THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Thursday, April 1, 1971
THE MICHIGAN DAILY Thur~day, April 1, 1971
,f
art
From'
By S. THETE
Keeping in tune with the times,
art has broken out of the mu-
seum walls and onto the streets.
That figure you see skulking over
the diag, peering intently and
taking notes is no CIA agent, he
is the local culture vulture come
down from the heights and re-
lating to the art of the People.
Ann Arbor, being the self-pro-
claimed Athens of the Midwest,
and priding itself on being Pn is-
land of culture awash in the sea
of midwestern provincialism,
proves to be fertile ground for
this new breed: the street aes-
thete. If the traditional art critic
was an artist 'manque', the
street aesthete is both anarchist
and a vandal 'manque' quivering
with delight as he disco:rers a
new defacement and prepares to
absorb it into his opus.
Street art in Ann Arbor has
undergone a dramatic change in
the past year. The 'chef d'oeuvre'
of the old style, the "Beulah,
peel me a grape" sign which
graced the construction fence of
the new General Library stack
has been torn down, and, while it
will live forever in the hearts of
those of us who loved it, and
while a few remnants of that
movement remain, it is obvious
that that particular style of ex-
pression has become passe. The
masterwork of the new style of
street art is the fence in front of
the new dental school. In keep-
ing with the tenor of the times,
it is the work of a large number
the muh
of artists who have felt free to
work free from the constraints of
an overseer, giving the piece a
depth of style which transcends
the limitations of individual ef-
fort. As is true of so many other
things, the whole is more than
the simple sum of the parts.
The other modern aspect of this
work is its dual kineticism. Since
the piece is best seen from a
moving vehicle, we have the
kinetic quality of the viewe: in
relation to the synchronic wvsual
relations present in the configur-
ations of the fence at any single
time. On the other hand, as one
passes past the fence over time.
one becomes aware of the dia-
chronic qualities of the work,
changing as it does from day to
day. In this, the fence obviously
shows the influence of television
and relations to the contempor-
ary school called Process Ari
which has roots in the Dadaist
movement.
Also showing on campus is a
show by some visiting artists
of the Ohio State University
rseum
into
the
school. Despite a very limited
palette, these painters have
added a diversity to the exhibi-
tion and a few of their works
succeed admirably. My personal
favorite is located on a double-
headed parking meter on N. In-
galls. The 'O' has been sprayed
on the first meter, and ,the 'U'
on the second. The 'S', however,
has been painted between the
two so that half of it is in the
same plane as the other letters
and half of it is in a plane per-
pendicular to the rest giving the
reviewer the chance to pop the
oh so au courant question: "Is it
painting, or is it sculpture?"
On the whole, the exhibition is
successful and there are plans
afoot to turn it into an annual
event.
There has also been a techno-
logical advance in recent grafitti.
Spray Aerosol painting has, in a
very short time, become he domi-
nant medium. While purists of
the old school bemoan this, con-
sidering it to be an indication
of a lapse in commitment on the
part of younger artists, I feel
that it must be seen as part of the
move towards more expressive
and therefore more spontaneous
means of techniques. The French
Structuralist c r i t i c, Lee V.
Strauss, has pointed >ut the ex-
istence of an interesting dualiy
in regard to between the spray-
painters and the sand-blasters.
The spray - painters add a for-
eign element to the wall being
painted and are generally anti-
establishmentarian. T h e Sand-
blasters, on the other hand, elimi-
nate foreign elements (including
the dirt which has come to rest
on the wall) and are agents of
the establishment, and therefore
are, ultimately, anti-disestablish-
mentarian.
Last but not least, we come to
the "Madonna and Child" of the
street art world: the Woman's
Liberation symbol. This is a sub-
ject worthy of a full article de-
voted to the comparative study
of the various renditions of this
basic motif. Such a study would
be a definitive work in the field
street
and would provide some insigt
into the role of the individual
street artist, an all too often
anonymous figure. Here, how-
ever, let me limit myself to a dis-
cussion of the implications of a
single instance of the oeuvre,
leaving a more general survey to
each individual. The particular
symbol is located on a window at
the southeast corner of Haven
Hall. It is executed in a pleas-
antly fluid style, but the its in- W
terest lies in its being on a win-
dow. This allows it to be seen
from two opposing Jirections giv-
ing the viewer cause to pause and
speculate as to whether this is
an indication that the artist too
goes both ways.
Pentangle: New musical trend
So, if Spring has indeed ar-
rived, go, out into the streets
and become cultured. Armed
with the courage and the proper
pretention, nothing can escape
the grasp of the liberally educat-
ed aesthete. Art transcends all
mundane meaning and the true
and devoted snob can so- trans-
cend all meaning himself.
U
By DANIEL ZWERDLING
Pentangle, Cruel Sister, Reprise
6430
Americans usually think all
folk ballads are rooted in the tra-
ditions of pioneer culture, barge
towns on the Ohio or cowboy
feuds in Laredo. But the British
Isles have nourished a rich tra-
dition of ballads and country
songs of love and revenge, which
Scottish and English folksingers
have been introducing with great
success in the United States-
especially- at folk festivals, and
at coffee houses like the Ark in
Ann-Arbor.
Pentangle started making re-
cords about the time Bob Dylan's
John Wesley Harding broke de-
cisively from rock and started
music back to simple folk. The
group - is a conglomeration of
five extraordinary musicians,
who-particularly guitarist John
Renbourn-do solo work on their
own. Their newest album Cruel
Sister-is a superbly beautiful,
sensitive blend of traditional
folk tunes, flavored by rugged,
lonely coasts, and her medieval
and Elizabethan musical heri-
tage.
John Renbourn, Lady and the
Unicorn, Reprise 6406
John Renbourn leaves Pent-
angle for his own album of medi-
eval folk and early classical in-
strumentals played with a con-
temporary perspective. "I have
not presumed to reproduce early
music as it would originally
have been played," Renbourn
writes, but .no one can fault his
flawless synthesis (of these early
musical vignettes) with acoustic
guitar, flute, iola, glockenspiel
andheven sitar-infusing them
with an incredible vitality and
soft sensitivity. In two 14th Cen-
tury Italian pieces, Lamento di
Tristan and La Rotta, Renbourn
doubles the melody on glocken-
speil aid sitar; in the 16th cen-
tury song Western Wynde, a
flute and violacourting each
other in an Elizabethan dance,
then play in fugue, break into a
jazz improvisation, and then
subside again into the restraits
of the original song. The albui
includes a sarabande in B minor
by Bach and a version of Scar-
borough Fair.
Renbourn has forged an out-
standing group for this album
and has virtuosity binds it to-
gether. Buy this record for your
tenderest moments - sipping
some wine, crying a bit, perhaps
making love-or lapsing into
sleep.
Pentangle's lyrics are roofed
in the 18th and 19th century: they
sing of lover's triangles, trage-
dies of deception and violence
(two suicides and one head
chopped off, in "Jack Orion") or
ships lost at sea. With recordcrs,
dulcitone, tamborine and double
bass, Pentangle gives the songs
an older, classical backdrop--
and then.using acoustic and elec-
tric guitar, bring the mix back
into, the twentieth century. With
incredible restraint, Pentangle
can weave from a recorder con-
sort with tambourine into jazz
improvisations, perhaps with a
dulcitone and electric guitar.
Renbourn's lyrical electric guitar
squiggles softly behind the vo-
cals. Most of the vocals Pre by
"Jacqui," a woman with a clear,
firm alto. She does a beautiful
job singing unaccompanied on
"When I was in My Prime"~--
like the best of Joan Baez with
her nasal sharp edge rounded
and softened.
Jerry Lee Lewis Gospel Album.
"In Loving Memories," Mercury
SR 61318.
This is the fellow who brought
us "Goodness Gracious, Sweet
Balls of Fire," so don't desecrate
his name by confusing him with
Jerry Lewis' insipid son. Jerry
Lee comes right from Ferriday,
La. where he started singing at
the Little Assembly of God
Church then moved cn to Bible
College in Waxahatchie, Texas.
So he knows his gospel..
If you love driving late at night
past 10-speed Macks over lonely
highwars somewhere between
Chicago and Omaha, with your
radio tuned to one of those 50,000
watt stations out of Texas and
Nashville, this album's for you.
It's truck stop music--meaning,
not black gospel, heaven forbid,
but white gospel with a little
rock and country blues flavor.
Steel guitar, a country fiddle,
plus the singing Jordinaires and
Nashville SoundS back up Jerry
Lee on this his first gospel ven-
ture. Sister Linda Gail makes a
guest appearance, singing duet
with Jerry on "I Know That
Jesus Will Be There." She sounds
like a less saccharin Connie
Francis. Other hits include "4y
God's Not Dead" and "Lily of
the Valley."
THE SIERRA CLUB presents
EARTH ETHICS
THURSDAY: APRIL 1
,,,--- -
.
-11
I'l
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UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN FILM SOCIETY
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PATRICIA MEDINA
-MICHAEL REDGRAVE
For the Student Body:
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The International Students' Association
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TWO AWARD-WINNING FILMS
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APRIL 1, 1971-THURSDAY
7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
Uf
THURSDAY, FRIDAY -APRIL 1 - 2
SHOP AROUND THE CORNER
diri. ERNST LUBITSCH (USA) 1940
JAMES STEWART and MARGARET SULLIVAN star
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7 & 9:05 AUDITORIUM
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r( IN COLOR A PARAMOUNT PICTURE
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PRESENTS
LEN CHANDLER
COLUMBIA RECORDING ARTIST
- TONIGHT -
and THROUGH SUNDAY
"Love is always the centerpiece . . . of Len Chandler
songs." -N.Y. Times
THURS.-SUN. 330 Maynard St.
APRIL 1-4 .00 Doors open 8 p.m.
1 A HAN%
LON
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STRAIN THE BOUNDS OF
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people who know no limits in a
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Ib~r~TI~hI~hf
Eastern Michigan University
Presents
in COncert
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