Page Tw' THE MICHIGAN DAILY Thursday, September 1A, 1 712 Page Two THE MICHIGAN DAILY Thursday, September 14, 1972 art Gosmin collec tion /9-' frKaleidoscope questions and answers in the world of art - y .Ks r Problems with musical instru- ments, photography, painting, macra e. food preparation, etc. KALEIDOSCOPE to the rescue. The Daily Arts page plans to iitiate this new column as a ser ice to answer your questions about problems in the world of art. Inqiriesarmay concern any aspect of artistic technique, equipment care, or local cultural events. If you have a question that you would like answered, write: KALEIDOSCOPE, c/o Arts Edi- tor, The Michigan Daily. Daily Photo by DENNY GAINER A sampling from the Gosman collection f1 By RICK PARKS There is something to appeal to the taste of everyone, with the possible exception of un- wavering devotees of Pop Art, in the Gosman Collection of mod- ern art currently on display at the University's Museum of Art. Selections in the , collection, which does not appear to be or- ganized around any central theme or style, range from the most basic, straightforward wa- tercolor scene to enormous can- vasses featuring the striking textural effects which result from the use of plastics and acrylics. A modest collection of sculp- ture is included, running the ga- mut from the traditional bronze figure to the use of rusted iron and wooden timbers. Along with a single pastel and crayon sketch by Joan Miro of Spain, the most pleasing portion of the collection for those with more traditional tastes are the watercolor scenes by American painters such as Arthur Dove and John Marin. The simple scenes of sea and sky and the broad suggestions of figures and objects are done in soft, muted colors shaded to blend, one into another, in a manner which gives the works a feeling of unity, tightness and the expression of a full, com- plete thought in the act of con- ception. These works of the 30's and 40's provide a stark contrast to thd loud colors and harsh, im- pressionistic designs in the works by Danish painter Asger Jorn andethe simple, yet distort- ed, tortured figures of Jean Du- buffet of France. Done in the early 1960's, these European works project a feel- ing of agony, anxiety and the presence of strong psychological forces which are absent in the more placid American watercol- or selections. Works from the middle and late sixties period feature the use of various plastic and other synthetic materials on the tra- ditional canvas background. The use of acrylics produces a particularly interesting surface phenomenon, something 1 i k e those old relief maps that you used to run your fingers over. in gradetschool which represented mountains, plains and valleys with little plastic bumps, burps and depressions. The acrylic works are very impressionistic and often do not seem to express a clear theme or idea. Two of the most interesting works in the collection are "Notes Toward a Definition of a Nobody," a 1961 work by Amer- ican Ronald Kitaj consisting of a series of paintings in a single canvas, and a mixed-media two canvas project by Robert Raus- chenburg. These selections op- enly invite speculation concern- ing the author's intended mes- sage or marshalling theme, a *,TG N USIGMA NU MEDICAL FRAT. FRI., SEPT. 15 7.30-10:00 1912 GEDDES BEER & BAND Girls free-Guys $2.00 quality which is missing in much, of the collection. The exhibit is the property of Dr. Joseph and Mildred Gosman of Toledo, Ohio and is a part of a series of exhibitions of con- temporary art from local col- lections which will be shown at the Museum this fall. Much of the collection has been assem- bled over the past ten years and includes samplings of the work of such artists as Larry Poons, Willem de Kooning, Ken- neth Noland, Jules Olitski, Mor- ris Louis, Helen Frankenthaler, David Smith and Jean Arp. The exhibit will be on display until October 15. Subscribe to The Daily Phone 764-0558 I cinema I Ron ne By BRUCE SHLAIN Movin 'on down to Nevada in a beat-up white Cadillac, pulling his horse in a trailer, the urban cowboy with the wise, craggy face returns to his hometown for another rough ride on the rodeo circuit. His ribs are heavily taped from his last encounter with a bull that tossed him, but he sports his bandage like a badge. He would be the perfect model for one of those macho Madison Avenue cigarette advertisements except for the fact that, being the true "rugged individualist," he rolls his own. . He is Junior Bonner, played by Steve McQueen, the stoic pro- tagonist of director Sam Peck- inpah's latest foray into male mythology. Like The Wild Bunch and Straw Dogs, Bonner is pre- dicated upon Peckinpah's philo- sophical obsession with male as- sertion. But, while previous to this film, the only true outlet in sight for one's manhood was the inevitable shedding of blood (and a lot of it), this movie shies away from the goriness. Unlike Paul Newman's H u d (i.e. most unsettled film cow- boys), Bonner is not a rebel or one-man assault on small-town morals. He has a deep-seated af- fection for his separated parents (Robert Preston and Ida Lupino), and, in the movie's only barroom brawl, he backs off. In short, it is not a violent western, but rather one of subtle crisis, the crisis being that Bonner must win the rodeo prize money in his hometown to keep his own sense of self esteem. As his brother Curly admonishes him: "Hell, Junior, I'm working on my first million, and you're still workin' on 8 seconds." The animal he must ride for that harrowing 8 seconds is, believe it or not, that time-told symbol of male sexual- ity, the bull - proving, if noth- ing else, that Peckinpah is no slouch when it comes to cine- matic chutzpah. So then, what we have is a combination John Wayne-Jack Kerouac at the brink of middle- age, a sort of western Five Easy Pieces with a bucking bronc in- stead of a piano to fall back on or off as the case may be. The Man or myth? trouble is that McQueen simply cannot dramatically sustain two hours of looking forlorn yet some- how satisfied, doing nothing while the audience is to imagine all of the seething emotion he must be suppressing. Especially when the deepest insight one gets as to what makes him tick is his line "Gotta rodeo," a selection from a screenplay that is at times hackneyed. Coupled with Peckinpah's al- most sterile treatment of sexual- ity (he must have looked at thou- sands of girls to find one as beautifully vacuous as the one in Bonner, one is tempted to ser- iously advise Peckinpah to bury his camera and satisfy his obses- sion with balls by investing in a bowling alley - but then comes restraint. For Junior Bonner, although not as powerful a state- ment as Straw Dogs, nor as en- tertaining for . that matter, is nonetheless the smoothest, least ambiguous film Peckinpah h a s made. In dealing with the nature of aggressiveness and the in- scrutable, mysterious need to flirt with danger, he demonstrat- es that, perhaps more than any modern film-maker, he has more of an inkling as to what drives a psyche to climb El Captain just for kicks, race cars, or even win chess championships. For the action footage, especially the slowed-down filming of Junior's triumphant ride, lends a feel of the transcendant nature of such a ride, the senses letting ran- dom images in, the crowd cheer- ing, the memory of past defeats -the feel is almost that of try- ing to cram one's life into an 8- second victory. The onus was on Peckinpah to explain Junior's refusal of all the lucrative of- fers he turned down in the course of the movie so he could stay on the rodeo circuit. He just did not get past the stylized, tough, superficial expression on his star's face to a real explanation. TONIGHT ONLY AMERICAN UNDERGROUND RETROSPECTIVE SERIES PROGRAM I HISTORICAL BACKGROUND SILENT EARLY EXPERIMENTAL FILMS 1 I V r NI'S -7 loo / The Place to Meet INTERESTING People BACH CLUB presents, Debra Fayroian cello Deborah Berman piano performing BACH unaccompanied cello Suite 1 in G BEETHOVEN Sonata 3 in C Major Refreshments served afterwards Thurs., Sept. 14, 8 p.m. South Quad Lounge Everyone invited! No musical knowledge needed! Further info- 769-1605 & 663-4875 1 I RHYTHMUS 21 & 23, direc- tor Hans Richter, 1921. LE SANG d'un Poete, dir. Jean Cocteau, 1930. - ENTRACTE, dir. Rene Clair, 1924. MENIL- MONTANT, dir. Dimitri Kirsan- off, 1924. Every Thursday night until No- vember 2, Cinema Guild will be showing representative f i i m s from the American experimental film movement. ARCHITECTURE AUDITORIUM 7:00 & 9:05 75c t './ i .r , / i r i z ! : c _._.,. 3rd Fun Week DIAL 5-6290 4 SHOWS AT 1:30 3:20 5:10 And. 9:05 7:05 "A HILARIOUS MOVIE! A LAUGH RIOT!" CBS-TV s r a - "A VERY FUNNY "A MARVELOUS FILM!" MOVIE!" N.Y. Times NBC Today Show "FULL OF N.Y. Daily News LAUGHS!" , R ., r9 rA I'A , 1 f1 ,i ' Gsnmoun~t .cWr.. .r...n., An Arthur P. Jacobs Production in association with Rollins-Joffe Productions "1DLAY IT AIUAIN. SAM"