movies. . .

While counting up the posts on my blog, I discovered that the syllabus is a little miss numbered. We actually only need sixteen posts, but I only had fifteen. I found that this is because I accidently skipped one. I skipped the post about Movies/Cinema. Here it is. . .
On Monday June 7th, we talked about movies is class. Cinema is a pretty copmplicated business but some of the details really surprised me. I had no idea that there were so many different camera shot. . .like over seventeen!! And all the many people involved in on the production is amazing.
I have a close friend named Willy and he is majoring in Media Arts here at USC. He wants to move to Austin, TX make films when he graduates. There is some kind of budding indie film scene out in Austin. But he is really talented and he has taught me that cinema is a lot more that meets the eye.
This is a video of one of my favorite movies, Little Miss Sunshine. It's also a movie Willy likes :)

phnatom VADER

Yesterday in class, we watched The Phantom of the Opera. I have seen this movie before but its been awhile, so I was glad to watch it again. In this movie we saw parts of an opera house, different roles and types of opera singers, and all the pieces that go into a functioning opera.
This is a video I found online. Apparently, some Star Wars fans decided to make one of their favorite movies into a musical that mimicked The Phantom of the Opera.
If you like Star Wars I think you will enjoy it. . .

hair!

On Thursday June 24th, the class met at the Trustus Theater in the Vista to see Hair. I have been to Trustus once before for a album release concert for a local band. So I have seen the theater but I didn't have a very good idea of how one could work the stage to where it could have a set and scenery, as well as room for several actors. The show was very good. It would be called musical theater due to the transition between spoke lines and songs. The play tells the story of a band of hippie type youths in the 1960s who are seeking to reject mainstream culture and create a counter-culture. The main enemy to their dream of peace is the war and the government. We follow the group as they fight the man and fight for peace.
The performance was very interesting but since I'm not exactly in tune with the 1960s some things went a little over my head. But hey, I could still appreciate the cool songs and the sweet, long hair!!

the theater

On Wednesday June 23rd we talked about the theater. We discussed the many types of plays and musicals. We looked at some different sets and scenes from operas. We discussed the people involved in putting on a show, similar to a movie with a few differences. We also talk a little about different shows we have been to. I have been to several productions here in Columbia and I have been to two Broadway musicals: The Lion King and Chicago.
I have a close friend named Trey who does a lot of stage lighting here in Columbia. He graduate from USC about a year ago with a degree in Theater Performance and he currently works for the Columbia City Ballet doing there lighting. He has a hard job, which he has tried to explain to me repeatedly but I still get so confused by all that he is responsible for!! YAY TREY!!

puppetry!

On Monday June 21st, the class met at the Columbia Marionette Theater. We watched the theater's production of "Puss in Boots". It was of course a children's show but it was still very entertaining for us adults. After the show, the puppetiers came out in front of the stage to answer questions for the audience. Children asked questions like "how do the puppets move", etc. After that we were able to go backstage and see the puppets and their masters' work up close. It was really great to see the process of making all the puppets and the puppets' costumes. I also got to hold some puppets and try to make them move around like they had on hte stage. It was not at all easy!! I am particularly curious about this because my major is 3-D studies and I am trying to decide what I would like to pursue upon graduation (which is quickly approaching)! I had a great time at Columbia's Marionette Theater. I even signed up to get an email about their newest show and I'm really looking forward to it!!

muzak

I was unable to attend the Arthur Frazier Piano Competition on June 17th because I had to work. So Dr. Heid told me that I could go to the River Walk on Sunday. I was attempting to go but it started raining!!! So I will instead tell y'all about a show I went to in Lexington on Friday. There is a popular band in Columbia call The Restoration. The Restoration consists of four guys and one girl. The instruments played are guitars, keyboards, drums, horns, banjo, and violins. The style is a mix of classical, bluegrass, and folk. The lyrics, however, are the most interesting part. All of their lyrical inspiration comes from southern historical fiction. Their latest album Constance features a family from early 20th century Lexington, SC. The band even dresses in date clothing, adopting the identities if these fictional characters. The album talks of the many trials and tribulations of this family. The Restoration has the best stage show of an unsigned band to date. They are playing again on Friday July 2nd at the White Mule (which is on main street). I encourage you to go out and get an earful!!
or atleast listen to this. . .

The Restoration - Drowning Mr. & Mrs. Palmer - Live Studio Performance from The Restoration on Vimeo.

The Restoration's myspace

greenberg

For class we agreed to go see a movie at the Nickelodeon Theater here in Columbia. I have been to the Nick many times before. It is my favorite theater in Columbia becuase they show the types of films I prefer and you can buy alcohol at the consessions stand!! I went to see Greenberg. It is a "coming of middle age" kind of film starring Ben Stiller and Greta Gerwig. It is a great film and would recommend that everyone see it. It is funny, but a bit depressing but it left me with encouragement "to embrace a life I hadn't planned on" ( a line from the movie).
Also, I took my crew, which includes Kelley, Punch, and Sean. We all had a great time. They all whole-heartly approve of a class that sends me to the Nick :)

blooming butterflies

On June 14th we went to Columbia's Edventure Museum and saw the blooming buttreflies exhibit. There we took pictures of the many different types of butterflies. That evening for homework we chose which picture that we took we would like to crop and draw ourselves. The following day we spent time cropping our pictures in unqiue ways and interesting angles. Then we drew grids on our paper and reproduced the pictures we took proportionally. This fifth grade project gave me a good idea of what type of projects are helpful and fun for elementary school students. This first picture is of my drawing and the second is the original picture I took.

dance dance dance

On June 10th we talked about dance in class. We discussed the many different types of dance and the broad range of style. Afterwards we went down the hall and learned to shag. This proved to be more difficult than I had first anticpated. Well, the first problem was that there were only 3 boys in the class. And I'm not particularly gifted as far as rhythm goes. But I had a wonderful time. And who knows. . .you might see me some Thursday night at Jillians.

This is a video from America's Best Dance Crew (one of my favorite shows). This crew is called Poreotix and they actually go one to win the show. Here they are dancing to Paprazzi by Lady Gaga.

poetry

One of my favorite poems is The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock by T.S. Eliot. He is a fantastic modernist poet, I highly recommend him. He wrote this poem when he was 19 years old. My friends and I joke that we've passed our prime.

The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
LET us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherised upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question …
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us go and make our visit.

In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.

The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,
Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,
Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,
And seeing that it was a soft October night,
Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.

And indeed there will be time
For the yellow smoke that slides along the street,
Rubbing its back upon the window-panes;
There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder and create,
And time for all the works and days of hands
That lift and drop a question on your plate;
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea.

In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.

And indeed there will be time
To wonder, “Do I dare?” and, “Do I dare?”
Time to turn back and descend the stair,
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair—
[They will say: “How his hair is growing thin!”]
My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin—
[They will say: “But how his arms and legs are thin!”]
Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse.

For I have known them all already, known them all:—
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;
I know the voices dying with a dying fall
Beneath the music from a farther room.
So how should I presume?

And I have known the eyes already, known them all—
The eyes that fix you in a formulated phrase,
And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin,
When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall,
Then how should I begin
To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways?
And how should I presume?

And I have known the arms already, known them all—
Arms that are braceleted and white and bare
[But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!]
It is perfume from a dress
That makes me so digress?
Arms that lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl.
And should I then presume?
And how should I begin?
. . . . .
Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets
And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes
Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows?…

I should have been a pair of ragged claws
Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.
. . . . .
And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully!
Smoothed by long fingers,
Asleep … tired … or it malingers,
Stretched on the floor, here beside you and me.
Should I, after tea and cakes and ices,
Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?
But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed,
Though I have seen my head [grown slightly bald] brought in upon a platter,
I am no prophet—and here’s no great matter;
I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,
And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker,
And in short, I was afraid.

And would it have been worth it, after all,
After the cups, the marmalade, the tea,
Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me,
Would it have been worth while,
To have bitten off the matter with a smile,
To have squeezed the universe into a ball
To roll it toward some overwhelming question,
To say: “I am Lazarus, come from the dead,
Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all”—
If one, settling a pillow by her head,
Should say: “That is not what I meant at all.
That is not it, at all.”

And would it have been worth it, after all,
Would it have been worth while,
After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,
After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor—
And this, and so much more?—
It is impossible to say just what I mean!
But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen:
Would it have been worth while
If one, settling a pillow or throwing off a shawl,
And turning toward the window, should say:
“That is not it at all,
That is not what I meant, at all.”
. . . . .
No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
Am an attendant lord, one that will do
To swell a progress, start a scene or two,
Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to be of use,
Politic, cautious, and meticulous;
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous—
Almost, at times, the Fool.

I grow old … I grow old …
I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled.

Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare to eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

I do not think that they will sing to me.

I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the water white and black.

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.


This is the poem that I wrote in class.

I AM FROM

I am from:
Manning, Sand Mountain, Alasaka, and Alabama.

I am from:
shrimp and grits, rice and beans, red velvet cake, and sweet tea.

I am from:
"Griswold family Christmas", "my dogs are barkin'", and "Ahh, good whiskey".

I am from:
OB & Jo, Sharon & Charles, Barbara & Fred, June & Jim, David & Shawn, Sha, Caroline, Strom, Ashley, Stephen, and Abram.

Gabe & Seema Madden - Columbia, SC 2007

The Palmetto Portait that I choose to write about was "Gabe & Seema Madden" Kathleen Robbins. This photograph is of a man and his wife. They are seated about three feet away from each other in chairs with their feet up on a screened in porch. The woman looks just past the camera with her head at an angle. She is pregnant. Her husband looks directly at her, it is unclear whether his gaze settles on her face or on his unborn child in her stomach. The viewer is behind a window of glass from the couple. The photo is bright and crisp.
To me, the photograph was a comment on relationships. There were several relationships in the photo: the man and woman, woman and child, man and child, and the viewer to the family of individuals and as a whole. I belive this work is about relating to people. Its also about discovering different perseptions of relationships.
I did like this photograph. Realtionships, that what I like about art. It's all about relationships. I don't know these people. I don't know their situation but I understand a lot about their dymanic as a couple, how they feel about each other, and how they feel about having a child by just simply looking at this photo.
Thanks, Kathleen Robbins.

kandinsky

I believe that Kandinsky was an abstract artist. He was clearly obsessed with the one idea: the apocolypse. He dealt with themes of post-apocolyptic Russia with angels, horns, horses, knights, mountains, etc. As his work progresses you can still see and point out the faint hints of these symbols in his work. I took an upper level art history class with Dr. Collins last year. It was 20th Century Art, I think. We talked about Kandinsky and I learned that Kandinsky was deeply religious. In fact, he followed the belief of the Russian monk Filofei, that Moscow would be the Third Rome. He explored his system of beliefs through symbols in his art, like the Blue Ryder. He also thought that there was a certain spirituality to colors, which he employed his in brilliant works.
I can identify with Kandinsky, for I too have counter-cultural beliefs. His work gives me courage to explore ways to process and express what I believe in my art. If one thing can be said about Kandinsky, it's that he truly explored his faith.

tapestries

This was not my first visit to an art museum. In fact, I have been to the Columbia Museum of Art many times before. I saw the "Turner to Cezanne" exhibit there a year ago. It was a wonderful exhibit and I really enjoy going to museums.
I went to the museum on Sunday. The museum's free on Sundays (which is nice) and this Sunday they were having a Museum Members party. So it was pretty busy in there.
I did visit the museum store. They have the greatest collection of creative and unique children's toys, which I totally didn't expect. The store is full of great things. I wasn't able to buy anything, but ooohh did I want to.
The tapestries come from Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. This collection of very old Flemish tapestries come from the collection of King Matthias of the Holy Roman Empire. The tapestries depict the story of Romulus and Remus. The story is that Aeneas is a fugitive of Troy after its destruction and he has two sons: Numitor and Amulius. Numitor becomes king after his father's death and Amulius inherts the treasury. Amulius uses his power to overthrow Numitor and places Rhea Silvia (Numitor's daughter) in the vestel virgins to prevent her bearing any children, or heirs to the throne. But Mars, the god of war, seduces and impregnates Rhea Silvia. She had twin boys: Romulus and Remus. Amulius orders her death and that her sons be killed too. The servant in charge of killing Romulus and Remus instead places them in a basket in the Tiber River. The twins are eventually found and cared for by a she-wolf. Faustulus, a shepherd discovers the twins and he takes them to his home to care for them with his wife. Romulus and Remus are raised as shepherds and one day they come in contact with Amulius. The king discovers the boys' true identity. Thereby, Remus is captured, so Romulus gets together a band of shepherds to save his brother. They do save Remus and kill Numitor. They restore their still living grandfather, Aeneas, to the throne. And the two brothers set off to found their own city. They argued over the site for their new city. Remus offended his brother and Romulus slew him. The area Romulus choose for the city was Palatine Hill and eventually became Rome.
I have heard the story before but it was extremely helpful to have visual aides explaining the story while I was hearing the story told by the museum guide. I didn't get a picture of the works. I wasn't sure if I would be allowed to photograph them and I didn't want to create a disturbance. I learned that the tapestries were decroative but mostly symbolized wealth for the owner. Also, these wall hangings acted as insulation, keeping the room warmer. They were also tedious and difficult to make, taking as many as thrity weavers two months to finish one tapestry. These tapestries are also very old, made in the 16th century I believe.

trinity cathedral

On Wednesday, we went to Columbia's Trinity Cathedral. The Cathedral is one of the oldest buildings in Columbia and is currently being restored. We walked around the church, exploring some of the seemingly ancient architecture with one of the site's painters. He explain their emphasis on restored instead of rennovated. And we got to go inside the main sanctuary, which looked more like a busy construction site (except fot the beautiful ceiling work). It was really interesting to talk with the craftsmen about the project and get a close-up look at a cathedral.
The church was shaped like a cross. The tansept is where the cross intersects, near the front of the church. The aisles go down the sides of the longer end of the cross to enable movement for the guests to their pews, or the nave. The ambulatory is outlined around the cross to encourage the circulation of traffic.
I had honestly never noticed the African American Monument outside the State House. It was a history for where African American came from, where they are now, and how hard it was for them to make it. It celebrates Afican American innovators and leaders in South Carolina. Black or white, this monument depicts an important part of South Carolinan history.

boomwackers :)

I thought that Tuesday was a very fun class. I have seen boomwackers once before while babysitting but I had no idea what they were. I thought that it was really great to get to experiment with them all together during class.
On Tuesday, I learned about the many different styles of classical music. I knew about classical music but I had never heard of the many different subcategories that classical music had.
Music is important to me because it does an excellent job of reinforcing my mood. When I am depressed, I'll listen to a depressing song or when I'm really happy, I'll listen to a happy song and there is some kind of release. Like, I am able to evaluate my moods better thanks to the artists who create the songs I listen to. I study with music on. Usually, I can think about a project I once did and I automatically associate it with the album I listened to while doing it, (for instance, a high school English project, the Napoleon Dynamite Soundtrack!).
When I was 16, I saw Paul McCartney perform at Madison Square Garden. I am a huge Beatles fan so this was really exciting. He played a wonderful show and then he came to the song "Let It Be", one of my favorites. Before he started playing it, they turned all the lights out in the arena and passed out candles. There were no extra instruments on this song, just Paul and his piano. He played this moving song in a huge arena by candle-light alone. It was incredible because he removed all the lights, noises, and stage crafting, leaving just his emotions expressed through music.
I like a great variety of music. I love The Beatles but most of my other musical tastes lean more towards the indie, singer/songwriter genre. I like Feist, Death Cab for Cutie, She & Him, Ben Gibbard, Brandi Carlisle, Regina Spektor, etc. An unfortunate guilty pleasure is Lady Gaga. Sadly, I would pay large amounts to see her live. I hear she's got a killer stage show. . .don't judge!

art & me

First of all, my name is Lauren Spigner and I am a fourth year 3-D Design student here at USC. Art, in all forms, is very much a part of my life. I like ceramics (especially hand building) and wood working. I also enjoy drawing, painting, photography, and computer design. I have made drawings, paintings, and many sculptures in the past but currently I am experimenting with found objects and varying locations and sizes; seeking to discover the very essense of art and what makes art, in fact, art.
Some of my favorite artists are Monet, Duchamp, Schiele, Degas, Lautrec, Renior, Brancusi, Picasso, Braque, Manet, Warhol, Jun Kaneko, Klimt, and Van Gogh. Most of my favorite artists are of the 20th century. But lately I have been looking to contemporary artists for personal inspiration for my work, like Gabriel Orozco and Claes Oldenburg.
I enjoy going to museums. I go to the McMaster Gallery each time it changes, as well as the Columbia Museum. I have a good friend who acts in local theater productions, so I attend his plays often. I've seen two shows on Broadway, The Lion King and Chicago but I have never been to an Opera. I love to dancing but I'm talking about the social kind of dancing, not ballet or anything.
I am taking this class because I am interested in Art Education and I am considering pursuing the Art Ed. degree instead. I think that I learn best in hands on situations. Also, visual aids are helpful for me.
Art moves me daily. To me everything is art. Anyone makes it, whether they know it or not and everyone enjoys it, whether they know it or not. It's not just a painting or a sculpture but more accurately an extension of oneself. Like when I create a sculpture, the work is actually a piece of me, out in the world for everyone to see. So I believe that music, video games, comics, television, etc. are all art. And I can't explain it but somehow you know me and understand me better by simply looking at what I have created. I love art because I can say so much more about myself by just creating, than I ever could with words.
People inspire me. Relationships inspire me. Nature inspires me. Life inspires me. Walking outside, seeing the world, and all the people I know and don't know, makes me breath a little deeper. These things push me and make me search myself and the world. They force me to explore.
I'm not sure who decides what "good art" is or how they do it. I suppose it boils down to asethetic pleasure. I just know that the standard for "good art" is ever changing. Most artists don't reach their peak of popularity until long after their death. In history, "good art" has been indentified by royality, the church, the government, and the upper class. I don't know what to make of this. But I honestly try to search for the "good art" in everything.
Me and my friends typically try to defend our favorite pieces of art as being better than others, by describing the way the pieces deal with reality. Whether it be commenting on reality or relating to reality through fantasy, we see most the world and therfore, most art, in relationship to reality. I feel that one of the best movies of last year was "Away We Go." In this film, an unmarried couple deal with the tasks of having a child, deciding where to live, and ultimately, who too be in their new family. This film aims to be about a real couple dealing with real life. I appreciate the everyday, mundane aspects of this relationship coupled with the intensity of huge life decisions.
Feist's last record, Reminder, is currently playing on my iPod. She's deep and catchy. Give "I Feel It All" a listen. . .
***The picture above is a performance art piece I did over a year ago. These are various found objects, frozen in jello, and tied to a tree. As the jello melts, the objects are revealed. This piece deals with time and space, exploring the urgency of time and the expanse of space.