16mm FESTIVAL KICKS OFF:
The Michigan Daily-
Minimal art gives maximum
-Thursday, March 15, 1979-Page 5
reward
Cruikshank promises to become the
Robert Crumb of the film co-op circuit.
THERE WERE several documen-
r-
By Senn O'C' c
March 21 24.1979
Trurcind'I heat re H PM
U niversity Sho}wcase~
Productions
Tickets $2 at P.T.P. Office
in The Michigan League
764.0450
RED
ROSES
FOR
ME
By ANNE SHARP
Student filmmakers, in their quest for
self-expression, are fond of experimen-
ting with "minimal art", which is fun
and offers a wide range of creative
possibilities but in general, is a
crashing bore for the viewer. As seems
usual in the Ann Arbor 16mm Film
Festival, what is accepted as art by the
festival's screening committee is the
abstract film which avoids the more
conventional, plotted-out structure of
commercial films. Thus, viewers of the
annual 16mm festival in recent years
have been subjected to films in which
"the camera pans back and forth, back
and forth over a brick wall for half an
hour, or the same mushroom cloud
erupts, over and over, for 45 minutes, or
a piece of scratched black leader film
runs through the projector for several
interminable minutes. Again, the ar-
tistic endavor is probably sincere in
such films, but audiences find them
inaccessible, even offensive.
Happily, for viewers at least, the two
film exhibitions which opened this
year's 16mm Film Festival at the Old
A&D Tuesday night featured many
amusing, technically creative and
highly accessible short films, and this
bodes well for the rest of the festival,
which runs till Sunday night. Unfor-
tunately, many of the films which are
competing in the festival will not be
publicly shown this week. Some of them
have been nudged out of the schedule by
some 11 or so films entered bymem-
bers of the screening committee, which
are ineligible for prizes but are being
shown anyway. I have no idea why this
is being done; it seems like an in-
credibly selfish move on the part of the
people who helped put together the
Festival. Are these filnis supposed to
assure us of the judge's qualifications?
One "black leader" film slipped into
the 9:00 p.m. show Tuesday, a very ab-
stract, seemingly random series of
scratches which projected onscreen fir-
st a series of swimming dots, then
almost blinding slashes of light and
dark passing in rapid succession. The
audience objected loudly. Someone
hissed, another one said ironically,
"Let's hear it for the screening com-
mittee."
Temporary Arrangements by Dirk
Kortz opened on a minimalist note. A
marshmallow sits on the edge of the
table. A lady's hand reaches onscreen,
to the accompaniment of a kazoo
playing "As The Caissons Go Rolling
Along," squeezes the marshmallow,
then withdraws. The marshmallow
slowly returns to its original shape. The
hand appears again, and squeezes it.
Repeat, a few more times. A strangely
beautiful, delightful image.
Caroline and Frank Mouris' Impasse
is an abstract animation with dramatic
conflict. Its main character is a little,
red arrow trying to pound its way into a
little white ball, which keeps exploding
into brightly-colored geometric patter-
ns. Definitely Freudian.
Cartoonist Sally Cruikshank, creator
of Quasi at the Quackadero, made
another entry in the Quasi series called
Make Me Psychic. In it, Anita, Quasi's
slinky Art Deco girlfriend, buys a
novelty store gadget that gives her the
power to animate plastic crocodiles and
make hor d'ouerves float. With her
bizarre, clever little animations,
taries shown Tuesday night, including
Hush Hoggies Hush, Tome Johnson's
Praying Pigs, Returns to Mexico,
Labor Day-East Chicago, and Cobra
Snake for a Necktie, the latter about
blues artist Bo Diddley. Returns to
Mexico is the most personalized of the
documentaries, and the most unusual in
See MINIMALISM, Page 10 r
-TONIGHT-
America's Longest Running Musical
THE FANTASTICKS
9 Thursday
* Friday * Saturday
March 15, 16, 17-8 p.m.
=i
CANTERBURY LOFT
Tickets $3 at the door
322 S. State St.
1*
*
ot 06 A ochoof o f ..Ausie
and U-AC paesent
~a SoIree"
.lar'h 17, 1979
Mtighlgan Union
Ballroom
9:00 pm to 1:00o am
$7.50 per oup/e
$4.00 per single
-A jund-ai9nin
kets onsoQe jAoach 12 at
"Vike(t Cent~aoond theA usie SChoo
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- .. a
The Social Meaning
of Waldorf Education
A Lecture by JOHN DAVY
Dean, Emerson College, England
RUDOLF STEINER HOUSE
1923 Geddes Ave., Ann Arbor
SUDAYs MORCH 18-3:00 P.M.
Sponsored jointly by the Rudolf Steiner Institute of the Great Lakes Area
and the Rudolf Steiner School Association of Ann Arbor.
Doily Photo By MAUREEN O'MALLEY
'Limp, the body hung from the pale, pink palate of Gorriser," for the economic fate and well-being of the major axis powers
depended on the creatures next breaths. Qu'est-ce que c'est? Within the old A&D, Vicly Honeyman (left), Deborah Gaydos
(not left), before they watch the movies. It is hard, oh so hard ... so, just surf's up!
J.
'The Abdication
tends cou
BY JOSHUA PECK
The Actor's Ensemble, a formerly
independent theater troupe recently in-
corporated into the University Ac-
tivities Center, will stage the Michigan
premiere of Ruth Wolff's The Ab-
dication, beginning tonight at the Lydia
Mendelssohn Theatre.
The Abdication is a remarkable play,
as it takes bold steps towardkacting out
subconscious psychohistory. The script
concerns Queen Christina of Sweden,
who abdicated in 1655 to convert to
Catholicism (the intolerant nature of
the times made a non-Protestant
Swedish monarch an impossibility).
Christina comes to the Vatican
hoping to be gladly greeted. Instead,
she happens upon a high-ranking car-
dinal with opportunistic reasons for
giving her a hard time - challenging
her eloquently might well win him the
papacy.
Much of the play is taken up with
Christina's confession sessions with Az-
zolino, the cardinal. She is forced to
mull over her life choices, e.g., her
never having married. Her single
t tonightv
status has led many Europeans to cir-
culate rumors about Christina's sexual
tastes, cataloging all manner of per-
version and sinful excess.
THE PSYCHOHISTORICAL aspect
of Wolff's work comes into play in a
most literal fashion: two actresses play
the parts of "Chris" and "Tina" in
flashback scenes scattered throughout
the play. They represent the masculine
See ABDICATION, Page 10
Poetry Reading
With CAROLYN GREGORY, JACQUELINE MOORE and
PALLINE PLUM reading from their works.
THURSDAY, March 15-7:30 p.m.
At GUILD HOUSE-802 Monroe
Admission Free
A Masters Degree in
RADIATION PROTECTION
at the University of Michigan
Opportunities Available for:
-Financial support for qualified graduate students
-Research in radiation dosimetry and radiation biology
-highpaying, interesting jobs in a growing profession in
which the demand for graduates for exceeds the supply.
APPLICATION SHOULD BE FILED BY: 15 APRIL 1979
Interested students in engineering, physics, biology, chemis-
try, pre-med, or any of the other physical or biological
sciences should write:
Dr. G. Whipple, Department of Environmental and Industrial
Health, School of Public Health, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109.
WE WANT YOU!
Leadership positions available for
ambitious, energetic people in a
variety of areas including:
--Program Planning
-Radio Production
-communications
-Academic Committees
and many other areas
Come and find out about the most exciting student
organizations on campus.
East Quad Greene Lounge
Thursday, March 15
10:15 pm
Sponsored by UAC, MSA & WCBN
i
NOON LUNCHEON
Soup and Sandwiches 75 cents
Friday, March 16
Panel Discussion with representatives from PAC
(Peoples Action Coalition):
"The Resurgence of
Radicalism on Campus"
GUILD HOUSE--02 Monroe
.
Frm
A Soviet
0 N D
Moscow U0
JeruSalem
Art Exhibit That Will Not Be
Cancelled
. .
I S P L AY
AT
THE
HILL
H I L L E L
ST REET
FOUNDATION
1429
MAR Cfl
15
- 28
"FROM MOSCOW TO JERUSALEM"
is a traveling art exhibit
that tells the story of
Soviet Jewish Refusenik
Artists, arrived home to
the land of Israel. In
panorama, it shows both
the plight of Soviet Jews
"FROM MOSCOW TO JERUSALEM"
opens on Thursday evening,
March 15th, at 8:00 p.m.,
with a cocktail reception.
It can be viewed daily from
1-5 p.m. and 7-9 p.m.
The exhibit is sponsored
by the Hillel Foundation
and Akts~ia. Action for
toyir.h.)'~I-
I