Are there any perks of school not being closed for Labor Day? Lucky for me, it allowed me to be at the Halsey to see the Herb Parker and Joseph Burwell exhibitions. Just to clarify, this is not a group show, but rather two separate exhibitions titled Herb Parker: Studio Practice and Joseph Burwell: School of the Viking Spaniard Revisited. The curator of these exhibitions, Mark Sloan, was on the mission to recreate these artists studios within the gallery space at the Halsey. If you want to get a taste of Herb and Josephs’ creative process, you should watch this video and see the exhibitions. 

I entered the Halsey and immediately connected to the work of Herb Parker, so I spent the majority of my time viewing his work. Part of this show includes an arrangements of innumerable objects from Herb’s studio, which he brought into the gallery space. Mark Sloan was a guest speaker in one of my classes and he said that Herb was thrilled to have the opportunity to recreate his studio space in the Halsey because it gave him a reason to clean up his studio and go through all of the untouched boxes. The photo below is a panoramic view of the shelf space, organized by Herb himself.

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These objects include body parts in jars, piles of appendages (hands and fingers), dead animals, photographs of babies, trophies, plaques, birds nests, and it is presented in a way that symbolizes the cycle of life, or that is how I perceived it. Viewing these objects was uncomfortable, but in a refreshing way. That type of discomfort that brings you outside of yourself for a brief moment. I did pick a favorite collection of objects, which you can see in the picture below.

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This image to me screams desperation, the objects are beautifully arranged. This wall was my favorite part of the exhibit but there is an abundance of work by Herb and Joseph, so you should go check out both shows before they close on October 5. The Halsey is unique and nationally recognized. We are all privileged to be learning within walking distance of this gallery space so get there! It is FREE. I believe this assignment in itself reflects the topics we have been studying on the environments that effect non-profits. If it goes as planned, my blog post will stimulate readers to attend this show. My attendance was persuaded by my educators, so exposure and education undoubtedly determines likeliness of attendance!

On August 22, I attended a concert at the Music Farm. The bands playing that night were Less Than Jake, Badfish, and Shipwrecked Losers.

I didn’t know what to expect from the show because I’d been to the Music Farm for a show before and it was not as rough as I was expecting. I knew that the headliner, Less Than Jake, usually invites a more rowdy crowd, but after my last experience at the Music Farm, I didn’t know what to expect.

As it turns out, the crowd was very lively and a bit rough at some points. The opener, Shipwrecked Losers, was a very young band and local. They played well and put on a great show; their crowd interaction was superb. The second band, Badfish, played well, but their set was very long and a little monotonous. They lacked adequate crowd interaction for a truly good show, in my opinion, but the crowd loved them anyways. I did find it very impressive that when one of the guitarist’s guitar strings snapped, he kept playing anyways and simultaneously put on a new string and tuned it. When Less Than Jake come out, I was beyond excited. I’ve been listening to them since I was a kid, and I’ve seen them once before a couple years ago. They did not disappoint, and the crowd was great (just rough enough not to be boring, but not so rough that it took away from the show). I would definitely go again.

After discussions in class, I noticed a lack of organization that could have been avoided had the management been more aware. There was only one security guard in front of the stage behind the barricade. Not only was he young and alone, but he was not prepared for crowd surfers. When the first one came down during Less Than Jake’s set, no one was there to catch the crowd surfer and he hit the front of the barricade and then the floor. When the security guard came back to the middle to investigate what happened, another crowd surfer came up. Instead of allowing the crowd surfer to come off of the crowd and help him down to the ground, the security guard looked confused and pushed him back onto the crowd. Eventually, another security guard came up and explained to the first security guard that he was supposed to help the crowd surfers down. This was a big mistake on the Music Farm’s part. Someone could have gotten seriously hurt, all because they did not properly prepare for the kind of show they were hosting.

Even with it’s hiccups, I would recommend attending a show such as this to anyone, well, to anyone who enjoys ska music and getting jostled around.

While I was walking down King Street, I passed The Art Mecca of Charleston which was displaying art by Peter Max (The Art Mecca).  I found this completely exciting because I did a rendition of one of Peter Max’s pieces in my very first art class in high school.  Though many of the paintings were remakes of his most famous works, it was still amazing to see painting Peter Max did himself.  When you enter, the first wall displays many of the paintings Peter Max used in his campaign to renovate the Statue of liberty.  Another interesting piece was hung on the back wall.  This painting was a remake of his famous piece given to Reagan during his administration.  Peter Max revered Reagan and credited him with a time of peace in America.

This exhibit is an excellent example of a gallery bringing in an artist who is highly respected and known in the art community.  By looking at the Charleston’s external environments and its demands, The Art Mecca brought to this town a very well-known artist and his timeless works of art.  I would highly recommend this showing to anyone who enjoys colorful art about peace, love and nonviolence.  Peter Max will actually be in the gallery on September 21st from 6-9pm and September 22nd from 1-4 pm  to meet!  (However, RSVP is required.)

I just saw the CofC production of ‘Rosencrants and Guildenstern are dead’ at the Simons Center for the arts.  The play was put on in the Emmet Robinson Theatre from August 15th-18th and August 29th- September 3rd. It was the first Tom Stoppard play that I have seen. At the end of the production I walked away with mixed feelings. There were enjoyable moments of comedy, and also moments of profound introspection.  The mane characters (Rosencrats and Guildenstern) seemed to provide an example of two everyday people, trying to come to terms with the insignificant nature of their own lives.

In my opinion peace was far to long particularly in the moments of dialog between the mane characters, which seemed to drag on and on. The play for me seemed far to creative to have a strong entertainment value. Its surrealist plot and great length made it somewhat dry. Seeing as this was a school production, this lack of entertainment value was somewhat excusable but if it were to be preformed outside of a school setting I feel that it might not be well received.  Overall I would not recommend this performance to a purely entertainment seeking audience, but for viewers seeking an educational production I might recommend it.

On Wednesday night I had the pleasure of seeing two fresh improvisation acts – Little Miss Codependent and Moral Fixation – at Theatre 99.  As someone personally terrified of any kind of performance art, I’ve always marveled at those with a gift for theatrics; unfortunately, this caused a little bit of a barrier and disconnect between the art and artists of the theater and myself.  At Theatre 99, however, I thought that the theater design and the  the performers themselves created an overall atmosphere of an exciting and almost gritty accessibility that I’d never experienced in a theater setting before. Everything from the performers’ casual attire to their encouragement of audience participation made me feel comfortable, relaxed, and connected with their hilarious skits. I even smiled and congratulated Brandy on a great performance on my way out – something I could never dream of doing at a Broadway show or a performance of an equally flashy magnitude. The show was enjoyable because it was much more than funny; it was down to earth and effortless.

Shortly before the show, I noticed that almost every seat in the theater was occupied and by quite a diverse audience. I went to their website after the show, and I discovered that Theatre 99 does a great job of incorporating hip technological advancements (specifically Facebook) to reach out and advertise to a broad audience. Their page is updated often with upcoming events and even used interactively for quirky “ticket giveaways” to encourage a steady return audience base. As a critique, I would like to see even further outreach around Charleston so that they can continue to attract new, perhaps unsuspecting fans like myself; after the show, I came across too many people who had never heard of Theatre 99 or thought it was synonymous with Pure Theatre on King. For such a small organization, though, I think Theatre 99 is doing a great job of navigating through the rapid technological advances that are changing the arts scene around the world. If you’re considering watching re-runs of Whose Line Is It Anyway? on YouTube or just looking for a good laugh, I’d highly suggest an evening at Theater 99 instead.

Modernist Love Tour

Thursday September 5, 2013
Cato Center for the Arts room 239 (2nd floor)
161 Calhoun Street
8pm concert
FREE (with donations accepted and encouraged)

The New Music Collective is having a FREE show at the College on Thursday! Earth People, featuring pianist Eric Wubbels (Wet Ink Ensemble) and cellist Jessie Marino (Ensemble Pamplemousse), travel to Charleston as part of their Modernist Love Tour to present works by NMC favorites Alvin Lucier and Peter Ablinger.

For those of you looking to expand your experiences while sparing your wallet, this may be a fun one to catch. According to the NMC’s website, The Modernist Love Tour is a chance for Jessie Marino and Eric Wubbels to break up their traveling from the Northeast to the Southwest. On the way they are stopping in cities they love or have never been and presenting some lesser played works from the oeuvre of modern contemporary experimental composers Peter Ablinger and Alvin Lucier. Lucier is a revered explorer of the physical processes of sound and the transmission of sound. Ablinger can also be said to be a sound artist, working with noise and found objects, but also works with extra musical forms such as installations and plays.