TODT Artist Collective

On October 18^th, I saw the TODT Artist Collective with my visual arts class. It was located in Gallery249 at the College Park Center. The exhibit was a collaboration of the work of three anonymous artists. To be honest, I did not know what to make of the exhibit. On one hand, I would say that I disliked it completely, but on the other, I would have to say that the artists achieved their purpose. This is because so many of the art pieces were blatantly disgusting and I could not seem to get past that aspect; however, it was clear that the artists intended to do this, so they were successful in carrying out what they wanted to. I did not hate all of the pieces by any means because they forced me to look at the world with a new perspective, which I always appreciate even if I do not agree what that viewpoint entails. 

            Some of the pieces included rather disturbing works of art. Something that that I always cannot stand, in general, is when artists or filmmakers use some sort of child-related object and make it demonic. I do not like when scary movies portray possessed children or use children’s lullabies. Similar to this, I was disturbed when one of the art pieces was a teddy bear, a child’s stuffed animal, with realistic looking organs shown on the outside. The animal was torn up with its fluff strewn all over the place and these organs sewed to the surface. It was hard to get away from pieces such as this one in that exhibit. One of the pieces was a small box, and when I peered closer to see what was inside, I found, not to my delight, human teeth. I am all for supporting the arts, but this piece did nothing but repulse me.  I am sure the artist had his or hers own purpose in mind and that that purpose translated to some people, but for me personally, it was lost. Some other pieces included tongues, and other unattractive parts of the human body. All of these pieces did not intrigue me. All I wanted to do was get away from them. There were a couple of 3D installation pieces that were interesting, but other than that I did not find the exhibit pleasurable. However, as I said before, art is not always supposed to be a pleasant experience; often its purpose is to make the viewers question their current view of life. Sometimes art is supposed to make people uncomfortable, because our most memorable experiences are those outside our comfort zone. I am always open to new art experiences that contain works I am not used to seeing, and I am glad I got to see this exhibit. That being said, I also would not go back or recommend this to a friend unless they specifically enjoyed creepy art in general. For example, I would recommend this to someone who loves scary movies, Alfred Hitchcock stories, and Tim Burton films. Perhaps not someone who is obsessed with romantic comedies and Disney princesses.

A Winter's Tale by William Shakespeare

On  October 25^th, I went to see A Winter’s Tale, a play by William Shakespeare, in the Kennedy Union Boll Theater. This was the first time I saw a Shakespearian play. I think one of the reasons I did not enjoy it that much was because I am not used to listening to Shakespeare outside of the classroom, without a teacher and fellow classmates to go through it with. There was no way to breakdown the plot every few pages and make sure everyone had a clear idea what was going on, so for me, it was difficult to follow. I understood some of it of course, but only every few lines would I have some insight as to what was going on, and by that time I was very confused. The male lead, Leontes, was definitely the best actor in the play, so he made the performance interesting. He was so passionate and articulated every word so clearly that the audience always seemed intrigued while he was speaking. Also a talented actress was the woman who played Paulina. She embodied Paulina’s fiercely independent character, and by the way she handled herself I understood that while most characters feared the king, she did not. I would only recommend this to a friend if they are highly interested in Shakespearian plays. It was not too bad, but overall wasn’t as interesting as I hoped. The audience gradually became more restless throughout the play. Granted, all of this is not necessarily the fault of UD’s drama department, but it is just that people may find it difficult to become engrossed in Shakespeare’s work. I think a lot of the characters’ acting could have been much better, but that may have been because those two actors were so great that they made everyone else look worse than they are. Overall it was an extremely long play and seemed very drawn out, but was not awful by any means. 

World Rhythms: Fatoumata Diawara

On Thursday, September 20th at Kennedy Union Boll Theater, I attended Fatoumata Diawara's concert with my friends. She is a musical artist from Mali. This was such a valuable cultural experience and I’m happy to say it was my favorite arts event thus far at UD. Diawara was so energetic and talented that the audience could not help but get into her music. She started off without saying anything; it was just she and her guitar on stage. She sung a couple of songs and played beautifully. I was amazed by how effortlessness her performance seemed. It was so natural to her, and even though I didn’t understand the words to her song, I felt like I was still able to gather its meaning, just by her expression of the music. When her band joined her on stage, the performance reached its energetic height. She was full of life and it was apparent how much she believed in her music. Diawara made sure the audience was connected with every member on stage and urged us to dance with her. When she wasn’t singing or playing her guitar, she clapped along with the beat, danced all around the stage, and engaged the drummer, electric guitarist and bassist. There was also another woman on stage who kept the beat and danced with her as well. They just seemed to be having such a great time, which is a really important part of a performance. I would recommend this to a friend if the opportunity presented itself. It was really a good way to become educated about another culture’s music, and to attend an event that is certainly different than any student’s everyday activities. It definitely had an effect on me, as I have listened to her music since then. Her CD has such a wide range, as some songs are slow and relaxing and others are lively and fast. As a whole, the audience was really involved in the performance; it was hard not to be. Every time we would stop clapping, she would get everyone back involved, and she created small dances for each song.

This is the link for Fatoumata Diawara's music video: Bissa

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E82BifytoYY

The Artist

On September 7^th at 8 p.m. in ArtStreet Studio B, we went to see The Artist, a film written and directed by Michel Hazanavicius. This movie was one of the best I have seen in such a long time. To be honest, I was expecting to be bored since it is a silent film, but I was just the opposite. The whole movie was intriguing, entertaining, well polished, and funny. The soundtrack was definitely my favorite part; since there were no words, it was easier to notice. Every song matched every scene, and even every expression, perfectly, making it similar to a musical. I would recommend this movie to a friend in a heartbeat. It is filmed as if an old-fashioned film, and illustrates the struggles that people in the film industry have as time change and technology advances. I think we all need to see a film like this every once in a while because we are bombarded with movies about the world ending or robots taking over a city, all using a ton of special effects. The Artist, on the other hand, is impeccable and simple simultaneously. The character development was most effective for me. It was easy to sympathize with the main male character, George Valentin, and to want George and Peppy Miller, the young dancer he falls in love with, to get together. Also, the dog was extremely comical and adorable, and appealed very much to the audience. The dog was George's companion throughout the film, and the crowd reacted especially strongly to it when he ended up saving George from a terrible fire. Overall, the movie was definitely effective and left an impact on me. As someone interested in film, I took special notice to the camera angles and general tone of the film. As I mentioned before, since there was no sound, it was easier to notice aspects of the movie that are easily overlooked. For example, the cameramen used the rule of thirds and formal composition in almost every scene, but it was not overkill. I loved this film and would definitely watch it again; I feel like I would notice a lot more a second time around.

This is a link to a movie preview for The Artist:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK7pfLlsUQM

The Hunger Games Movie

On August 24^th, 2012, we went to see The Hunger Games movie at 9 p.m. on ArtStreet, Studio B. I enjoyed going to a fun event with my floor, as it was the very beginning of the year and everyone was still nervous and overall not really sure what to do with themselves. This movie impressed me because unlike so many other movies made from books, it was actually fairly accurate and very well done. I did not have high hopes for it because so many times I read such great books and end up disappointed by the movie. However, this movie captured the overall feel of the novel without being too grotesque. One aspect the film executed particularly well was the very beginning when it showed scenes from District 12. The short, close-up shots of images such as an empty bucket of water, an desolate dirt road, miserable looks from starving children, were very effective. I definitely pictured District 12 that way while I was reading the book, so it was a cool experience to see it portrayed the same way in the movie. It made the viewers pity the people who lived in the village, which caused them to be more angered later on when the Hunger Games is in full swing and the Gamemakers are being so inhumanly cruel. I would definitely recommend it to a friend, although I always tell people to read the books first. I believe we should allow our own imaginations to paint the picture of what we are reading before seeing the filmmakers’ view of it. The other audience members reacted more so than I expected. They were extremely responsive to the movie, especially the action scenes, the subtle humor of Katniss and the drunken mentor, Haymitch, and the scenes with Katniss and Peeta. One element that surprised me about the movie was the lack of emphasis on Katniss and Peeta’s relationship. However, I saw this as rather refreshing; usually, Hollywood tries to exaggerate relationships in movies and makes them a main focus when they were simply a side note in the book. Overall, this was a positive experience, and made me want to see more movies on ArtStreet. This movie in particular left a positive impression on me, as it was clear that the makers spent a long while properly capturing the emotions of each moment. It was filmed well, acted well, and extremely enjoyable to watch.

This is a link for the movie trailer The Hunger Games:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMGRhAEn6K0