan, encourage you to think and decide for yourself; these students, on the other hand, sought neither of these ends, I believe. Instead, it seemed as if they tried simply to bring to life an idea or a vision that would otherwise have remained just a dream. For example, the bronze bike followed by the veritable circus of knife-jugglers, clowns et al. This fanciful contraption, nominally meant to brighten one’s day, must in reality be incredibly impractical, but potentially functional. Although I did not actually ride the bike, I didn’t have to. Just by seeing the bike, in all its ridiculous glory, I was granted a glimpse into the mind of another and it cheered me up without even having to set foot on the pedal. Similarly, I was enchanted by the film of the guy who pulls balloons out of the suitcase. Plot-less, devoid of character development, and entirely without theme or moral, it remains a fascinating work, minimalistic in its execution of the depiction of a magical suitcase and its supernatural properties. Contradictory? A little. Finally, I was impressed with, albeit confused by, the plastic representation of music that the description explained had been the artist’s fantasy since her youth. The highly detailed and color-coded structures take an immensely innovative approach to traditional conceptions of both visual art and music, taking a temporally changing, polyphonically complex, and invisible piece and turning it into a static, still complex, yet visible construction.
You may think I have been unduly laudatory of these artists’ works, and you would have a point. Their purpose, as I see it, is rather less than challenging and thus one would not be unfounded in criticizing them for their lack of ambition, however I would disagree. True, these pieces may not have a pragmatic or even an academic objective, yet in simply being created they have achieved much more than many of their equally fantastic fellows and this feat is valiant in and of itself.
The Phantom of Liberty
Luis Buñuel’s The Phantom of Liberty was an exercise in absurdity. While every moment was far from typical, I’ll present a moment that captures fairly well the film’s uniqueness and general irony: a man and a woman sit in an investigator’s office, explaining to the investigator that their daughter has gone missing. Their daughter sits next to them, however, and when the investigator asks what the daughter looks like, the parents point to her so that the investigator might get a physical description. He then fills out a missing person form, checking her eye color, height and weight in the process, and then concludes by saying to the parents, “I’m glad you brought her. It helps.”
The film presents a great number of these short encounters, and strays from character to character frequently. It lacks any sort of coherent narrative or plot, and any extensive character development. Thematic elements, on the other hand, recur frequently. Before attempting to draw these elements into any sort of coherent picture--which may be an impossible task in itself--I will try to address some of them individually.
Throughout the film, Buñuel directly and indirectly approaches the subject of customs, or societal norms. At one point, a group of people sit around a table speaking amiably with each other; their seats, however, are open toilets, and they sit with pants lowered and dresses raised. The content of their conversation is the amount of feces humanity excretes each day. When a young girl complains that she is hungry, an older woman scolds her for speaking inappropriately. At one point, a man asks quietly for the dining room, and then eats by himself in a cramped space. Buñuel seems to be implying that the customs society has established over time are arbitrary: that the bathroom isn’t inherently foul, but is because we’ve made it so; in a sense, he proves this by demonstrating a group of content people conversing from toilet seats. At another point, he has a woman play the piano wearing nothing but stockings, while she holds an ordinary conversation with her brother. He hopes to undermine the perversion of what we consider perverse, or, more broadly, to help us take a second look at societal constraints, and shed them if we want to. While the shape of society affects us, we also play a role in shaping it.
This idea is a part of the film’s larger notion of liberty, and our misconceptions of it. By failing to realize the restrictions placed on us by society’s conventions--conventions that can extend to our conceptions of work, education, ways of arranging the day and the week and the year, place, family structure--we end up believing ourselves to be much more free than we are. In one part of the film, a sniper who kills at least thirty people is brought to court and sentenced to death. Upon announcement of the verdict, his handcuffs are removed and he leaves the court with a facial expression of contentment, shaking hands and signing autographs as he walks outside. On one view, Buñuel might be equating death with freedom, or liberty: as soon as the man is required to die, he appears to be unrestricted by anything at all, perhaps because he is no longer subject to society’s conventions.
Buñuel seems concerned with the idea of mischief, with both a mention of foxes by a group of men driving a military tank and a several-second stationary shot of a stuffed fox, and a mention of mischief by a priest. In addition, numerous students at a police academy behave mischievously. Because mischief, in one sense, is simply disregard for conventions, and action with that ideal in mind, it seems likely that Buñuel would hold it in high regard.
Even in its structure and overall concept, the film objects to societal conventions: without a plot, without developed characters, with seemingly meaningless, chance transitions between characters and narrative threads, and with its closing thirty seconds occupied by a close-up shot of an emu’s head, the film seems to be shouting with objections to any sort of outside standard. All in all, Buñuel makes a powerful objection to the blindness that prevents us from realizing that we can live our lives differently than we do--a blindness as severe as being unable to see our own child.
Monday, April 14, 2008
Who am I?
Art
Consciousness
Life
These were the first three words of the e-mail I received prompting me to go see Ignacio Rivera perform on Monday night. I thought, “Wow! I love art, and consciousness, and life…but what is this going to be about?” Reading further along the page, I found these words: black-boricua, trans-entity, multi-gender, queer, pretty-boi, mother, poet. I was startled to realize that out of all these descriptions I could only understand three of the words. In fact, when trying to explain to friends what I was going to see, I found myself blundering. “Um, I’m going to see an artist, um a poet, really, do performances…like trans-gender, um, spoken word…” I realized that what had hooked me in, the words art, consciousness, and life, didn’t really do a good job of contextualizing the art, but then I went to this show and realized the art was right there, somewhere in those places I was having trouble articulating. Ignacio’s work is essentially about changing our need to contextualize people, how they live, what they do, who they are.
Ignacio Rivera started with a lesson. She said trans is “an umbrella term encompassing anyone who shifts, changes, alters, or fucks with gender in anyway.” As she put it, there are distinct differences in meaning between the words female and male and the words man and woman. Rivera’s pronouns of choice are “ze” and “they,” so out of respect, I will try to remember to refer to “them” as “ze” from now on.
The title of the performance was All of Me: performances, skits, and readings by Ignacio Rivera. Their first poem was entitled “Redefining Me.” In it, ze kept repeating the line “Who am I?” which was interesting because, honestly, I was wondering that myself. It soon became obvious that this question was the driving force of her work. The poem dealt with ze as a woman who identifies as a man, but it also dealt with their heritage as a Puerto Rican American growing up in New York. My favorite line was “What the fuck is English as a second language, when I’m not allowed to speak Spanish first.”
My favorite of their selection was when ze did a poem about their daughter. Rivera opened up to us and told us that when ze was younger their sister had sexually harassed them. Rivera then told us about the fear ze had after having a daughter that perhaps there was something in ze that could do that to their daughter. Ze wouldn’t let their daughter spend the night at other’s houses. Their daughter had to wear shorts under all of her skirts. The poem captured that fear so fully that I was near tears. I cannot imagine, but through Rivera’s poetry I can start to piece things together. Art. Consciousness. Life.
All of their performances were incredibly multilayered. Ze would sing, put on costumes and act, move around, define terms. Before the show I thought, “how much can you really do with spoken word poetry, you know, other than read it?” but ze’s work was so involving and poignant that it made me see that there could be more. Ze made me extremely uncomfortable. Ze cursed a lot more than I’m used to, talked about sex more openly than I’m used to, but ze also did a fabulous job of letting us into their life with poems about their time as a “dancer/sex worker” in Hawaii, their daughter, and their history as a victim of sexual assault. Ze seemed to be trading on the power words have to establish, if only fleetingly, moments of empathy and compassion. Their goal was to educate their audience, make us a little bit more aware of the social injustice and homophobia that exists all around us. So that even though I cringed every time ze said “pussy” or “dyke,” by the end I was nodding and thinking, “Yeah, fuck the gender binary…”
Consciousness
Life
These were the first three words of the e-mail I received prompting me to go see Ignacio Rivera perform on Monday night. I thought, “Wow! I love art, and consciousness, and life…but what is this going to be about?” Reading further along the page, I found these words: black-boricua, trans-entity, multi-gender, queer, pretty-boi, mother, poet. I was startled to realize that out of all these descriptions I could only understand three of the words. In fact, when trying to explain to friends what I was going to see, I found myself blundering. “Um, I’m going to see an artist, um a poet, really, do performances…like trans-gender, um, spoken word…” I realized that what had hooked me in, the words art, consciousness, and life, didn’t really do a good job of contextualizing the art, but then I went to this show and realized the art was right there, somewhere in those places I was having trouble articulating. Ignacio’s work is essentially about changing our need to contextualize people, how they live, what they do, who they are.
Ignacio Rivera started with a lesson. She said trans is “an umbrella term encompassing anyone who shifts, changes, alters, or fucks with gender in anyway.” As she put it, there are distinct differences in meaning between the words female and male and the words man and woman. Rivera’s pronouns of choice are “ze” and “they,” so out of respect, I will try to remember to refer to “them” as “ze” from now on.
The title of the performance was All of Me: performances, skits, and readings by Ignacio Rivera. Their first poem was entitled “Redefining Me.” In it, ze kept repeating the line “Who am I?” which was interesting because, honestly, I was wondering that myself. It soon became obvious that this question was the driving force of her work. The poem dealt with ze as a woman who identifies as a man, but it also dealt with their heritage as a Puerto Rican American growing up in New York. My favorite line was “What the fuck is English as a second language, when I’m not allowed to speak Spanish first.”
My favorite of their selection was when ze did a poem about their daughter. Rivera opened up to us and told us that when ze was younger their sister had sexually harassed them. Rivera then told us about the fear ze had after having a daughter that perhaps there was something in ze that could do that to their daughter. Ze wouldn’t let their daughter spend the night at other’s houses. Their daughter had to wear shorts under all of her skirts. The poem captured that fear so fully that I was near tears. I cannot imagine, but through Rivera’s poetry I can start to piece things together. Art. Consciousness. Life.
All of their performances were incredibly multilayered. Ze would sing, put on costumes and act, move around, define terms. Before the show I thought, “how much can you really do with spoken word poetry, you know, other than read it?” but ze’s work was so involving and poignant that it made me see that there could be more. Ze made me extremely uncomfortable. Ze cursed a lot more than I’m used to, talked about sex more openly than I’m used to, but ze also did a fabulous job of letting us into their life with poems about their time as a “dancer/sex worker” in Hawaii, their daughter, and their history as a victim of sexual assault. Ze seemed to be trading on the power words have to establish, if only fleetingly, moments of empathy and compassion. Their goal was to educate their audience, make us a little bit more aware of the social injustice and homophobia that exists all around us. So that even though I cringed every time ze said “pussy” or “dyke,” by the end I was nodding and thinking, “Yeah, fuck the gender binary…”
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