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Austin360 blogs > Austin Arts: Seeing Things > Archives > 2006 > July
July 2006
Blue Man Group?
What’s with the little blue plastic army men that have appeared glued in place around downtown Round Rock?
Since we reported the story, one group of unidentified artists has e-mailed to claim the project as their own, writing that their action was a comment on Williamson County law enforcement.
But then an enthusiastic mother also e-mailed, saying it was her art student daughter that placed the toy soldiers to photograph people’s reaction to them.
Who’s right?
Either or — and Seeing Things will take a look into the veracity of the claims — it’s a clever enough project in an unlikely — and therefore refreshing — locale.
Keep Round Rock Trying To Be Interesting.
(Photos by Laura Skelding/American-Statesman)
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NFL, the symphony?
By now we’ve all grown accustomed to the regular pops programming most U.S. symphony orchestras add to their schedules. Seems the combo of aging pop music acts — think blast-from-the-past crooners — backed by a regional symphony orchestra is just the ticket to, well, sell tickets. It’s a necessary concession to popular taste symphonies make to keep going.
But, really, I think the Houston Symphony Orchestra has taken it a little far. Come Sept. 7, they’ll present “Gridiron Glory: Sights and Music of the NFL,” a pops concert featuring the music of Sam Spence, Tom Hedden and Dave Robidoux, house composers for NFL Films. The event is co-sponsored by the Houston Texans.
At least that’s what the Houston Chronicle reported today. Interestingly, HSO’s own Web site has zero information on the concert. Too embarrassed?
Don’t get me wrong — I’m all for fine arts presenters finding ways to connect to more people. Museums, symphonies, theaters have to continually find ways to make themselves relevant to their contemporary times.
But things seem to have taken a bad turn in Bayou City. The Museum of Fine Art-Houston presented their unabashed corporate come-on in 2004 with “First Down Houston: The Birth of an NFL Franchise”. But then, what do we expect from the mega-museum that presented “art exhibits” of Astros artifacts and “Star Wars”?
Lowering the apprehensions many people feel when approaching the fine arts is one thing. But “Gridiron,” “First Down” and “Star Wars” were in part conceived and funded by the corporations and franchises they promoted. That, to me, is too much pandering.
Exhibit photo:
(Photo by Eric Long and Mark Avino: Star Wars TM and © 1997 by Lucasfilm Ltd. All rights reserved.)
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What if the Blanton looked like this?
What if the Blanton looked like this?
(Image from Herzog & de Meuron)
Well, it doesn’t and it won’t. But the Tate Modern in London will. They’ve secured Swiss architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron to design a $397 million, 11-story “annex.” Seems since opening in 2000, the Tate has already maxed out its space, welcoming a whopping 4 million visitors each year. Yet the refurbished power plant was really only planned to accommodate 1.8 million annual visitors. So the ultra-cerebral Swissies have conceived of a pyramid of glass boxes that appear stacked on top of each other into an uneven, precarious tower. It’s lovely — intriguing, breathtaking and like it will be intriguing every time you look at it.
But don’t hate the Blanton for not being the Herzog & de Meuron jewel it was once proposed to be. We got what we got. Fait accompli. Instead, love the place for what it does inside.
Like what will be going on inside Thursday at 7 p.m. when artist Shahzia Sikander and dancer Sharmila Desai ponder and respond to Sikander’s multimedia versions of traditional Persian miniatures. The Pakistani-born Sikander combines high and low culture references from Muslim, Hindu and Western cultures in her entrancing digital “watercolors.”
“Intimacy,” Shazia Sikander
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Meanwhile….
The Rolling Stones in Austin? Yup. That’s what was announced today — the aging rockers are headed to Zilker Park Oct. 22. I’ve already seen the Stones years ago, so I’ll pass on shelling out the big bucks to join an estimated 50,000 concertgoers. Personally, I think Mick, Keith et al, should have hung up the satisfaction years ago. They’re almost a novelty act now.
Meanwhile, also coming this fall… Pro-Arts Collective announces Austin’s first ever Black Arts Movement! Performing Arts Festival September 25- October 8. BAM! — as it is known — will showcase national and regional dance, theater, spoken word, music and visual arts, including the venerable Robert Moses’ Kin Dance Company. Moses has made a name for himself as a dancemaker willing to tackle tough issues like race, class, culture and gender through compelling modern movement. Moses and company are a must-see.
Check out the QuickTime video of the company here.
(Photo from Robert Moses’ Kin Dance Company).
Stay tuned to Pro-Arts Collective for more details on BAM!
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Got ‘It’?
The hit of the summer theater season?
Daniel MacIvor’s “In On It” now getting a sleek and smart production by the Dirigo Group and director Lowell Bartholomee. Of course, we can thank Ken Webster of Hyde Park Theatre for making us here in Austin MacIvor fans, Webster being the one to introduce us to the Canadian playwright’s intense, thoughtful, dialogue-rich dark comedies.
Now, Bartholomee hands us a whip-smart, yet sensitive, production of MacIvor’s 75-minute script that knits together multiple narratives — a dying man trying to set things straight, a pair of lovers trying to make it work and two men trying to make a play — into a seamless whole.
Austin Chronicle arts editor Robert Faires plays the gamey That One with a brilliant combo of verve and complexity. Veteran actor Scotty Roberts plays the more reserved This One with depth. And as This One and That One struggle with their relationship and This One’s play, they struggle to find ‘It.’
What is ‘It’? ‘It’ might be anything, MacIvor suggests, from a desired object (like those eBay commercials) to something more elusive like happiness, contentment, inner peace.
You decide.
Scotty Roberts (left) and Robert Faires in “In On It.”
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It IS about the dishes
“American Fiesta” may be about our divisive times and one man’s quest to have his parents accept his marriage to his longtime male partner. But Steven Tomlinson’s riveting monologue is also about dishes. Fiestaware to be specific, that colorful Art Deco tableware launched in midst of the Depression.
Tomlinson really did have a collecting obsession, as he explained to me in several interviews. And the result is an impressive gathering of original Fiestaware in flawless condition.
(Photo by Jay Janner)
Tomlinson’s stopped collecting, but not loving on, his Fiestaware. And why not? The dishes launched by the Homer Laughlin China Company are irresistable, comforting, warm and nostalgic. Everything about them is right: the color, the shine, the animated shapes, the smooth feel. So is their offer of possibility. You can make them uniquely yours: Their multiple colors beg for arrangement in endless combinations, offering everyone — any one — the opportunity to make their very own individual mark.
And how American is that?
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Not just violins
Because it’s all about live music in Austin… Two-time Pulitzer-nominated composer and Austin Symphony Orchestra bassist P. Kellach Waddle gathers a few friends — bassist Jessica Gilliam-Valls, flutist Karmen Suter and violinist Paul Roberston — to jam out, chamber music style, when the Alamo Drafthouse Lake Creek screens “The Red Violin” on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
John Corigliano won an Academy Award for original score for this endearing movie that follows a violin through three centuries of owners. Now, Waddle and company recreate the score live and adds an original new work of his own.
PRE-MOVIE CONCERT Courante from Suite 4 — J.S.Bach; Adagio and Allegro from Canonic Sonata— G.P. Telemann; Theme & Variations from “The Red Violin Caprices” — J. Corigliano.
INTERMISSION CONCERT Duo In D major for Flute and Bassoon — Beethoven; Ordis: Concert Etude in the Style of Paganini — Rabbath; Fantasia-Trio on themes from Gretry’s “The Judgment of King Midas” — P.K. Waddle.
From “The Red Violin,” Lions Gate Films.
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Blue about public art?
Want to spark a heated conversation in a instant? Select a piece of contemporary public art and ask people whether or not they like.
American-Statesman transportation reporter Ben Wear does just that by again reminding Austinites ot architect/artist Carl Trominski’s “Moments,” the series of blue rectangles that line the Lamar Boulevard underpass. Scroll to the end of Wear’s column if you want to see the volume of responses.
Personally, I find “Moments” underwhelming. The use of quotidian road sign materials (i.e. blue reflective panels), is clever. But like so much conceptual art that misses the mark, “Moments” doesn’t have enough of a fully flushed-out concept behind it. In short, it falls short.
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